King of the Garden Bean seeds for the kitchen garden that intends to actually produce king of the garden bean this year. King of the Garden Bean is not modest about its intentions, and the harvest justifies the name.

King of the Garden Bean is a climbing pole lima bean producing large, buttery beans on vigorous vines that reach three metres. Each packet is hermetically vacuum-sealed -- removing the oxygen that causes standard paper seed packets to lose germination viability within approximately one year. State law requires a 3-year viability label on sealed packaging. NASA research on hermetic seed storage indicates viability of up to 10 years under proper conditions. Every packet is non-GMO and germination-tested at independent third-party labs before it earns its Japanese woodblock print artwork.

How to Grow King of the Garden Bean from Seed

Sowing and Germination

Direct sow after last frost, 5cm deep. Needs strong support -- vines reach 3m. Do not start indoors.

Care and Harvest

Pole Lima bean. Harvest when pods plump. Excellent fresh or dried. 85-90 days.

Why Vacuum-Sealed Seeds Last Longer

Standard paper seed packets are permeable to oxygen and moisture -- the two primary causes of seed degradation. Most paper-packaged seeds begin losing germination viability after approximately one year, contributing to significant garden-industry waste: packets purchased, not planted, expired, discarded. Shido Seeds are hermetically vacuum-sealed. The packet does not expire quietly in a drawer. It waits.

About the Packaging

Every Shido seed packet is illustrated in the style of Japanese 1910s woodblock printing -- designed and drawn in-house by Chive, the Toronto ceramics studio that has been exhibiting at the Chelsea Flower Show in London every year and does not, as a matter of principle, sell to big-box retailers. Customers collect the packets as a series. This was not the original plan.