Planning on beans (for drying) for next year

[scarey55]

I have just been shelling my Borlotti beans for freezing to use fresh and I have come across a couple of pods where the beans are all red with none (or very little) of the creamy white
My question is, can I dry them out of the pods to plant next year or should I just bung them in the freezer with all the others bearing in mind that they hadn't been allowed to dry out in the pod naturally.
Hopefully, they will be viable for next year as they are quite pretty.

[Two_Sheds]

they hadn't been allowed to dry out in the pod naturally..

.. then they probably aren't ripe enough to be viable. But, give them a go

[scarey55]

Thanks TS. As you say, I'll give em a go anyway, you never know.

[Flummery]

I have just been shelling my Borlotti beans for freezing to use fresh and I have come across a couple of pods where the beans are all red with none (or very little) of the creamy white
My question is, can I dry them out of the pods to plant next year or should I just bung them in the freezer with all the others bearing in mind that they hadn't been allowed to dry out in the pod naturally.
Hopefully, they will be viable for next year as they are quite pretty.

This isn't genetic - if you sow them you still get mostly white with red markings. It has been tried (not by me) and the white to red ratio is still the same whichever you sow.

[Two_Sheds]

This isn't genetic - if you sow them you still get mostly white with red markings. It has been tried

I got some lovely black with white stripe beans from one of my white-with-black striped beans.
I planted them, and they all produced the usual white-with-black

[scarey55]

Thank you ladies, looks as if I will just have to dry them to use over the winter.
Still, they'll look good in the jar with the others.

[chriscross1966]

The oddity amongst your pea beans might actually have been a cross. I find that beans do cross rather readily - commercial growers say they don't but if you grow organically (don't use insecticides) they do. I usually tip the crosses into a separate jar for 'mixed beans' and only grow on from those that don't look crossed up - they still could be though, as they won't show up till next year.

I guess it'll be pretty easy to work out once I see the next generation of plants. If I get a mixture of pod shapes and bean colours then I think your right, if I get all pea-bean pod shapes and a mixture of colours I think my point-mutation hypothesis fits better. There just aren't that many P.vulgaris (assuming pea-beans are P.vulgaris?) the same shape as the pea-beans..... I guess Box, sort of though I can tell the difference if they're side -by-side normally.... but Box is a bi-colour, not black.

chrisc

[timmyalex]

Harvetsing & Drying Borlotti beans

Hi all,

What with the atrocious weather and all everything left in the garden seems to have come to a complete stand still (apart from the grass & weeds that is !!).
I have grown some Bellotti beans with quite good results but after opening some (4) pods I found 3 with good sized beans nicely coloured white with red striping and one pod with immature green coloured beans. My question:
Everywhere I've looked says leave the pods on the plant and harvest when mature but an article in the Saturday Telegraph gave harvest your beans now before any damp and rot sets in. What should i do.? I do have a large poly tunnel and i thought about pulling the plants up and leaving them hanging in there but am unsure as to how they will mature. Also, how do you dry beans so you can keep them in jars.?
Look forward to your comments

[Keith2202]

I was just putting my seeds in a jar and spotted a few little bugs on them. I think they may have been bean weevils, on closer inspection of a few of the seeds they are growing inside quite a few of them.
Are they all for the bin
Or should I cook them anyway, will the bugs ruin the taste?

[Paulottie]

It is always a balance between rot and ripeness...normally it is good to get any foliage off by now to keep any airflow round beans. You could try cutting down plant and hanging in a warm draughty place.

However to be on the safe side in this humidity it is best to pick the pods you can and dry those....I always dry them in the pod for as long as possible. In my experiance they don't store if the beans have brown patches or are too young so use those fresh or in dishes for the freezer....stick the best in a jar....into the airing cupboard for a few days then lid on.(might use a tray first if you have a lot)

[FionaH]

there's another thread running on this... http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ear_52310.html can we have a merger please?

Done ...

[Flummery]

I was just putting my seeds in a jar and spotted a few little bugs on them. I think they may have been bean weevils, on closer inspection of a few of the seeds they are growing inside quite a few of them.
Are they all for the bin
Or should I cook them anyway, will the bugs ruin the taste?

They reckon sticking them in the freezer for a day will sort the beggars out. I've never had this problem myself but I've read about it.

[Two_Sheds]

it is good to get any foliage off by now

A timely reminder: I've just been up the plot today and pulled off all the remaining foliage to get the beans to ripen a bit more.
I brought 3 carrier bags home to shell; they're on trays drying out in the gh. The ones that don't dry out fully (that are totally hard to the bite) will get frozen instead