are beans from the grocery store viable?

As far as I know, there are no hybrid beans in commercial cultivation, nor available from seed companies. Therefore, beans sourced from the grocery store are open pollinated, and are highly likely to grow true to type.

This looks like a picture from seeds trust.

I have been half way on a search to find a heirloom kidney bean that is a dark red.  Haven't seen one yet but in grocery store so might for kicks spend $1.59 for a # of them here, and try sprouting maybe half a dozen to see if I can get them to sprout.

Dave Miller wrote:For a truly awesome garden experience, plant some black oil sunflower bird seed.  It is super cheap ($25 for 50 lbs.) and there is nothing like a big patch of sunflowers in bloom.  Then when they go to seed, the birds hang out in them well into the winter.

did that last year in Nov.  Eating them in my apt.  Learned sunflower oil seed is 95% of production.  These seeds meant for sunflower oil, or bird feed.  Generally the stripped ones is what we eat.