table talk / By Bob Doran

Does Paul Giuntoli grow the best beans in the state?

At this point he’s focusing on five bean varieties that he’s distributed to five different organic, direct-market farmers around California, one of them being Paul Giuntoli of Warren Creek Farms.

Temple and Giuntoli met about 12 years ago when the scientist spent a sabbatical year at Humboldt State. “He came to the farm with a fieldtrip for a sustainable ag class from HSU,” Giuntoli recalled when we talked at the Arcata Farmers’ Market. “At the end of the tour everyone had questions. I thought to myself, ‚ÄòThis guy is coming up with some really good questions.’ When it was over I told him, ‚ÄòObviously you know something about beans.’ That’s when he introduced himself. He’s quite knowledgeable.”

Temple started sharing a few of the strains with Giuntoli about 10 years ago. “Paul has done a good job with them, as good or better than anyone in the state,” Temple said. “He’s one of the best, most experienced quality growers out there.”

What makes Paul’s beans better? “Basically Paul has a very mild climate compared to the Central Valley [where other growers are growing Temple’s beans]. He has really nice bottom land soils and he’s a small enough grower that he’s able to keep on top of each variety and know when it’s the perfect stage to harvest them. That’s hard for larger growers or those dealing with lots and lots of varieties.”

So the timing is key. As is being a small-scale farmer. “I’m very much an advocate of strengthening and developing regional food systems,” said Temple. “And Paul is a key go-to person for that kind of thinking and development.”

Said Giuntoli, “I thought my crop looked OK, maybe not quite as good as last year. Steve looked at it and said, ‚ÄòNo, no, no. There’s no comparison.’ They really colored up well, that’s an indication of ripeness. The canario takes a bit longer than the others and I was really on it. Picking the time to cut them to dry was a day-by-day thing.”

Potatoes are Giuntoli’s primary crop, and they can be hard on the soil over time. “They require about a seven-year rotation to maintain a healthy crop,” he said. “If you keep them in the same field for too long you start having problems, so we started looking for other crops. I had ground certified organic and had to do something with it. The beans came into play, and winter squash — and it’s working.”

Temple also noted that the UC Extension project has a research component beyond strain development, one dealing with the interaction between small farmers and consumers. “One of the things we’re trying to do is give direct marketers more tools to try to stretch things to year-round, to reduce the seasonality,” he said. “In that vein we’re looking to give producers options for a non-perishable crop.”

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