Allotments 4 All

Hi all,

I have a massive load of Lady Di runner beans which I was hoping to shell and then dry the beans. I'm assuming I can do this by spreading them out as much as possible and leaving them to dry indoors.

Will this work? Can we store them when dry and then eat them in casseroles and the like?

Tony

 i have done that for years with french type beans (borlotti), that have too far gone to use as flageolets.
no reason why it shouldn´t work with runners.
in the first year though, there were quite a few weevil-infested beans after a few months.
to avoid that, put your dry beans in the freezer for 4 days. if there are any bugs, they will perish. afterwards store them in jars with lids on.
it works perfectly for me.

Thanks - am trying it now.

Quite a few of them have sprouted overnight! I assume I'll have to compost those.

Tony

Eat them. Sprouted seeds are really good.

Newtona2

We've left ours in the shells and drying them out spread out in the potting tray in the shed, turning them every couple of days.  I'll probably shell them this coming weekend.  I find it easier to shell dried pods than "fresh" ones, even if they are fully ripe. :-\

We store them in glass jars in a food cupboard.  I suppose if we needed to be really sure we should store tham in cardboard boxes to ensure they don't sweat and develop mould.  Don't think they'll last that long though!