Anyone have experience growing shell beans? Dried beans? Since the price in the stores has gone up so much, I figure I should experiment with them as soon as possible. Be nice to not take up as much storage space with them too.
No, but if I was trying to do that I’d try to SPROUT THEM FIRST. Then, I’d plant the ones that sprouted.
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Ive grown them even here in our very short growing season. Thry aren't difficult to grow if you can keep the weeds under control over the 3 1/2 -4 months tgey take to mature.
I've found that the easiest way to harvest them is to pull the plants by the roots when most of the pods are dry or drying well. Hang them upside down in an airy spot to finish drying. Then strip the pods off and put them into a feed sack (or an old pillowcase for non-farmers.
Tie the neck of the sack closed snugly... put on some music, and stomp the sack! After a few minutes, shake it up and stomp some more. If they were fully dry, the pods will shatter and leave clean beans. The beans are heavier than the chaff, so if you cut a corner off the bottom of the bag, you can pour most of the beans out without a lot of trash coming along. Then winnow the beans (and dump the chaff/trash into a pail and stir it around to find any beans you missed.
There are some amazing heirloom varieties of dry beans... our favorites are Jacobs Cattle, Calypso (there are several names for them.. they are the black and white "yin and yang" bean) and one callet the .Hutterite Soup Bean. All will ripen in our short season, and the Hutterite soup beans make the smoothest, creamy bean soup.
Check out Seed Savers Exchange for some really neat varieties.
Summerthyme
Thanks Summerthyme! I'm south of you in WV, and eventually plan to grow under cover. I think I tried years ago and it didn't go well, or so I remember. Starting from scratch at a new place, I don't have high expectations from this kind of experiment. I've got years of soil prep/amendment ahead of me... but I'm feeling motivated to get as much experience under my belt here before... whatever else happens. Got totally washed out from April - September last year.
I have very successfully grown both anasazi and yellow eye beans that I bought in bulk - ZERO problems
ETA: we air dry, them shell them, then freeze them for 72 -96 hrs (just to be sure to kill any larvae that may be in them). then dry them in the dehydrator until you can hit them with a hammer and they shatter. toss them in a 2 QT mason ja,r add a cpl of desiccant packets just to be safe and vacuum seal them. we store them WITH the band on
hope that helps
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One tip that many people don't know... beans HATE wood ashes! Dunno why, but if you use ashes in your garden (grest source of minerals, and an excellent way to raise the pH if you need it), make sure you leave a strip where your beans are going to go.
They seem to do ok as long as there has been a year or two between applying the ashes and planting the beans.
Summerthyme
That's new info to me too, ST. Raggedy, I've planted lots of stuff from the store and done OK, with it.
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