I grow many different kinds of beans every year. They grow right in the middle of the back garden on a 6X6 concrete reinforcement wire mounted on posts perpendicular(ly). It's a poor picture but if you look at the posts, there is garden on both sides of them. In the foreground, where there is shade and then you can see in the background. It must be 20 feet or so. I watch them carefully and make sure they don't stay too wet. So far, every year has been good for drying. I am sure, just like other crops, drying beans on the vines may have some bad years. I let them go past frost sometimes but name sure they are dried when picking them after that. Sometimes all the leaves are dried and gone away. A good time to pick them is when they rattle. If I pick them too moist I just run them in the dehydrator for a little bit. It is advised to cook them a little bit anyway to kill off all those little things we all never want to talk about. I don't usually have to heat them and never worry about those little things. As soon as they are picked I shell them. Here is a sample of the stuff I have saved. I try to find unusual ones and I really love some. Cranberry Beans Fava Beans Lima Beans Northern Beans
I like to do many different things with my beans. Having canned beans is another way to have home made "instant" food on your shelves. I can leave them dried and can them as Winter sets in. There are times that I am so tired or am running late and don't want to make dinner. I always have what I call, instant, home made food in my pantry. Now, take note, I open a can of my tomato sauce, and some of my home grown dried herbs and garlic. I try to use as many things that I grow and process myself. Canned Ham and Bean Soup 8 pints Liquid first 30 oz tomato sauce About 6 cups water 1 T thyme 1T parsley 2 t pepper 3 t salt 2 T sugar 1 ½ T mallassos 1 T liquid smoke 1 T garlic poweder 3 T wistershier sauce 3 T beef boulion Heat to boil and set aside. Now in jars ½ cup dried/rinced/drained white beans ¼ cup diced onion ¼ cup dicecd carrots ¼ cup diced celery ¼ cup diced ham Add above liquid to jar 1” head space, will loose some, air bubbles out and lids and process in a pressure canner. 8 pints @75 minutes and 15 lb weight I am at 1001 feet. I don't know where I got this recipe to give credit or if I made it up myself.
Pork and Beans 1 lb Navy or great northern beans soaked 1/4 cup brown sugar 1 onion diced 3/4 teaspoons yellow mustard 2 tablespoons molasses 4 cups tomato sauce 3 cups water 6 or 8 pieces 2? each of bacon or pork, fried Soak beans. Mix the remaining ingredients except bacon. For each pint jar, use 1 cup soaked beans. Add 1 cup liquid mixture and stir to mix well. Add 1 piece of bacon and push under liquid. Clean jar rims and adjust lids. Process in a pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure for 75 minutes. Makes 6 pints Again, I have this in my files and don't know where I got this recipe for credits.
Many thanks Barb for your instructions here. When you dry your beans and then can them, do you soak them too, like dried beans from the store?
Beautiful garden spot and will have to try the pork and beans (not to can,, just to cook). Are those the large speckled butter beans or the small? I have been trying to find the regular large limas (butter beans) and the large speckled beans. I dry peas every year but don`t shell them by hand. I just put a bunch in a large bowl and crush the shells with gloved hands then take the bowl outside with another one on a good windy day and pour from bowl to bowl allowing the shells & chaff to be blown away. Those hard shells will eat your hands up. I take the easy route.
I labeled my bean pictures above so you could know what they are. I really don't know much about beans except, like KK, I call them yummie. I don't care about the name but when I go to buy my beans to grow the guy gets a kick out of me describing what I want...If they dry I love them.
Thanks Barb for all the info. I bet a lot of Garden Stewies will try growing beans the next season. I know I will.
mmmm Beans, i cooked up the last of last years beans this week and was impressed how well they store. thanks for sharing your recipes barb. my favorite dried is the cranberry or borlotti bean, i crossed mine with a runner bean for a quicker harvest and longer pods. had a great crop this year. The fava bean or broad bean doesn't have a chance to dry in our garden, its one of the best fresh beans out there especially with a bit of bacon. instead of a fence i use 10ft poles in a teepee shape uses about a 3ft by 3ft square of soil and i can get about 12-14 plants in that space. Most of which grow higher than the poles. Thought i would mention it for your climbers barb as you might be able to get more beans with taller plants. we eat the beans year round from young shells, to fresh beans and finally the dried bean. My wife isn't fond of runner beans so i have stopped doing them. But we do pole beans which again we eat through the year and collect any left over at the end of the year for dried beans. Great for baked beans. On of my favorite gardening veg, as the dried beans can be used the following year as seeds (YAY FREE), great variety for eating through the year from greens to beans, easy to store and they put nitrogen back into the soil.
Found a better picture of that bean fence. That's a part of it. This is before the wire was put up. Next year I will make a point of taking veggie garden pictures. I should be spending more time out there also, next year.
