Grow Your Own Magazine

Hi
Just made a vegetable chilli with my own dried beans and it tasted wonderful. These are a real boon to have for winter eating and I shall try and cram as many in as I can this year. Had black ones, orangey brown ones and speckled ones, all lovely. They cook so quickly and very tasty. Just as easy to grown as ordinary beans and no problem to dry (hung mine in the greenhouse till pods were crispy.)
So just a reminder as we are all starting to think about what to buy, plant some beans for drying. A real value crop and also one that doesn't take up freezer space so extra welcome.
Sue

Good in soups & stews as well Sue

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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/

Try pea beans in chili - they look great! And taste good too.

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Kris

I child-proofed my house, but they still manage to get in.

Muddy Musings - a blog

Last year my son brought some supermarket beans (gigantes) back from Greece and asked me to grow them. I didn't expect much - older gardening books say that butter beans don't like the cold European climate - but they cropped well and we'll grow them again next year from saved seed. Perhaps climate change is working in our favour?



I'm with you Sue, the difference in taste and texture between home and commercially grown ones makes dried beans well worth growing. We were so chuffed with last year's crop

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SSx
not every situation requires a big onion

Well done supersprout! I grew butter beans last year as well but only planted a dozen. Very much like runner beans I got maybe 1.5 Kilo off them. Unfortunately I froze them!

Do you think the dried butter beans you buy for cooking would be ok to plant?

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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)

Snadger I read on one forum (yes I do read others!) that someone did and got a good crop.

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Soak beans overnight, drain, put into a jar and rinse twice a day. If they sprout, they'll grow

It's not all sunshine and roses - the boring bean beetle can find and infest stored dried beans It pays to be vigilant - if you spot a damaged bean, freeze or bottle the unaffected ones

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SSx
not every situation requires a big onion

I grew supermarket chickpeas some years ago, completely by accident. I soaked them for cooking and left them too long one hot spring. They sprouted, so I planted them. Made a lovely looking plant, but unfortunately I moved before I could crop them. Often wondered what happened!

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Regards, Jane
What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy? The creative adult is the child who has survived.
Ursula LeGuin
http://www.etribes.com/madderbat

I'm a complete novice when it comes to eating beans let alone growing them although I do like them. What varieties are suitable for drying? I'm growing broad beans for eating straightaway and would love to store some longer term, what should I be looking for?
Thanks

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Bex

Me too bex, would like to know varieties, and storage tips
thanks

This might be a good start?
http://www.tuckers-seeds.co.uk/produ...8410d0acc57a8a
Bex, are you thinking of broadies used as in Middle Eastern dishes (ful or ful mesdames)? We grow broadies in succession as long as we can, because we eat the wee pods at little finger size (rather than full grown or dried) - but dried, the beans should be fine for ful mesdames.

The last of the BBC2 series 'Grow Your Own Veg' on 9 Feb refers to storing the harvest, they might have something about drying beans I've tried several varieties, but keep coming back to borlotti mmmmm



and those fat white beans are on the family favourites list since last year

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SSx
not every situation requires a big onion

I grew some lima beans in the greenhouse this year as apparently they don't like the cold either. With hindsight, they would have probably done just fine outdoors where all the other beans wilted and failed. But they're lovely, and also known as giant butterbeans.




Hope that picture thing works....

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Kris

I child-proofed my house, but they still manage to get in.

Muddy Musings - a blog

Oh those are so pretty! Do you know the variety
If anyone hasn't discovered Beans and Herbs - another friendly specialist company - do take a look They are happy to answer individual bean questions
www.beansandherbs.co.uk

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SSx
not every situation requires a big onion

Thanks for the link Supersprout. Will do a bit of research there.

What kind of beans did you grow Sue. How did you dry them . Please tell us a bit more. I love beans.
.

The beans are Christmas Pole Limas, and I've a few going spare if anyone wants half a dozen to try.

Have also got some white seeded Cherokee Trail of Tears - it does white flowers too. And about a squillion other bean varieties, but I'm a sucker for a pretty bean. Worst thing that happened last year though, was that I was given a handful of beans, that turned out to be a phenomenally cropping bush French type, and I have no idea what it's called! Shall dig them out for a photo session and post here to see if anyone can identify them. Doesn't really matter in the eating, as I'll be growing them again this year, but I'd like to know, for the sake of what's left of my sanity.

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Kris

I child-proofed my house, but they still manage to get in.

Muddy Musings - a blog

I grew Broad beans,Dwarf French,Butterbeans and climbing Borlotti as well as dwarf Borlotti lbeans last year. The only ones I wasn't impressed with were the dwarf borlotti, yet the dwarf french beans excelled themselves!

I have Aqualunce Claudia and Epicure(red seeded broad bean) which are about 6" tall now and will sow Bunyards Exhibition later in the spring.

I only tried the tall growing Butterbeans and Borlotti beans because I am not a lover of runner beans but like a little bit of height in the garden.

This year its going to be more Dwarf French + Climbing French, Borlotti and Butterbeans!

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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)

Supersprout - what a fantastic harvest and thanks for sharing it. I found a dried up runner bean in the polytunnel this morning and t he seeds look perfect for planting (not enough to eat!).
I kept some of my French beans and dried them out, but unfortunately put them in the cupboard and have not used them yet in a stew (probably only enough for two).
Would like to hear more about what varieties grow best for storing.

Supersprout
Am impressed with your harvest, I didn't grown nearly enough, how many plants did you have?

They are very easy to grow, if you check out the seed catalogue they will tell you the HDRA Garden Organic or the HDRA Heritage Seed Library have a huge range of varieties. But most catalogues will have some.
I grew and I can't remember them all, Cherokee, Trail of Tears, Canadian and Borlotti but am certainly going to try more this year.
Just grow normally, but let the pods dry on the plant, if the weather is good they can dry outside but due to the rain I uprooted my plants and hung them up in the greenhouse to finish drying, then when the pods are all crackly and the seeds are hard, shell them and put them in a jar.
Sue

Thanks for the info. As a newbie this kind of info is fantastic especially when accompanied by such great photos. had lots of success with runner beans, and dwarf french last year so i have extended my seed collection for this year. Trying some of the purple and yellow climbers.

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Sue, so many of my friends have raved about Cherokee Trail of Tears that I'll be growing a trial wigwam this year. Anyone going to grow Nun's Belly Button?

About 40 Borlotti and about 60 butter beans, sowed four to a station/pole 18 inches apart.

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SSx
not every situation requires a big onion