Topic: Egyptian pea beans and Lupini beans

[steveg1966]

I have just bought some Egyptian pea beans and Lupini beans. I have never seen these before has anybody grown these before.

[artichoke]

I and my allotment neighbour grow what he calls pea beans, a beautiful mottled white and brown bean. They are delicious to eat, and grow well among my other climbing beans.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/apr/20/alys-fowler-pea-beans

They look like this, but not so black, more of a rich chestnut brown.

[aj]

Lupini beans are more like lupins leaf wise; and they need the heat so don't sow them too early. Hard to germinate and as you can see, took the nutrients out of the compost pretty fast. This one didn't survive the cool spring unfortunately.

[chriscross1966]

Egyptian pea-beans aren't egyptian, they'rte just another variety of shelling frenchbean, like a borlotti or a kidney bean .... They're a midseason variety, sow in pots indoors at the back end of April to plant ou tin final positions one or two plants to an 8-foot cane in wigwams  8 inches apart on a station.... crop end of august onwards, leave the first ones to dry for next years seeds, otherwise harvest as the pods go leathery and freeze (no need to blanch with modern freezers I find)... Dried beans of this variety take an especially long time to cook, also the flesh is quite nutty in texture when undercooked, softening.... you can tell when they're cooked as the distinctive skin colouration waill have disappeared...