Kitchen Garden Forum

Anyone else fed up eating runner beans, I seem to be having them 4/5 times a week to try and use them up.
A Jamacian gardener on the allotment lets his grow on and then shells and dries the seed and uses them in stews and caseroles, have any one on the forum tried doing as he does?
At the moment I am putting the big ones on the compost heap.

Bren

Good evening Bren, i don't think i could ever get sick of runner beans, but i must say it has been an exceptionally heavy cropping year.

Hope your'e keeping well by the way.

Don,t forget to save some of the biggest and best beans for seed.

My in laws use the dried beans as you describe. I can't see any harm in it.
Why don't you blanch and freeze the surplus? It only takes ten minutes, start to finish. Put the kettle on to boil. As it's heating up, top, tail and slice the beans. Pour the boiled water into a saucepan and put the heat on. As you're waiting for the water to boil in the saucepan, let the tap run until it gets really cold, then fill a bowl. Put the beans in the saucepan, wait for the water to return to the boil. Strain the lot in a colander, rinse the beans in cold water and tip immediately into the bowl. Wash out your saucepan while you're waiting for the beans to cool down. Strain them again, into a freezer bag and into the freezer.
Sometimes you can do it as you're cooking tea. Saves wasting them when you've put all that effort into growing them.

Jenny I have stacks put in the freezer, must leave a bit of space for other things, ( I forgot to mention that) there's no peas or raspberries in there this year the crops were very poor, didn't get enough raspberries to make jam either, but I have done some plum which we like, I may do some apple and blackberry.

OH I am keeping well just a bit tired doing the work of two, thanks for asking.

Bren

Sorry Bren. Teaching grandma to suck eggs! I have the opposite problem. A freezer full of soft fruit, but we're eating the runner beans as they come.

Dear Jenny, i must say it does take a really good gardener to grow a good crop of runner beans.

My wife makes a fine Runner Bean chutney - I can post recipe if you are interested (it might be there already, I don't usually read that section).

Hi Bren,
Try cutting them up small and frying with onion, bacon and something like oregano.

Try this site as well.

http://vegbox-recipes.co.uk/ingredients ... hp#recipes

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Granny

oldherbaceous wrote:Dear Jenny, i must say it does take a really good gardener to grow a good crop of runner beans.

Be careful OH - don't give your gardener's address, or everyone will want to employ him

My crop sadly hasn't yielded enough this year to grow sick of. Have frozen a few bags though, and the few remaining on the vines are being eaten when nice and small. Was very fed up returning from hols about having to throw about three pounds of big tough ones on the compost heap.

Our crop has been absolutely appalling this year
there was a less than generous first flush, then nothing for the last 6 weeks or so. This includes all the climing beans. I have a few frozen ones left from the initial crop, but have had none fresh for ages.....

oldherbaceous wrote:Dear Jenny, i must say it does take a really good gardener to grow a good crop of runner beans.

Yes, and it takes an even better one to grow exactly as much as they need.

Thanks everyone for helpful replies will look at runner beans differently now.
Granny I have made a copy of the vegbox-recipes, and will try them.

Geoff could I have the runner bean chutney recipe, I already do green tomato and beetroot chutney.
Thanks

Bren

Dear Jenny, thats put me in my place.

I had some of my Mothers runner bean chutney tonight, and very nice it was as well.

Chutney recipe in "Recipes"!