Topic: Beans for drying.

[Pescador]

I would like to grow some beans for drying in 2016, and would like your advice on what varieties to grow.
I live in the East Midlands and the soil is a free draining sandy loam.

[galina]

Two classic, standard and easily available recommendations:

French bean Borlotti (especially the higher yielding tall growing types).  However all French Beans can also be dried for seed.  Obviously go with the larger seeded ones for better yield.
 
and secondly:

any runnerbeans harvested past the fresh eating stage for their seeds.  The most famous is the Greek white Gigandes butter bean.  'Moonlight' is a white seeded variety of runner bean, but there are others.  Unless you only want white seeds for aesthetic reasons, any colour runner bean seed is also good for drying. 

Note that you need to have separate plants if you also want to harvest green runner bean pods, because plants that developing seed beans will slow down or stop the development of new green beans (the plant thinks it has done enough to propagate itself and slows down).   

PS:  I know you said 'for drying'.  I prefer to harvest them at the fully mature bean stage, but before they have dried.  I freeze the beans and when I want to use them, there is no overnight soaking and long cooking time needed.  Boiling for ten minutes is all that is required to get rid of the toxins that all raw beans have.  Also I can use a small handful of frozen beans, say for a soup - if I have to reconstitute then boil, it seems hardly worthwhile for a small portion of beans added to another dish.     

[earlypea]

I would back up Galina's Gigandes recommendation.  You only need a handful of pods to feed two or three people.  And...I always use them in the semi-dry stage, freezing any excess.

Before I grew Gigandes I was disappointed with yields with drying beans - you need a lot of plants for a bowl of borlotti.

[clumsy]

Could also grow canadian wonder bean or any red kidney bean probably. But you need to grow loads to make it worthwhile.

[boydzfish]

I dry all sorts, runners and Borlotti Firetongue. They are great in my chorizo casserole, so creamy and you don't need that many as they swell up recipe as follows:

Some chorizo cubed (Amount depends on how hot you like stuff and the number of plates)
Pressed Garlic and chopped onions
A handful of dried beans (But see chorizo note)
Diced carrot (You can also add some diced potato)
Tin of chopped tomatoes
Teaspoon of dried mixed herbs

Fry the onion, garlic and any diced veg until the onions are clear then add everything else and either cover the frying pan/saucepan or transfer to a casserole dish and cook for 30 mins (Gas 6 for oven or Electric equivalent - low heat on hob). Serve with crusty rolls or bread and enjoy. The recipe can be modified for most other meats.

[Digeroo]

I would personally recommend some of the HSL varieties.  Mrs Lewis is very prolific both as green beans and as dried.  The gigandes do not do well for me, but things like moonlight produce lots of beans for drying.  Some of the French beans have a better flavour than the runner types.

I grow beans for succession so keep sowing them, and when the next lot start you can leave the previous ones to dry off.

The big expert is CrissCross.  He grows loads of beans for drying.

For free draining soil, you need to put in lots of organic material and mulch well.

[Pescador]

Thank-you all for your advice. Plenty for me to think about there.

[Vinlander]

I'd like to put in a word for the pea bean (climber). Good flavour as immature pods or raw beans (like others who own a freezer I can't see the point of drying them except for planting next year). Having easily recognisable seed (think guernsey cow or brown tao ) is a bonus if you are as disorganised as I am.

On the subject of good-looking seed - they once made a cross with (probably) borlottis that produced denim blue & sky blue mottled beans that looked like fancy jasper when fresh - but unfortunately that heritage 'faded out' somehow after one more season. I can sort of imagine but don't really understand how genetics can explain that in a bean that is normally self-fertile.

It's an argument for growing a few very good, very different varieties of climbing french beans near each other: They seem especially prone to crossing in a bad year.

Cheers.

[galina]

Vinlander, same experience here - the early generations after a new cross always have astounding seed coat colours.  And for 'freezing/drying beans' it does not matter. 

Last experienced in 2015.  I had a 'new to me' variety, but only ended up with two plants (I only grew a few seeds to test the new variety): one plant was mediocre but of the right type with red seeds, the second yielded a huge amount of blue seeds that are drying much duller of course.  Teaches you about hybrid vigour and also teaches you about always keeping a couple of seeds back to compare to harvested seeds (or have good photos of the original seeds to compare to). 

Interesting, isn't it 

[Vinlander]

Hi Galina,

A photo of the fancy-jasper "jewel bean" - hopefully something like it will reappear.

Actually this might have appeared in the year I tried "cherokee trail of tears" (both types). I always grow borlotti climbing, and I often use borlotti dwarf between my sweetcorn 'cos it is usually a semi-climber and doesn't choke the corn or the gherkins that are in there too - instead of squash (3 midget sisters all together).

Cheers.

[galina]

So pretty, let's hope that colour will reappear 

[martinburo]

Others have already noted you need a lot of plants to get a reasonable amount of dried beans. I therefore tend to grow more broad beans for drying, because they don't need staking and are fairly large so less work to shell.

[andhram]

such a nice thread. I would aim to grow some fresh bean seeds for freezing. dry beans I can buy from super market , though not all of those lovely varieties.

try as much of my beans stash planting in succession and not to bother to freeze green beans.

[sparrow]

How big are your freezers?!

After stashing the broad beans in there, I need the spare room for all the other harvests - corn, berries, apples, chillies. And meals I make ahead in batches. I have to dry my beans, there's nowhere else to put them!

I like trail of tears for drying, or Mrs Fortune, but my new favourite is one I got from Galina last year in the circle: cara la virgen de la banera leon. I've not seen that anywhere else and it's such a beautiful bean.

[johhnyco15]

i might give the ying and yang bean a go they look pretty

[andhram]

i might give the ying and yang bean a go they look pretty

I should buy a freezer for the produce. and trying to lessen the freezer stock . but not sure howmuch the home grown  dry beans can make difference than store bought. though there is one advantage of having un usual colors of dry beans. 

I can also think of buying fresh and frozen bean seeds. should have some trials.

[johhnyco15]

i love the different colours packed into kilner jars they look great on the kitchen side and always a talking point at dinner parties we make a lot of soup and stews  and a handful of beans always beefs it up a bit

[andhram]

that's great idea with dry beans johhnyco15

[galina]

I like trail of tears for drying, or Mrs Fortune, but my new favourite is one I got from Galina last year in the circle: cara la virgen de la banera leon. I've not seen that anywhere else and it's such a beautiful bean.

I have now for the first time in many years of growing this bean seen it on www. 
http://www.miespaciogourmet.com/tienda/alubia-blanca-seca-cara-la-virgen-o-boliche-del-pilar.html#

As happens so often with handwritten seed labels on swapped packets, I should correct a minor spelling mistake and the translation of the bean's name which I adopted from my donor. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Ba%C3%B1eza

La Bañeza is a town in the province of Castile and León, so the translation: Face of our Lady of Lions Bath ought to  be corrected to 'Face of our Lady of La Bañeza in León'. 

Makes no difference to the qualities of the beans and I am glad you like them Sparrow, but gives more accurate information on the origins of this variety.