Amazing Beans

I'm not really a fan of beans, but my daughter loves them, and my son eats out of the garden everyday, so I grow beans. In the spring and fall I grow Bushes beans, but regular beans will not grow in the Summer (I live in N California zone 9B) Luckily I discovered yard long beans those babies thrive in the heat and pump out tons of beans early summer through fall. The first year I collected lot of beans that dried on the vine. I have been using them for about 3 years now. Last year I thought I should gather new seeds. I let a bunch dry, picked them, and left them sitting on the outside table. They have been there long enough the box they were in isn't a box anymore. They have been exposed to the sun, and rain for many months, and I figured I would toss them out. No way they could be any good.
I have decided to use straw as mulch this year. The only straw I can get is not organic. I'm told it's perfectly safe, but I a suspicious sort. So I pulled out a little channel put some soil in it. put some straw in a bucket and filled with water. Now to plant the beans. oops! I'm out of beans. Impatient to start I grab 2 of the table beans. Several days later I planted a couple of beans I bought. I really can't believe it one of the table beans has sprouted.  Those are some very tough beans. I really can't believe they are still good. Amazing.
It's too soon to know if the straw is ok to use, but I should know soon.