Peas and beans

[Containergardener]

When I have grown beans it has always been the usual runners, tempted to try peas this year although what variety I don't know.
I use a lot of dried beans (or canned -rinsed) such as pinto , black, borlotti etc.

So I am looking for recommendations for exposed garden.
Peas recommendations
Beans I could [pssibly also use for drying? not something i have tried doing before.
May sound a silly question but:
Shooting peas? which ones to use and can you then cook the pea?
Shooting beans? which to use , whats in the cupboard? and can I do that, can you then cook the bean?

[nick the grief]

Douce Provence is an absolute beauty. Not very tall but like eating sweeties. If youve a greenhouse plant some in hanging baskets 1 seed per inch diameter (12" basket - 12 peas etc) around October when you stripped the basket plants out. they'll over winter andyou get them a bit earlier.

Hurst Greenshaft abit taller and you'll get around 10 per pod - really tasty

Taller varieties, I grow the following

Ne Plus Ultra and Alderman nice sweet peas but grow to around 6-7 ft
Mangetouts I grow Carougby de Mausanne and Golden sweet lovely flavour, andGolden sweet has yellow pods.

as and alternative to Runners try Cobra Climbing Fr Beans. 3 or 4 plants will give you loads its a really heavy cropper.

Drying beans I've got Borlotti and Charles Dowding swears by Czar Runners

That should give you a starter for 10 and I'm sure the other grapes will chip in

[Containergardener]

Wow brilliant, thanks.

[Penellype]

Another vote for Hurst Greenshaft.

If by shooting beans you mean beansprouts, the most usual beans used are mung beans which are small and green, and you eat the beans along with the shoots. You can sprout all sorts of seeds but you need to be careful to rinse them every day while you are doing it otherwise toxins can build up. You can cook the sprouts.

[Andraste]

I'm trying Gigantes beans this year. I've not grown them before but the blurb says if you can grow runners you can grow these

[Bren In Pots]

Here's my favourite pea and bean.

I've been growing tall Telephone peas since 2013 saving the seeds each year. They're sweet and tender and grow to 6ft plus.

My favourite bean is Bluehilda its a tall stringless french bean with purple pods that turn green when cooked.

[Containergardener]

Thanks everyone.

[ameno]

If you want beans for drying, I strongly recommend runner beans over French/climbing beans. They give over double the crop for the same number of plants in the same area of ground.
I grow three varieties of runners, all for drying. Spagna Bianca is one of them (giant white, like the Greek gigantes), the second is a black seeded variety (I forgot the name), and the third is my own inadvertent hybrid between Spagna Bianca and Enorma (it's a scarlet runner with the standard purple and black seeds, like Enorma, but the beans are huge, like Spagna Bianca).
I'm also trying St. George this year, also for drying, as it has different coloured seeds to most runner beans.

If you do want a climbing french bean for drying, I've had good crops from Lingua di Fuoco (be sure it's the climbing version, as there is also a dwarf one), although still only half or less than the runners. I've tried a lot of other french bean varieties for drying over the years, and most fell well short.

If you're eating dried runner beans, just be aware that you must boil them (a full boil, not simmering) for at least 10 minutes to destroy the toxins in them, like with dried kidney beans. If you don't do this, you are likely to get bad food poisoning (it should cause no long term harm, though).
I just cook mine in the pressure cooker. Under high pressure, beans soaked overnight take 10 minutes to fully cook, and get more than hot enough to destroy the toxins.

[Containergardener]

Thanks Ameno. I don't actually mind what I grow, as long as they grow
I was reading about weevils in the dried beans stored last night, how do you avoid that.

I use a lot of dried beans and pulses but have never tried using the pressure cooker to cook them. Thanks for that tip.

[Andraste]

Beans with weevils will have little entry/exit holes in them so you should be able to spot them but sticking the beans in a jar then into the freezer for a couple of days should kill any off (they'll stay in the bean but they are strictly speaking edible when cooked inside).

As long as they're stored in something appropriately air-tight then they should be safe from any marauding in the deepest darkest corners of the cupboard.

[ameno]

Thanks Ameno. I don't actually mind what I grow, as long as they grow
I was reading about weevils in the dried beans stored last night, how do you avoid that.

I use a lot of dried beans and pulses but have never tried using the pressure cooker to cook them. Thanks for that tip.

Bean weevils are not overly common. That said, I have had them in one batch of beans every year (a different variety each time, but always in one single batch).
The adults first lay their eggs on the dry beans when they are still hanging on the plant, so one way to avoid them is probably to pick them before they are quite fully dry (wait until the pods are brown and dry, but pick when the beans inside are not yet hard), then shell and lay out in trays indoors for a week to finish drying.
Or another I have found success with this year (no weevils this year) is putting the beans in the freezer for 2-3 days as soon as they are fully dry. This will kill any eggs before they hatch. Once removed from the freezer, the beans will need laying out on a tray for at least 24 hours somewhere warm again to allow all of the condensation to fully evaporate and the skins to dry again, before putting in tubs or jars for storage.
If you choose to freeze them, just be sure to separate out any beans you want to save for sowing next year before you freeze them. Freezing kills most of them, so they won't germinate anymore (although I have found a small number are still viable).

Technically freezing after discovering weevils in order to kill them is an option, but it's not one I would recommend. Although still safe to eat, beans which have had weevils in them have an unpleasant taste.

[Containergardener]

Thanks ameno, great info.

[Vince G]

My selections this year:

Runners: White Lady and Moonlight - I find white flowered beans seem less stringy
Peas; Hurst Green Shaft, Petite Provençal (petits pois), Sweet Horizon (mangetout)
Broad beans: Superaquadulce
Beans for drying: Borlotti Lingua di fuoca, Spagna. (If I've done it right you should see attached my yield from 4 plants of each)

[Containergardener]

Wow great haul there.

[Containergardener]

How many pea and bean plants does everyone sow and is this some every so often?