Looking like magic beans you’d expect to read about in Jack and the Beanstalk, I’ve had fun this season growing a range of shelling beans in a variety of colours.
Have you ever contemplated growing beans? Not just green beans but beautifully coloured shelling beans, produced and harvested just for their seeds?
Will shelling beans grow differently from your standard green bean varieties?
Not with regards to climbing or dwarf varieties, no. They will appear to be a regular plant requiring a climbing pole or string. Once flowered their pods may be obviously different (some with speckles, some small and some distinctively yellow) or can be deceptively ‘normal’. Unlike green beans when you want to pick them young and tender, shelled beans will be ready to harvest when they begin to look a little disheveled. Fear not, the beans inside will be plump. In fact, wait for the plant itself to begin to die off and the pods start to dry and shrivel.
If you are growing a variety of beans in one patch be sure to note their variety on a stake as they may need to be treated differently from the others…read on.
COOK ‘EM FRESH
If you wish to dry shelled beans for a later date, do. To reinstate simply soak them overnight in water (this is important, not just to rehydrate but to extract the natural toxins – especially in the Kidney Bean variety). In fact, Kidney Beans need soaking regardless: 12 hours in water, then drain before cooking normally.
If you plan to eat them ‘fresh’ so to speak, you will still need to cook shelled beans vigorously for at least 10 minutes. Simply open the pods (as you would a pea pod) and scoop out the seeds inside….or top and tail the bean (cutting off either end). Boiling them will release any natural toxins. (Kidney beans contain a natural toxin called lectin and if eaten raw this can cause vomiting and stomach aches). After the necessary cooking, then treat just like any other vegetable: sauteed if you like them with a bit of crunch or thrown into a slow cook casserole. I find that shelled beans are better slightly soft so extra cooking for 40-minutes (whether in water, or in a stew or sauce) will help do the trick.
Canned kidney beans or cannelini beans have already been cooked, hence you can throw them in a salad and use them straight away.
COOKING DRIED BEANS
If you opt to dry the beans (either thoroughly on the window sill covered with a paper towel or muslin to keep the flies away, or in an electric dehydrator), before cooking you will need to soak them in water for at least 12 hours, drain and rinse, then repeat the ‘cooking process’ as above — boil for 10 minutes, then simmer longer to soften.
Fresh shelled beans don’t always resemble that you’ll find in a 3-Bean salad can….they get even more fabulous! Check out the varieties at your local seed store or watch out for any varieties that may be on offer at a Seed Exchange at your local library.
Bean varieties include: pinto, black, red, kidney, edamame, fava, lima (butter beans) – you name it, they grow. There are around 40,000 varieties of beans! Including peas, lentils, beans and chickpeas, legumes are a good protein source so grow them plentifully.
I grew Red Dwarf French Beans among my mix this season. Harvested very young, they can be eaten shell-and-all, just like snap peas. As the beans mature, they will then need to be shelled before extracting the seeds within.
CROP ROTATION
Not only are they delicious to eat, beans (and legumes in general) are really beneficial for the soil to replenish during crop rotation. You simply cant keep growing the same crop over and over in the same space and expect great results. The soil needs nutrients. A crop of legumes can help fix nitrogen levels in soil to encourage a better next season’s harvest of another crop. Be sure to move them around the vegetable patch!
