Harvesting for dry beans - when?

[gray1720]

Herewith my entry for today's "Stupidest question of the day":

I'm growing miscellaneous beans with the intention of drying for the winter - at the least, it will save on our gas bill. ncerend if I leave

I'm wondering - can I harvest fresh beans as I go and leave the later ones on to dry, or should I be leaving the lot on until the plant decides it's had enough and stops flowering? I'm concerned if I leave them on the plant it will decide it's done it's bit and stop flowering, and I find myself outr of beans early.

Any ideas?

Adrian

[gray1720]

[galina]

Yes indeed.  There are beans that are predominantly for drying.  Those just leave alone.  But those that are mainly for eating green you do want to use as green beans and only leave the later beans for drying. 

This is different to drying beans for seed saving.  For seed saving you want both early and late pods, but for culinary use this is not a consideration. 

To maximise what you get from your plants, eat green and let the last few dry, unless they are drying bean varieties. 

[JanG]

I'm growing miscellaneous beans with the intention of drying for the winter - at the least, it will save on our gas bill. ncerend if I leave

I'm not sure about cutting down on gas bills this way as they take quite a lot longer cooking from dry than fresh. Should certainly cut down on food bills though and be satisfyingly tasty and nutritious!

[pumkinlover]

I only save them to freeze as I don't eat huge amounts of the actual beans. Pick when the pod is still softish but starting to dry out. Then freeze. Saves a lot of the cooking time.

[galina]

This is exactly how we do it pumpkinlover.  Then make a soup and add just a quarter of an hour before serving to cook them through.  Easy, quick and very yummy.   

[JanG]

That sounds like a good method. I've just done it for the first time with some red broad beans. Usually I soak a big batch later in the year, then cook and freeze on trays.
Rather labour intensive but I do like having a lot of cooked beans for stir fries - and it enables me to do the cooking and freezing at a less busy time of year.

[Vinlander]

I'd just like to point out that I prefer the taste and texture of beans (seeds) cooked from fresh (or freezer).

If you have the opposite opinion then invest in a slow cooker - they use very little electricity. Alternatively bring the beans to the boil and put the pan into a "coolbox" and fill the space around it/over it with balls of scrunched newspaper  - it should take an hour or so to stop cooking (or just buy a bale of straw and cut a hole to put the hot pan in).

Cheers.

[gray1720]

The bit about the gas bill was a reference to the effect of beans on the human frame... Well, on me, anyway!

We're limited on freezer space, so drying is the preference for winter beans and, as Vinlander says, slow cookers are the best thing since Otto Rohwetter - it hardly goes away for most of winter. We are also going to bottle a lot of tomatoes this year, so plenty of stuff to bung in it.

Adrian

[Vinlander]

The bit about the gas bill was a reference to the effect of beans on the human frame... Well, on me, anyway!

We're limited on freezer space, so drying is the preference for winter beans and, as Vinlander says, slow cookers are the best thing since Otto Rohwetter - it hardly goes away for most of winter. We are also going to bottle a lot of tomatoes this year, so plenty of stuff to bung in it.

Adrian

Sorry Adrian - please excuse my too-literal mind...

Cheers.

[JanG]

Mine too! You weren't alone.

[Vinlander]

Just in case I looked up Otto Rohwetter - because I had thought you were referring to those crops that like a bit of salt with their amides - magic on onions - in moderation or before a shower of the colourless type.

Seems I'd gone right over to the other extreme on that one...

Cheers.

[gray1720]

That's OK, I do tend to talk random mens bits!