Argh: how do i dry beans i picked too early?

[alia]

The garden has had a bad attack of bean mosaic virus, and we've been encouraged to rip up our bean plants if they get it. Well, I seem to have it, but I wanted to harvest something first, and then wait and see if the virus would spread higher up or if i could pick another round of beans later...

Meantime, I have a pint or so of beautiful, freshly shucked borlotti/ cranberry beans... they are huge and meaty and my pantry is so full of Things That Must Be Eaten Now I really want to dry these and save them for later-- if possible.

Is this possible? Or do I have to freeze them if I want to preserve them?

Alia
PS: Still no news on what the garden will look like next year: Us, or lawn.

[alan refail]

Hi Alia

You can't dry them if they are not mature - don't try. Though why anyone should want to dry borlotti when they are so good frozen fresh I can't imagine.

Just freeze them and enjoy in the winter - no soaking or long cooking

[alia]

er, my freezer is a little full. :}

also, i thought they were so pretty, i wanted them out where i could see them. (soooo pretttty)

i guess i better look up freezing beans. (i hope i can just pop them int a container, because i don't think i have room to freeze them as a single layer)

thanks so much for the advice! (I *wondered* why I couldn't find an explanation how to do it...)

[FelixLeiter]

The garden has had a bad attack of bean mosaic virus, and we've been encouraged to rip up our bean plants if they get it. Well, I seem to have it

Are you absolutely sure you have it? Be sure that's what it is before prematurely pulling up your crop. I only ask because a neighbour pulled up their tomatoes last year because of what they'd been told was Tobacco Mosaic Virus when in fact it wasn't.

You can dry fresh beans if you leave them in their pods. Leave the pods spaced out in the sun on wire mesh or similar to keep them off the ground and to allow the air to circulate. They take a wee while to dry, but it really does work. If you shell them first, they shrivel.

[alia]

No, I'm not sure, which is why I'm not ripping up my plants just yet (but feeling guilty about it, y'know, in case I'm Typhoid Mary). Thanks for explaining how to dry the beans without leaving them on the vine.

Dumb newbie question: I know you need to pick runner beans for the plant to continue flowering, and I know you can basically rip out bush beans when they've produced a crop of beans (er, right?), but I don't know how to get the biggest/best crop from my borlotti climbing/pole bean. If I pick the beans will it continue to flower (like runner beans), or will it just make a set number of flowers and then be done no matter what I do (like bush beans)? Help?

[alan refail]

Hi Alia

Borlotti - just leave them till the end of the season. At least that's what I do. You could, alternatively, pick mature beans as they appear; might help the highr/later ones to mature.

[FelixLeiter]

No, I'm not sure, which is why I'm not ripping up my plants just yet (but feeling guilty about it, y'know, in case I'm Typhoid Mary).

I wouldn't lose sleep over it. Viruses in plants don't spread anything like as readily between plants as they do between us. They need some sort of transmitting vector (as they say in the trade), usually insects like aphids, to do their dirty work.

Dumb newbie question: I know you need to pick runner beans for the plant to continue flowering, and I know you can basically rip out bush beans when they've produced a crop of beans (er, right?)

Exactly right. But they will keep producing if you keep picking.

but I don't know how to get the biggest/best crop from my borlotti climbing/pole bean. If I pick the beans will it continue to flower (like runner beans), or will it just make a set number of flowers and then be done no matter what I do (like bush beans)? Help?

Keep picking and the pods will keep forming. To maximise your total yield, you can pick the earliest-forming beans. However, and this is the important bit, it's essential that the pods are not left on the plant for long enough for the beans to form within. So pick them as green beans, and then let the others mature to full, er, maturity for drying.

Myself, though, I don't rate the pods of bean varieties which are bred specifically for drying as a green bean. They tend to be a bit stringy and full of parchment, and not very flavoursome. It's a good way of getting the most from your beans, though, if you're not as picky as me.