Grow Your Own Magazine

OK, this may be a really silly question

How do I grow red kidney beans?

Thanks

OWG

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"Its not who you are underneath, it's what you do that defines you" - Bruce Wayne

Try this link www.jeffersoninstitute.org/pubs/drybeans.shtml It includes spacings and so on for planting. Looks like you only get a small crop from each plant though.

This is also relevant

Types of Bean

Different types of bean are harvested at different stages of their growth. Shell beans are picked once the pods are firm and crisp, showing the shape of the bean inside. Pod beans are picked when the seeds in the pod appear plump and firm. Dry beans are picked once the pod is dried and looks dead.


Kidney beans are a dry bean type.

I'd grow them like French or Runner beans - just leave them on the vine. This is how I grow Yin Yang beans. I get a good crop - the bean pods are only small with 5 or so beans in each, but you get plenty. And they swell when soaked before cooking. There's a limit to how many you can eat in a season!

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www.vegheaven.blogspot.com

Updated November 30th - Mr Stinky's Excellent Adventure (and a Christmas Cake)

Just beware that when you come to harvest them they contain a toxin - this is broken down by boiling them hard for at least 10 minutes - preferably longer. Even 4 or 4 beans can cause quite serious illness if not heated up enough. Cooking them at under 100 degrees can actually make them more toxic, so be careful

(link: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~mow/chap43.html )

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Updated 13th September

Could I dry them and then cook them (does that make sense?)

Hmmm, may just stick to the tinned variety!

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"Its not who you are underneath, it's what you do that defines you" - Bruce Wayne

I thought that is the whole idea. Dry them and store them for winter usage. pigletwillie seems to be quite knowledgeable about beans.

BTW The same toxin, AFAIK, is found in mature french beans as well.

Red kidney beans are so cheap to buy either dry or tinned it may not be worthwhile financially to grow them yourself. Personally I try to grow fresh produce - the only stuff I store is onions. I do save seeds from various beans, but tend to eat the beans green and fresh.

You shouldn't eat french beans raw because of the lectins they contain.

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I always wondered why i've seen the warning not to eat raw french beans! the term french beans i find a bit confusing - does this mean climbing beans, or dwarf beans? I've eaten both raw (straight off the plant) and it never did me any harm, but its only 2 or 3, not a whole handful!

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There's vegetable growing in the family, but I must be adopted
Happy Gardening!

Yeah, Protea, I always eat French beans raw off the plant...I never heard it was harmful...maybe I'll become ill now that I know this!

As for growing your own kidney or other dried beans...YES, you should if you can, to save on landfill (tins, plastic packaging) and food miles (trucking tins around the world)

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

It had me confused for a long time, but it seems that the toxin is only contained within the mature beans. If you eat the immature pods there is no issue.

Raw beans, raw french beans and raw runner beans contain a lectin called phytohaemagglutinins. This is what makes you feel unwell.

Yes, I Googled!

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Ooooh I'm always nibbling away at beans while I'm working. What does lectin do to you ?
What is "u-n-w-e-l-l! ???

Onset is usually marked by extreme nausea, followed by vomiting, which may be very severe. Diarrhea develops somewhat later (from one to a few hours), and some persons report abdominal pain. Some persons have been hospitalized, but recovery is usually rapid (3 - 4 h after onset of symptoms) and spontaneous. (http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~mow/chap43.html)

A more detailed read @ http://www.krispin.com/lectin.html

I thought "unwell" sounded less serious!!

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Good for a day off work then

I grew kidney beans last year. CANADIAN WONDER dwarf french beans. They're a flat podded green (french) bean which you can eat as green beans, but if you leave the beans on the plant until the beans can be seen in the pod and the pod loses it's green colour & goes a yellowish. That's the time to pick them. The beans look a bit pale when 1st shelled but leave in the air for 24 hours and they darken up. If you leave the pods till 'dry' they come out redder, but then you lessen the crop. I didn't dry mine, I just chucked them in the freezer. I have a bag full in there, & when I fancy some I just put into boiling water till tender. Yummy! and they taste just like the tinned ones only drier coz they're not covered in salty slimy water. I got the seeds from suffolk herbs so they were organic too.

I've just harvested some of Stig's Canadian Wonder beans - thank you! What a great variety, prolific. Its short, so survives my windswept plot. It did better than Sungold, Masterpiece and Purple Queen.
I'm looking forward to harvesting my Cherokee, Yin Yang, Tiger, Ruth Bible, Black Croatian and Barlotta next.
Have ordered yet more heritage varieties for next year, from
http://www.beansandherbs.co.uk/

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi