Cuarteles

Cuarteles is a northern New Mexico fava landrace held in the Native Seeds/SEARCH seed bank collection, originally collected at Cuarteles, a settlement just north of Espanola in the high desert of the upper Rio Grande. What sets it apart from most favas offered in the Southwest is the width of its useful season: Native Seeds/SEARCH reports it was very productive in summer cropping at the organisation's former Patagonia, Arizona farm and also came through recent winter trials in Tucson, so it is not strictly a cool-season-only bean in that region. Plants are notably short for a fava, which suits exposed high-desert plots. The organisation recommends it both ways, picked young for fresh shelling or left on the plant to dry down, and points to soups and hummus-style purees for the dry seed. As a seed-bank accession rather than a commercial variety, it is sold in small packets under a three-packet limit.