Four Corners Gold Bean

The four corners region of the US?Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico?is the geographical namesake for the Four Corners Gold Bean. In this region, the Zuni People first traditionally used this golden bean, which is also called the Shalako after a traditional Kachina dance. The Four Corners Gold Bean is a shiny, golden amber color that retains its color and elongated oval shape when it is cooked. According to custom, the bean was planted as part of the Three Sisters Crops, a trilogy of plants – beans, corn, and squash – that buttress and compliment each other's growth. In accordance with this cultivation theory, the corn stalk provides a trellis for the beans' upward growth, the squash shades the ground, preventing other plants from sprouting seeds in the same area, while the beans fix the nitrogen in the soil to keep nutrient-levels equalized for the other two crops.