Topic: Drying beans and frost

[Suzanne]

This has probably already been asked but I can't find it on search  ???

I have beans that are drying in their pods on the vines at my lottie - some for use as seeds for next year, but most for drying and eating in soups and casseroles in the winter. For one reason and another I couldn't get to the lottie this weekend and now I hear there is a severe frost forecast for my area. Will this affect the beans in the pods in terms of eating or seed quality?

I am hoping that the pods will keep out a few degree's of frost I know the vines will have had it.

Thanks for your help - I am a novice at shell bean growing and most of these varieties come from a seed swap so only a few of each to start with.

[euronerd]

I'm in exactly the same position Suzanne and I'm north of you, and I'm fairly confident that the beans will survive, As you say, the pods will insulate them. It won't affect the eating qualities.

Geoff.

[Rhubarb Thrasher]

if the beans and pods are fully dried they'll probably be OK. If they're not  or if they're wet they may get damaged, and the beans will go a bit brown and won't store

[PurpleHeather]

The damage will come it they get damp, mould. So pick and dry them carefully.

I picked some which had been left hanging over winter last year on a discarded plot, and planted them on spare land (for the hell of it) and they grew and produced a decent crop.

Can't say about cooking them though.

[twinkletoes]

So is it best to pick the runner beans and french beans now and lay them out on paper in the garage (or hang them up) rather than leaving them on the vines now? 
twinkletoes

[Rhubarb Thrasher]

If you're due a frost i'd say yes. I'll be picking the last of my beans today, and some of them aren't fully ripe, never mind dried off

[twinkletoes]

EEEEK :o  I can't get to lottie now before it gets dark so will have to keep my fingers crossed they'll survive until the weekend.  Thanks RT.
twinkletoes

[Rhubarb Thrasher]

well if you can't do anything about it, it''s not worth worrying about. They may be fine. The paper today says it's going to be colder than Alaska, but I don't know what that means. Don't they have hummingbirds in Alaska? Tho probably not in October  :D

[twinkletoes]

right on the nail there RT - I never worry about things I cannot alter......not much point.  So, I'll just be keeping my fingers crossed that the beans will be a little protected by their surrounding leaves.
twinkletoes.

[Suzanne]

I won't be able to get to the lottie now until Friday at the very earliest so won't worry about it too much - but just keep my fingers crossed.
Thanks so much for your advice  :)

[PurpleHeather]

Went on yesterday and courgettes had frosted but the beans were not too bad.

Looks like it was what is called a ground frost and the beans being up high were holding there own.

We skipped summer this year, went from Spring to Autumn to Winter. Even had some tiny snowflakes in October, that is early.

[artichoke]

If it's any help, I gave up waiting for my beans to dry (hard frost in early October so pods were still green while the leaves had withered) so yesterday I podded them all, chucked out the soft, mouldy stained ones, boiled the others up for an hour, and froze them in small quantities to add to soups and stews, where I love to come across a few beans.

[Sparkly]

I picked and podded mine today (gigantes, bolloti and runner) after the frosts. We had a proper frost and all of the non-hardy plants are now a goner on all the lotties. The bolloti were, in the main, totally dry and they seem fine. The gigantes and runner were sort of half-dry. I have spread them out on trays and will hope for the best.

[Rhubarb Thrasher]

I struggled with my gigantes - the first lot of ripe beans all went mouldy, so in the end I picked them, shelled them, blanched and froze them

[artichoke]

I have some gigandes that matured and dried properly on the stems before our early October frost, so I think I have enough for a reasonable number of plants next year, but the rest are only good for cooking. It would have been a very respectable crop for both cooking and sowing if the frost hadn't hit them so early, while masses of pods were still green.

I have another allotment which is clearly warmer than this one, as there has still been no frost there yet (picked baby courgettes a few days ago), so next year all my beans and other tender plants like courgettes, sweet potatoes and squashes are going to go there permanently.

[Suzanne]

Well picked them and they will be okay for eating so have shelled them and frozen them. The ones that were already dried on the vines and only a few of these I have put on trays to dry a bit more for seed saving.

All the ocas been knocked down so tomorrow I'll lift these and see if this was a good year or not.