I have Groundnuts (Apios americana) for trade. I'm looking for MidAtlantic/North East natives. Thanks. I have some other things too for trade.

I am still at planting out stage. But we should talk over the up coming years.

Have you ever harvested beans from your apios?

I have, they hang on the vines and it's just like any other bean plant. I mostly leave them on the plants for the animals though.

The groundnut yield is supposed to be very high per what you start with. I wonder why it hasn't been utilized commercially as a food group where it grows native.

I think it recovers too slowly.

Could'a fooled me on the yield part.

It is virtually extinct in the wild.

LSU was doing research and developing a commercial variety(ies) 30-40 years ago, and (so I was told) they got a new boss who shut the work down. I think they could be grown commercially, but the problem is marketing. Since there is no current demand for Apios Americana, a market would have to be created, first with educating potential buyers, then with introducing them to the crop. In our litigation society, it is hard to get a new food idea going.

They can produce huge crops on small spaces. They are extremely easy to grow. In fact they are invasive.

Edit: I have never had much seed production, and in most years no seed production. If that is the norm for them, it may be the reason they are so rare now. Farming large portions of the land year after year has destroyed the native abundance, and with seed production sparse, they can't restart themselves. Plant the tubers where the ground stays wet, and they will be there thick as fleas on a dog from then on. If you have a place that is suitable for them, I would be happy to send you a start.

I would like to get input from others on the subject.