Topic: Beans - large or small?

[Tee Gee]

Always start by counting then snapping, I once saw maximum points awarded to peas without any open. To award max points in my opinion every pod would need to be open to make sure the peas were perfect..

Totally agree Laurie

I have been NAS'd for not counting.

I remember once I was showing at our Chrysant society show because I did not count how many stems I had in the vase.

It was a five stem class and as a rule I used to take 6 or7 stems with me in case one or more did not travel well.

That year I was a bit short of time and I set up my vase as I usually do but silly me I didn't notice I had put 6 stems in the vase hence the NAS.

The main reason I liked the '5' class with anything  was if something didn't travel well or was damaged I could always enter the 3 classes.

I was even known to enter the 'single' class for the same reason.

What I didn't like though was if the winner of the 'Best in Show' was from a single class.

With only one item it meant it could be as near perfect as you can get but with a three or five vase you never get them all perfect, very good Yes! but not as perfect as the single item,

IMHO this is very unfair but it  usually states  in the rules;  " Best exhibit in show" and as it is an exhibit it is entitled to be considered for the ultimate prize.

Ah! those were the days!

[Tulipa]

I'm another fan of using the larger beans podded and cooked as broad beans, yummy ;)

[Tulipa]

I'm another fan of using the larger beans podded and cooked as broad beans, yummy ;)

[Silverleaf]

Hi Tee Gee,  Always start by counting then snapping, I once saw maximum points awarded to peas without any open. To award max points in my opinion every pod would need to be open to make sure the peas were perfect..

It must be gutting if you happen to get a pea maggot in one of them. I've lost count of the number of times I've picked a pod which looks perfectly normal only to find it has a wriggly little squatter munching away...

[Vinlander]

As Jayb said, any of the Greasy beans fall into that category, but they do have strong strings. 
http://www.heirlooms.org/store/c1/Featured_Products.html
and many other sources, they are getting quite a following.

The hook beans have no string at all until they are quite lumpy - though the lump (& seed) in the middle is always biggest.

I have often thought while stringing beans that if the string was a little stronger, and the rest of the bean a little less stringy then they'd be worth growing if I couldn't grow truly stringless ones .

I didn't know someone had bred this advantage into a race of beans - though it sounds more like an advantage for shelling than eating green - are the "greasy beans" really for eating green? If so the name is a bit offputting - presumably once they are boiled the greasyness disappears - but does the same thing happen with steaming?

Cheers.

[galina]

I didn't know someone had bred this advantage into a race of beans - though it sounds more like an advantage for shelling than eating green - are the "greasy beans" really for eating green? If so the name is a bit offputting - presumably once they are boiled the greasyness disappears - but does the same thing happen with steaming?

Cheers.

Vinlander, they are called 'greasy' because the pods are hairless, which makes them look shiny.  There is no grease involved at all, it's just a name. 

[Vinlander]

Vinlander, they are called 'greasy' because the pods are hairless, which makes them look shiny.  There is no grease involved at all, it's just a name. 

Well, thanks Galina! - serves me right for overthinking it again - I'm now wallowing in nostalgia about the time when names were just names and everything wasn't dominated by PR and spin.

I was going to say PC too but to be fair that started as an improvement - though we only spent about 5 minutes at the happy medium before hitting the buffers at the other end. We spent a few happy years around the midpoint of health & safety, (probably because the costs temporarily damped the swing). Why does everything have to be an insane pendulum?

There I go again...

Cheers.