Runner bean seeds? Edible?

[Acanthus]

I have far too many runner bean and French bean seeds harvested to use next year, and wondered whether they were ok to cook with? Maybe in chilli, or soup? Suppose they would need soaking and long cooking? Haven't read anything about them being poisonous.

[Bren In Pots]

Acanthus have a read at this thread by twosheds :-

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ans_26962.html

it should have all the info you need plus a few recipes.

[noviceveggrower]

This is a great thread Bren. Some of the recipes sound lovely

[lottie dolly]

I purposefully let beans go big and fat for the seeds,espescially the white seeds,if you saving them as dry beans,they need to be fully ripe with brown skins,pod and let dry till very hard,i find that,if they are podded to early they will just go mouldy brown,however,you can freeze some instead of drying,then you can cook without the need to soak overnight.

[Alison]

I've got loads of dried French beans saved but this year I've also saved the huge white ones that Real Seeds are selling and they're amazing - really nice as shelly beans but even better as dried ones. Got a really good harvest from only about 12 plants and am still picking even though the frame has half fallen down under the wind and weight of the crop.

[Thelma Sanders]

Alison, are they the Gigantes beans? I wondered if they were bigger than the Spagna Blanca I usually grow, as I only use them for making the Greek beans dish

[Alison]

Alison, are they the Gigantes beans? I wondered if they were bigger than the Spagna Blanca I usually grow, as I only use them for making the Greek beans dish

Yes, they're the ones. Maybe a tiny bit bigger but not much in it. Am very impressed with them. Are the Spanga Blanca runners too?

[Thelma Sanders]

Yes, and crop well here.

All the ones I left on for seed got mildew so need more seed for next year, so I think I'll try the Realseeds ones, and compare

[Two_Sheds]

I had a massive crop of white beans this year: they're a mixture of Spagna, White Lady and Moonlight.

I don't bother keeping them separate, they just all go in the ground unlabelled. This year some of them reverted to red-flowered, with the seeds inside being the standard mauve with black speckles. I tried pulling out all the red-flowering plants, but missed a few. The seeds are still edible*, I just prefer them white.

They WL and M are v.prolific, and the S tend to mature a bit later. I keep the earliest-to-mature seeds for replanting the following year


* ensure you understand & follow the guidance for eating bean seeds, so as to avoid poisoning. I've had bean poisoning myself, from eating undercooked beans, and it's very very unpleasant

[Acanthus]

Wonderful! Will harvest all I have and make some of these lovely recipes. And order some gig antes for next year also. Many thanks.

[Knight of Albion]

As with all beans, they're a good source of protein - and nutritious.