We just received a message from Christine, a reader in New Zealand, who hopes ultimately to do a roundup of seed-saving efforts down there for us. In the meantime, she has a question:
Yesterday I sowed Fin de Bagnol bean seeds, an heirloom French variety. As I did so I wondered what the name meant – it seemed strange to have ‘End’ in a seed name. I did a spot of googling to try and find an answer, but no luck.
Maybe you have a French contact who knows?
Indeed, maybe we do. Meantime, I think that fin in this case means “fine” or “slender” rather than “end”. There are other French beans with the same word; Deuil Fin Precoce for one, which is early (precocious).
So my guess is that this is a fine, slender bean of the Bagnols, but whether it is a Bagnol family, or the rather fine Château de Bagnols (which might be linked to the family) I cannot say. Probably the Château.
But maybe someone out there knows for sure.
fin – as you point out means fine or thin when it comes to green beans and Bagnol is a town not very far from where i live in the northern part of the gard region of Languedoc. So it may be that the name comes from the location rather than a family name.
Thanks Laura. Any chance you could ask around, maybe in the market at Bagnol, and get a definite answer?
Will try to find out I checked with Seeds of Kokopelli who list many of the French Heritage seeds but nothing definitive I will ask around.