I have grown some Borlotti beans this year and have never grown them before!
My question is when is the best time to harvest them?
Plus do you treat them like French beans and eat the pod, or do you treat them like broad beans and eat the bean within the pod?
Hi Tee Gee
I grow borlotti beans every year. You can eat them like a runner/French bean when they are young and have just gained their red marks on the pod. You can eat the beans when slightly older and the beans are more prominent like a broad bean. The beans (inside the pod) can also be frozen and used later in the year for soups and casseroles etc. You can also dry them or wait for them to dry on the plants and use these as you would any dried bean.
duke :icon_cheers:
Yes they are pretty useful at all stages of development. I too grow them every year. :happy7:
I don't grow them anymore because the varieties Bridgewater adn Polish Climber give you a very similar bean but are a lot earlier (adn therefore more reliable)... I always grow Cobra for green beans so only know borlotti as a shelled bean and it is nice, but I must admit that I prefer quite a long list of other beans as shellers....
I have grown them for the first time this year too, simply because they looked pretty and my daughter liked them as they were pink! I now have a bumper crop but am unsure what to do with them. You say the older beans can be frozen for stews etc. do they need to be blanched first? I have picked some younger pods to have later and try out. How do I know when they are dry enough to store in jars? Thank you :happy7:
Quote from: pakaba on September 10, 2013, 18:01:04
I have grown them for the first time this year too, simply because they looked pretty and my daughter liked them as they were pink! I now have a bumper crop but am unsure what to do with them. You say the older beans can be frozen for stews etc. do they need to be blanched first? I have picked some younger pods to have later and try out. How do I know when they are dry enough to store in jars? Thank you :happy7:
I find the Borlotti/ Borlotto pods can get stringy quite quickly if they are not picked young enough, so I usually save them as 'haricot' bans. Haricot beans as you probably know is what they use for baked beans in a tin!
Spread them out in their pods on sheets of newspaper in a warm & dry environment. The pods will crack open themselves as they dry.
They need to be fully dry - so try biting one and if you don't leave a tooth mark - then they're ready for the bean jar!!