SOME YEARS MY ‘SCARLET RUNNER’ BEANS—a pole variety and hummingbird favorite I’d never be without—finally peter out and then dry right on their bamboo teepees, when the fall is neither too wet nor complicated with an early frost. I always grab some of the big, flat purple-and-black-mottled seeds for next season’s planting, leaving the rest for whatever furry creature comes along to cache them for their own winter use, but lately I’ve been thinking: Why not grow beans for drying (a.k.a. shelling beans)—or at least start experimenting with dry beans for cooking, and see if we can get you hooked?
How to Grow Beans
GROWING BEANS, whether for eating fresh or drying, is pretty easy, if you follow some basic tactics:
- Select a sunny spot with well-drained soil.
- Rotate the spot you grow your beans, ideally on a three-year schedule, to limit disease transmission.
- Keep the area free of weeds (especially when the seedlings are young).
- Use an inoculant rated for beans to get the seeds off to the best possible start.
- If using untreated seed (which I recommend!), don’t plant too early; a soil temperature of about 60 degrees is considered safe.
- Space bush bean seeds maybe 2-4 inches apart within a row, and rows about 2 feet apart. With pole beans, I plant several seeds at the base of each leg of a teepee or other structure (with the “hills” of seeds therefore no more than about 2½ feet apart). With a dibber or your finger, poke the seeds an inch deep in the soil, and cover them.
- Never work in a row of beans in the early morning, or any other time the foliage is wet with dew or rain.
- If growing beans for fresh use, pick daily for maximum productivity, removing any that are peak size. For dry use—well, I bet you guess what the approach is there (tee hee, and see below).
How to Dry Beans
BUT WHEN are beans ready to be harvested for use dry? Some clues: “When at least 90 percent of leaves have fallen and pods are dry,” says Johnny’s Selected Seeds’ catalog.
The International Seed Saving Institute says that will be dry about six weeks after the fresh-eating stage.
“Allow beans to dry on the vine,” says Fedco Seeds, “until pressing them with your fingernail leaves no indentation.”
Everyone agrees: If wet or frosty weather threatens in the late going, pull the plants by firmly grasping the roots, and hang them to dry under cover.
This is actually the best way to harvest beans you want to use dried, anyhow—not a pod at a time. Even in a favorable season, it’s not a bad idea to hang them somewhere dry for a bit longer, anyhow, before separating the seeds.
When fully dried, on a big tarp you can “thresh” the seeds loose by beating the plants against the fabric. Or, slightly less chaotic, sit alongside the tarp and shell the seeds into a bowl, leaving the debris on the fabric. Primitive, but effective. And be sure to stash some seeds safely for next year’s crop!
Cooking Dry Beans
I EAT BEANS MOST EVERY DAY, and have all of my adult life. As a vegetarian for more than 30 years, they are a dietary foundation. But it gets boring with only pinto-navy-black, pinto-navy-black in the rotation (the most commonly available types whether dry or canned), so I’m thrilled to see the interest in heirlooms bring more types to market.
Whatever kind I cook, I follow the same basic practice: Soak overnight (changing the water at least once) and then simmer in fresh water (covering the beans by maybe an inch), to which I add bay leaf, a halved medium onion or two, a couple of whole cloves of garlic, and a carrot or two that I simply cut into big chunks. So simple. (With the onion and garlic, I even leave the skins on; I grew them organically and washed them, removing any soiled outer skin, so why not?)
Each variety—depending on its size, texture and how long it has been stored (meaning what percent moisture is in the bean before you cook it)—will take a different cooking time. Every batch of the same variety may even take a different cook time. Check regularly as the beans simmer until desired doneness is achieved. Could be 40 minutes, could be hours. If I am going to incorporate them into, say, a chili, I undercook them and let them finish in the chili sauce.
Cooked beans freeze well; I portion them into jars with cooking liquid so I always have a wonderful selection.
With some varieties like ‘Yellow Eye’ and the basic navy type and even the cranberry-style beans, I make my delicious baked beans (above). The recipe’s here.
Ordering Dry Heirloom Beans to Eat
Ordering Dry Heirloom Bean Seeds to Grow
THOSE ARE ‘CHRISTMAS LIMA’ beans (soaking at top of page, and in the left-most little bowl in the photo just above). In the middle bowl: ‘Yellow Eye.’ In the right-hand bowl: ‘Good Mother Stallard.’
