Burpee’s 1888 Farm Annual described the "lazy housewife" bean as broad, fleshy, entirely stringless and "peculiarly luscious" with "immense productiveness".

Marketed today as a bean for gardeners and cooks of all genders, Phaseolus vulgaris is one of 300 heirloom varieties of fruit and vegetables that have been saved from extinction.

Clive Blazey will talk about heirloom seeds and the importance of maintaining diversity of food supply as part of the Grow It Local Festival. He is pictured at Pocket City Farms where he will speak on Sunday. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

To save more varieties, Sydney's gardeners are invited to share their own seeds and to plant other heirloom varieties as part of the inaugural Grow it Local Festival.

Victorian gardener Clive Blazey has brought 150 kilograms of heirloom seeds to swap with, or give to, local gardeners at a seed exchange at Bondi Markets from 10am on Saturday.