Climbing beans

[supersprout]

Cyber veggie show?
[Is it unusual to eat 'fresh' shelled beans] We do this with the beans from Blue Lake, blauhilde, kentucky wonder, they're all haricot type. Is this unusual?

1. The Fruit & Veg Showcase - if we start a thread on 'Drying Beans' or similar we can show off our pics in October

2. I think it's unusual for people in the UK to eat 'fresh' (wet?) beans out of the shell, people on the Continent seem to appreciate this 'middle' stage. The UK seems to have missed out. We tend to go for all or nothing - either French bean style complete with pod, or completely dried and shelled. Certainly judging by the number of posts in UK forums I see asking if Runner and French beans are any good when they've 'overgrown'! I've also noticed that even home-grown dried beans have a fresher taste, probably because they are the last season's. And far less cooking. Oh, you've got me going again ...

[smallblueplanet]

Maybe you're right about the Brits and beans, but we're veggies so we recognise good protein when we see it!!

We don't have room to grow that many bean wigwams and so prefer to freeze our extra tubfulls of Borlotto & haricot. I'm not keen on drying 'em they don't taste quite as good, but they do taste better than shop bought dried beans.

[supersprout]

I'm trying to preserve food in the old fashioned way, without the freezer, so drying and bottling are two options. This year we bottled our borlottis (try saying that after sundown ha!)



Now I'm wondering if I could bottle the 'wet' haricots without pre-cooking and still get that lovely fresh taste. Well worth an experiment later this year, but you do need a pressure canner for low-acid food.

Response to earlier post: I've seen borlotti and barlotti, happy with either

[pigletwillie]

I am looking forward to harvesting those gigantes you sent to me SS.

I also have dwarf and climbing borlottis which I grew last year. The climbing version as Sarah said yielded more, so once the dwarf seed is finished I shall stick with the climbers. I shall also try those fine Kenan beans that have been mentioned in another thread.

[rustylady]

I'm a veggie, so I eat lots of beans...great source of cheap protein. Last year I grew (& dried) the following - Climbers: Blue Lake and Barlotta (beautiful like fat pink sausages);Dwarfs: Purple Queen; Sungold (dwarfs do best on my windy allotment - no pun intended) plus Black Eyed Peas, white haricot, miscellaneous green & red beans, and Black Beans (all from a Holland & Barrett soup mix). I don't bother with runner beans, don't like 'em. Good luck. www.OrganicCatalogue.com have some lovely varieties.

[Snadger]

I grew borlotti and butter beans for the first time last year. Because I only had a couple of Kilo I just shelled them, mixed them together and froze them.

When I boiled them recently the borlotti lost all there colour and went green (like broad beans) They tasted really nice (I had them with Sunday lunch and put buttered garliced mushrooms on top Yummie!

Just wondering, is it usual for them to turn green or could it have been(sic) cos I froze them.???

[serenity]

I grew borlotti and butter beans for the first time last year. Because I only had a couple of Kilo I just shelled them, mixed them together and froze them.

When I boiled them recently the borlotti lost all there colour and went green (like broad beans) They tasted really nice (I had them with Sunday lunch and put buttered garliced mushrooms on top Yummie!

Just wondering, is it usual for them to turn green or could it have been(sic) cos I froze them.???

yes, they do loose there colour when cooked which is a great shame as the colouring when raw is so beautiful

[JennieAtkinson]

I grew Borlotti beans last year (in the plytunnel), they didn't grow very tall, but were'nt dwarf. So not sure if I did anything wrong.
They were a good "oooh aaah" crop gaining quite a number of brownie points from non-gardening friends and have been delicious in soup (mediterannean soup) as they freeze very well. I didn't get a huge harvest, but its been enough.
They were very pretty too. Don't know why I'm saying all this as I haven't ordered any this year!

[Poledragon]

I grow a fair amount of borlotti beans, but eat them snap and dried. I think this year I'll try some fresh shelled - always up for something new to eat!

Sounds like I'll have to try some Blue Lake too - amongst the other 30+ varieties I've got already.

[madderbat]

I grew Borlotti beans last year (in the plytunnel), they didn't grow very tall, but were'nt dwarf. So not sure if I did anything wrong.
They were a good "oooh aaah" crop gaining quite a number of brownie points from non-gardening friends and have been delicious in soup (mediterannean soup) as they freeze very well. I didn't get a huge harvest, but its been enough.
They were very pretty too. Don't know why I'm saying all this as I haven't ordered any this year!

Can send you some if you want JA. Italian lottie holoder gave us a huge tub full last year and I've got plenty for planting again (or might just cook with some too!) pm me with address if you'd like some.