San Bernardo Blue
(Azzurro di San Bernardo, Nonna Agnes Blue, San Bernardo Blue)
(Pole) Originated in the town of San Bernardo in northern Italy. The blue pigmentation is closest to sapphire when harvested in cool weather, in hot weather the beans will be a gradient of grey to grey-blue. In storage this colour will darken. (Experimental Farm Network, 2025 1)
Days to Maturity:
History
Introduced to North America circa 2016 by Joseph Simcox, whom originally named this variety ‘Nonna Agnes Blue’, after his grandmother Agnes. It was renamed ‘San Bernardo Blue’ after the town it originated from by the Experimental Farm Network (ON TH F, Seeds of Diversity; Experimental Farm Network, 2025)
Varietal Name
According to the Experimental Farm Network,
“This is the same bean formerly known as ‘Nonna Agnes Blue,’ but we’ve determined that a new name is necessary. This bean was introduced to the US by an American who named it after his grandmother, who had no actual connection to the bean or its development. So since no one named Agnes had anything to do with this bean, and we don’t know anything about its origin other than the town where it was found, we will henceforth refer to it as ‘San Bernardo Blue’ (or ‘Azzurro di San Bernardo’ in Italian). Seed purveyors have a duty to be as transparent as possible when it comes to names and stories attached to seeds, and we feel strongly that ‘San Bernardo Blue’ is the most appropriate, accurate, and honest name for this bean, based on everything we know about it.” (Experimental Farm Network, 2025 1)
Identical Varieties
Considered by collectors as identical to the varieties Sea Pebble and blaue Meerbarbe.
“blaue Meerbarbe: This variety I received from a bean collector in North Italy. Originally it could be from Turkey and it is an old variety. […] unfortunately not more information.” (Sortenwerkstatt, 2025)