I harvest my scarlet runner beans and usually end up with a cup or so of dried beans from the few plants that grow above my tomato trellis. They are a surprising addition to chili; guests wonder about these huge beans!
I’m trying out more dried beans this year, even though per square foot they don’t produce quite as much as some other crops.
Dried beans have been on my stove a lot recently, too. Please remind me how comforting wintertime dried beans are, when they are in competition with more glamorous veggies for springtime garden space?
I make use of dried beans as part of the coolers I make for my kids and they seem to love it. Of course, I add some sweeteners with it and natural flavourings to put a different spin to it.
Hi, Kristi — and yes, I wonder if I will give up space but I am going to try to discipline myself. At $5+ a pound (plus shipping) for the most interesting heirloom dry beans, it would be a very good use of a garden teepee or row!
Hi, John. Great idea, clever Dad and lucky kids to get such goodness. :)
I used to grow them for the look but
now I think I’ll try and eat them!
Thanh you
Hi Margaret,
Great post! I love growing (and my family loves eating) beans. There was a show on NPR today with the author of the new cookbook Bean by Bean, who also recommended the fabulous Rancho Gordo. But, as you say, they are expensive. Better to grow your own–I mean, why grow stuff that’s cheap in the supermarket, like celery, when you can grow leeks and heirloom beans? My favorites are Trionfono violetto, which are not only tasty but a grow on a gorgeous vine.
Me, too, Andre (not Andre who does our doodles but another Andre!). Nice to see you.
Our favorite dry bean is Cannellini. They don’t have the good looks of some of the others, but they grow reliably in our cooler summers and taste great. A local heirloom dry bean in northwest Washington State is the Rockwell.here is some info about them: http://willowoodfarm.net/rockwellbean.aspx. I’ve grown them a couple years now. It’s a very pretty bean that grows well in a cool summer climate.
I would like to add that we eat a lot of our beans as fresh shelled rather than dried. During the late summer we shell out extra beans while they are fresh or semi-fresh, put them in zip lock bags as is into the freezer. Come winter we can pull out the beans, they are quicker to cook, and have that fresh flavor. We have stored cannellinis, flageolets, and fava beans this way.
Cannot EVER get enough of beans!
Lovely post, Margaret.
Lauren, just last summer I grew two varieties of French celery and they were a revelation (and I am not a supermarket celery fan).
Margaret–still in the R&D stage with my vegetable garden (going in where my roses were for 20 years.)
Reading some books–yours (old ‘A Way to Garden’). The comments from a fellow Pac NW person above were helpful.
I’m not sure what I’ll buy–but it sure is fun just pronouncing all the names of the beans!
Count me in. I love beans
Just the inspiration I needed. I’ve been put in charge of a garden for children this year and the bean teepee will be a great addition.
Hey what a lovely blog.
I grow a lot of heirloom seeds myself for our seed bank. It is at the experimental stage right now. But we would like to make it free. Love the blog post about your Heirloom beans :)
Just received my order of Heirloom beans from Heritage Harvest Seeds in Carman, Manitoba, Canada. My first year trying to grow beans for drying. Can’t wait to see how my ‘Pepa de Zapallo, Snowcap, Flagg and True Cranberry turn out! What a timely, and great post!
Good for you, Tracy — guess that “great minds think alike,” huh? :) Can’t wait to hear how you go with them. Thanks for saying hello.
Thanks for sharing! I admit I am fascinated by dry beans. What interests me most about heirloom beans is the wide range of colors available, aside from the common black, white or red beans we find at the grocery stores and the great history behind some them. I must admit though, that growing dry beans in a small home garden is usually not practical, since the area required growing enough beans for storage is large but I really love to make a try.
I actually host a weekly gardening link up every Friday on my blog. I’d love for you to drop by and join in.
I have seen a great collection of heirloom beans in the Seed Savers catalog, and I am visiting the farm in Decorah in July, so I will definitely check them out!
Dried scarlet runner beans are amazing! They have a special meaty texture and flavor. Worth growing just for the fall table – never mind the pretty flowers. I cook them gently in olive oil and garlic and herbs, adding water as needed.
I agree, Abby, and they are gorgeous and delicious. I have some maturing right now (I hope!). Thanks for the cooking ideas.