Kitchen Garden Forum

I bought a cheap pack of climbing beans at the garden centre and they've done really well.

I picked bunches as young pods and ate them, but now a batch have started to get beans in them. Can I leave them to get big and eat them like broad beans or dry them and use them like borlotti beans or should I eat them now before the beans get too big?

Hi Malk

Your best bet is to leave the beans to grow then pick them and shell them. They will take a bit more cooking than broad beans. I picked a large crop of fully mature French beans over the weekend - they are now in the freezer. You really need to pick all the beans when they are ready rather than letting them get too dry on the plant. They freeze beautifully.
Have a look at my last "dissertation" on borlotti - contains a link to my recipe.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=7443

Great Alan, I'm looking forward to having enough beans to do lots of winter stews instead of just one.