Grow Your Own Magazine

Another veg I lurve....want to try some different sorts (quel surprise!).

Has anyone tried growing flageolet beans or cannellini beans?

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Manda.

"Wouldn't it be nice
For maybe an hour
To not have a care."

Nope, but I'm trying Climbing French beans this year as the runners have been crap the last two years mainly high temps I think. So I'm going to try LJ's recommendations blue lake

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ntg

Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark.
A large group of professionals built the Titanic

http://grief-encounters.blogspot.com/

Depending on your soil (for some reason they don't like our Wilts soil) I'd agree we loved Blue Lake, great flavour & if you leave them they make tasty haricot too.

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Manda.

"Wouldn't it be nice
For maybe an hour
To not have a care."

i too am trying blue lake this year. Also trying dwarf varieties - sprite, safari and tendergreen.

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I'm trying Soissons beans for the first time this year - the sort that are supposed to be eaten green (shelled 'fresh' from their pods when ripe, with just a few minutes' cooking) or dried in the normal way and shelled. I do find bush varieties just a little lower on yield, but ideal for cutting down at root level at the end of the season to leave those nitrogen-speckled roots in the soil. Dwarves are trouble free if mulched well, no weeding - and hung in the greenhouse on a washing line to dry (they look so pretty!). Climbing beans are higher yield and less likely to be munched from below, but a little more finicky with the poles, individual picking, and de-tangling the bean straw from the poles at the end of the season IMO

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SSx
not every situation requires a big onion

Ain't soissons vert aka flageolet?

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Manda.

"Wouldn't it be nice
For maybe an hour
To not have a care."

Erm, not sure alors, I'm hoping these will be white

FromThomas Etty - dwarf version of Soissons Gros Blanc a Rames.

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SSx
not every situation requires a big onion

flageolet beans

I mean these type? Don't do short type, bit of a waste.

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Manda.

"Wouldn't it be nice
For maybe an hour
To not have a care."

I'm going to have a go a barlotti (have I spelt it correctly?) beans this year. DDL

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Appreciate the little things in life because one day you will realise they are the big things

me too dexter dog. I think it's borlotti. The pods look beautiful but I was disapointed to find out the beans turn green when cooked.

I was surprised at how similar they are to broad beans when cooked, which I love!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

I grow both climbing and dwarf Borlotti from Franchi and the Italian Seed Company - both turn out pink!

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SSx
not every situation requires a big onion

Borlotti beans are very tasty indeed, and freeze very easily. We grow Barlotta Lingua Di Fuoco & Borlotto Lamon, both climbers

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Manda.

"Wouldn't it be nice
For maybe an hour
To not have a care."

Still not sure - let's have beans in the cyber veggie show!

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SSx
not every situation requires a big onion

Cyber veggie show?


We do this with the beans from Blue Lake, blauhilde, kentucky wonder, they're all haricot type. Is this unusual?

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Manda.

"Wouldn't it be nice
For maybe an hour
To not have a care."

1. The Fruit & Veg Showcase - if we start a thread on 'Drying Beans' or similar we can show off our pics in October

2. I think it's unusual for people in the UK to eat 'fresh' (wet?) beans out of the shell, people on the Continent seem to appreciate this 'middle' stage. The UK seems to have missed out. We tend to go for all or nothing - either French bean style complete with pod, or completely dried and shelled. Certainly judging by the number of posts in UK forums I see asking if Runner and French beans are any good when they've 'overgrown'! I've also noticed that even home-grown dried beans have a fresher taste, probably because they are the last season's. And far less cooking. Oh, you've got me going again ...

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SSx
not every situation requires a big onion

Maybe you're right about the Brits and beans, but we're veggies so we recognise good protein when we see it!!

We don't have room to grow that many bean wigwams and so prefer to freeze our extra tubfulls of Borlotto & haricot. I'm not keen on drying 'em they don't taste quite as good, but they do taste better than shop bought dried beans.

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Manda.

"Wouldn't it be nice
For maybe an hour
To not have a care."

I'm trying to preserve food in the old fashioned way, without the freezer, so drying and bottling are two options. This year we bottled our borlottis (try saying that after sundown ha!)



Now I'm wondering if I could bottle the 'wet' haricots without pre-cooking and still get that lovely fresh taste. Well worth an experiment later this year, but you do need a pressure canner for low-acid food.

Response to earlier post: I've seen borlotti and barlotti, happy with either

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SSx
not every situation requires a big onion

I am looking forward to harvesting those gigantes you sent to me SS.

I also have dwarf and climbing borlottis which I grew last year. The climbing version as Sarah said yielded more, so once the dwarf seed is finished I shall stick with the climbers. I shall also try those fine Kenan beans that have been mentioned in another thread.

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Kindest regards, David.

http://pigletsplots.blogspot.com/
updated - Sunday 19th at 2100hrs

I'm a veggie, so I eat lots of beans...great source of cheap protein. Last year I grew (& dried) the following - Climbers: Blue Lake and Barlotta (beautiful like fat pink sausages);Dwarfs: Purple Queen; Sungold (dwarfs do best on my windy allotment - no pun intended) plus Black Eyed Peas, white haricot, miscellaneous green & red beans, and Black Beans (all from a Holland & Barrett soup mix). I don't bother with runner beans, don't like 'em. Good luck. www.OrganicCatalogue.com have some lovely varieties.

I grew borlotti and butter beans for the first time last year. Because I only had a couple of Kilo I just shelled them, mixed them together and froze them.

When I boiled them recently the borlotti lost all there colour and went green (like broad beans) They tasted really nice (I had them with Sunday lunch and put buttered garliced mushrooms on top Yummie!

Just wondering, is it usual for them to turn green or could it have been(sic) cos I froze them.???

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

yes, they do loose there colour when cooked which is a great shame as the colouring when raw is so beautiful