Borlotti's

[Dorothy rouse]

Please can a Borlotti expert advise, I have some dwarf ones, almost finished producing I would say, also have climbing ones, just starting to produce lovely pods. I'd like to allow some to develop into beans for winter use, do I just leave the pods to develop beans, and let them dry on the plant? Or puck them and dry them indoors? Or neither of these?

First time of growing these, and they are delicious.

[Alison]

Get them as dry as you can on the plant. No then put them out on a tray at home to see if they'll dry anymore. You can dry them a bit at home but if you pick them too early they'll just rot.

[WilliamD]

This was early October last year. I'd let the Borlotti pods, and some others, get as dry as possible on the plant then put the on this mesh layer to dry further indoors. Once shelled they stored perfectly (still got some now).

[marchogaeth]

I know 2Sheds has said that she lets French Beans etc fill the pod and then harvests them and freezes the beans for use in stews etc over winter. I'm planning to do this with my Borlottis and Soup Peas this year as it's less unpredictable.

[Chippy Minton]

We left ours on the plant as long as possible (first frost which made the leaves look awful) then harvested. Some nice person on here suggested freezing them, you can dry them but there's always the danger they're not quite dry and go mouldy, freezing worked really well!

[Chippy Minton]

Just looked it up, it was Bren in Pots who suggested freezing, and she has a great link for La Ribollita (a soupy type thing with borlottis, cavolo nero and bread). Best thing for a Borlotti! Yum.

Would link to the thread if I knew how

[Alison]

We left ours on the plant as long as possible (first frost which made the leaves look awful) then harvested. Some nice person on here suggested freezing them, you can dry them but there's always the danger they're not quite dry and go mouldy, freezing worked really well!

Never enough room in my freezer for things like that although I do leave them on trays for a few weeks before putting in jars just to make sure they are fully dry. Somebody once told me that the way to tell if they're dry enough is to try and pinch them with your finger nails. If you leave an imprint then they're not ready to store.

[Dorothy rouse]

How about popping them at bottom of airing cupboard for couple of days to ensure thoroughly dry, before putting in jars? Would that work? My freezer is also always full.

[Alison]

How about popping them at bottom of airing cupboard for couple of days to ensure thoroughly dry, before putting in jars? Would that work? My freezer is also always full.

Dunno, not lived in a house with an airing cupboard for about 20 years

[Two_Sheds]

do I just leave the pods to develop beans, and let them dry on the plant?

It's the same method you would use for saving any seed: let the plant go brown, dry & crispy, then harvest the seeds

2Sheds ... freezes the beans

Once we get into September, the beans won't dry out any more, because nights are getting too cool & damp.
Therefore, any pods that are leathery rather than crispy are shucked & the immature beans are frozen, because they won't dry enough to store as haricots