Beans...the undervalued home veggie

[Meadowlark]

Beans are often undervalued as a home vegetable crop in favor of more glamorous varieties. However, if you grow home veggies for taste few things are more rewarding than home grown beans. They taste orders of magnitude better than store bought (not to mention less gas), they cook in less than half the time, and they are easily preserved for many months. They are a legume and also can serve as an outstanding rotation soil conditioning crop for the home gardener.

I have grown various types over the years, but for shelling have found these three types to be superior:

Bingo(center in photo): Big, creamy pods streaked with bright pinkish red with a hearty delicious flavor. Taste amazing in soups or traditional Italian recipes. They are a pole bean climbing 6 ft and heavy producers. Very easy to grow and harvest.

Cranberry(left in photo): Arrived from England around 1825 and are established as the pinnacle of quality in home garden beans. Bush bean, very tasty and easier to handle than smaller pintos

Pintos(right in photo): Small but highly flavorful and are a central part of the cuisine of many Latin American countries and Texas. Cowboys would have starved to death without them. They are prepared in refried beans and chili con carne and are typically served with rice. Pintos are also used in three-bean salads, minestrone soup, stews, and casseroles.

This year’s crop is shown below…about 20 gallons from two double planted rows. Takes one day to pick, another day to shell/dry/prepare. This will provide all the beans we can use for at least a year and more.

Highly undervalued source of excellent organic protein from your home garden.

 

[headfullofbees]

My previous problem with beans (I usually grow them for the pods rather than the seeds) is that I lived remote from them for up to two weeks at a time, and once they have gone past their best, they are difficult to get back in good shape.
With no such separation now I have moved to Scotland, beans and peas are move nearer to the centre of my harvest, and I am growing double, even treble what I have done recently, with the intention of harvesting the beans.
However, I still have not found a good way to preserve the pods of runner (English) beans, so if anyone can help, I'd be most grateful.

P.S. I'm not keen on mush.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Preserving runners is problematical. I grow runners for instant eating, they are a bit special young and fresh, and grow climbing French beans and broad beans for freezing.

 

[headfullofbees]

That tends to be what I do. I just wondered if anyone had come up with a way that doesn't mean I'm eating unpleasant mush when I later cook them.

 

[skinyea]

for bingo. do you eat the who bean or just the pods?

 

[Ruderunner]

Depends on variety. Some develop a very tough husk so you just eat the seeds.

 

[Meadowlark]

for bingo. do you eat the who bean or just the pods?

Bingos are a shelling bean....meaning they are meant to be shelled. Because of their large size, they are very easy to shell by hand at maturity.

 

[Mike Allen]

Very good for your general health.