Drying beans or not...

[Sue]

Hi
What am I going to do... got thirty plus beans growing for drying and that's a joke in this weather. I don't have the room to cut the plants and hang to dry, would it work if I picked and shelled the beans and dried them off the plant in a dehydrator?
Hate to waste all that growing and all that potential winter food.
Sue

[Flummery]

I'd pick them but leave them in the shells on newspaper somehwere warm and dry. Shell them when the pods are crisp. The drying of the pods helps to draw moisture from the seeds.

[SlugLobber]

what about using one of those mini-clothes dryers, the ones in a circle with 20 or more pegs on? Is that a stoopid idea?

[zazen999]

I was going to dry mine, but I'm freezing them instead. Doesn't look as pretty in jars but saves loads of time soaking and boiling them.

[Flummery]

You can't use them for seed like that though, Zazen. I'm freezing 'shelly' beans for use over the winter but still drying some pods for seed

[Two_Sheds]

I can't get all my drying beans in the shed either - I'm pulling the driest plants and hanging in shed - they're dry enough for shelling in a week or 2.
then I pull the next driest plant, and so on, rotation-style

[zazen999]

You can't use them for seed like that though, Zazen. I'm freezing 'shelly' beans for use over the winter but still drying some pods for seed

Aye, for growing next year, I'll leave a few on the best plants and pop them on the shed to dry; but I think she was talking about not wasting them for winter food...I'd not have enough space to dry them indoors either [the OH's daughter would be pretty shocked to find her bed completely covered in trays of beans; if I had enough trays!]

[Flummery]

Big dining table - kids left home! We only need 2 place settings so the rest gets covered in newspapers and beans!

[phil the shed]

as flum and two sheds are on this thread seems a good place to ask this question. due to the weather my poletschka and cobra beans have swellled and grown huge can these be dried and used as a haricot bean in soups stews etc.
i know my borlotti can be dried but the other two have gone mad and we havent harvested for two weeks because accesibility of these cos of the weather
help me iv'e been (pun) going mad.

[Flummery]

Yes, you can dry them all for winter use in stews, chillies etc. However, you can also shell them before they're dry but when the beans inside are large - you can see the bumps in the shell - and use them like that. Use them fresh or freeze them and use from the freezer. They are just like the ones you dry only you don't have to boil them for hours. I'd save some to dry completely for seed though

[HeyWayne]

See, now I'm wondering if I've wasted my time (and potentially seeds) here.

Some of my Stephens peas pods had gone a bit dry so I picked and podded them, leaving the shelled peas on kitchen roll on the windowsill in the dining room. The peas have wrinkled up and look completely dry now (some look a bit ropey to be honest so I might bin them).

The Martock broad beans pods started to go black so I did the same - some (actually, most) of the beans were green and not dried out at all. Having now left them all on the windowsill to do the same thing as the peas, most are now a beige colour rather than the pale green when shelled.

Am I likely to be able to use these for planting next year or did I pick them too early before they had a chance to store up energy?

[zazen999]

WELL...If you do you haven't wasted anything have you?

I do try and save a few on the best few plants by just letting them ramble on and die off; the OH doesn't like it, but I'm not putting a 'beware - seed saving' sign up EVERY time!

The ones I had podded when I first started also looked ropey, so that's why I started leaving them on the plant. With my peas, they ended up looking exactly like the original peas in the packet, so I guessed I couldn't be going far wrong. Mine were also buff coloured if that helps.

[SarzWix]

I've had no joy with my beans for drying this year so far. I don't know if it's just the weather, or what, but despite being sown earlier than all my other french beans both lots (Borlotti & Cranberry True Red) are only just producing pods now I'm hopeful of some beans to use fresh, but it'll be a miracle if I get any ripe enough to use for seed or drying - our first frost is usually in the middle of September.
On the other hand, my Purple Podded peas have an abundance of pods on them drying out for seed, but I'm having to pick them before they're fully dry, because the pods are splitting open and dropping the peas before they're dry. I'm spreading them on trays, still attached to the pod, in my mini plastic greenhouse so they're getting airflow & sun, but not getting rained on. I hope they'll still be viable seed as lots of people are in the queue for them next year!

[Hazel at the Hill]

....Some of my Stephens peas pods had gone a bit dry so I picked and podded them, leaving the shelled peas on kitchen roll on the windowsill in the dining room. The peas have wrinkled up and look completely dry now (some look a bit ropey to be honest so I might bin them).

The Martock broad beans pods started to go black so I did the same - some (actually, most) of the beans were green and not dried out at all. Having now left them all on the windowsill to do the same thing as the peas, most are now a beige colour rather than the pale green when shelled.

Looking at the ol' blob, HW, the peas certainly look 'dried' and ok - you can always try to germinate a few on damp kitchen paper on a light windowsill to check the viability? If they are ok (which I think they will be), you can put half a dozen in an envelope addressed to me, and the rest in a dark place for next year... Do you a swapsie with a few of my Robinson heritage peas - name for a name, eh?

If the broad bean pods were black when you picked them, that sounds right to me too - again, leave them in a drafty dry place on newspaper to dry then they will be ready for next year.

[Hazel at the Hill]

I've had no joy with my beans for drying this year so far. I don't know if it's just the weather, or what, but despite being sown earlier than all my other french beans both lots (Borlotti & Cranberry True Red) are only just producing pods now I'm hopeful of some beans to use fresh, but it'll be a miracle if I get any ripe enough to use for seed or drying - our first frost is usually in the middle of September.
On the other hand, my Purple Podded peas have an abundance of pods on them drying out for seed, but I'm having to pick them before they're fully dry, because the pods are splitting open and dropping the peas before they're dry. I'm spreading them on trays, still attached to the pod, in my mini plastic greenhouse so they're getting airflow & sun, but not getting rained on. I hope they'll still be viable seed as lots of people are in the queue for them next year!

I would have thought that if the pods are ripe enough to split, the peas will be good to go, Sarah.

If you do get caught out with an early frost before your beanses are ripe, let me know - my climbing barlottis are going crackers here (amazing the difference that a hundred miles or so south makes!). Looks like I've have tons of purple giant climbing beans too, should you want some.