2018 Little Easy Bean Network - Join Us In Saving Amazing Heirloom Beans

aftermidnight said:

Maybe not the best write up on runner beans but the first one I came to...
http://www.eattheweeds.com/scarlet-runner-bean/
I've never eaten runners raw but some have, I've tasted other beans raw but not in great amounts. Some people tolerate them with no ill effects, other haven't. Some beans are more toxic than others in the raw state.

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I didn't know this. I've always eaten green beans raw in the garden. Not in great amounts...but never experienced any noticeable effects. I will keep the kids from eating them off the vine from now on. Thanks Annette.

thistlebloom said:

I didn't know this. I've always eaten green beans raw in the garden. Not in great amounts...but never experienced any noticeable effects. I will keep the kids from eating them off the vine from now on. Thanks Annette.

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i don't think raw green or wax beans are a problem as long as the seeds inside aren't (well developed AND the plant is a red kidney bean (or similar variety)). i just found out i should be cooking my lima beans instead of eating them raw, but i never really ate a lot of them raw to begin with.

aftermidnight said:

Maybe not the best write up on runner beans but the first one I came to...
http://www.eattheweeds.com/scarlet-runner-bean/
I've never eaten runners raw but some have, I've tasted other beans raw but not in great amounts. Some people tolerate them with no ill effects, other haven't. Some beans are more toxic than others in the raw state.

Click to expand...

I just tasted one today. It was sweet but I couldn't get passed that tough pod. Pod was also a tiny bit fuzzy but maybe that was all in my head since I'm seeing the large ones all fuzzy.

Mary

thistlebloom said:

I didn't know this. I've always eaten green beans raw in the garden. Not in great amounts...but never experienced any noticeable effects. I will keep the kids from eating them off the vine from now on. Thanks Annette.

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Article said you can eat them raw sparingly. So maybe just 1 per kid? It mentioned lima beans no more than 5.

Mary

If eating green beans raw - be they common snaps or runner snaps - is toxic to any degree, then I must be a goner. I love snacking on snaps as I garden, have done so since I was 5 years old (not saying how long ago that was). My kids grew up doing the same, and my grandchildren too. Never ate too many at one time, though... usually snacked on peppers, radishes, or tomatoes at the same time. For young children, I always picked the pods for them, so they never were allowed to pick or eat any mature pods.

It is the developed or developing seeds that contain the toxins - and all the commonly-grown members of the Phaseolus genus contain one seed-borne toxin or another. Soaking, and cooking in boiling water, removes or destroys most of the toxins. If not, I would REALLY be in trouble, because I freeze, cook, and eat mature shellies from all of them. In large amounts. At least half of the beans in my garden each year (from common beans, to runners, to limas) are grown expressly for that purpose. For the most part, all shellies are first blanched, then cooked (usually after freezing). Adding the blanching step means that the beans have been cooked in two changes of water before being eaten.

Hubby just brought in the first dried on the vine Piekny Jas pods. I just shelled them. Some are smooth and shiny, some have a pebbly finish, maybe due to the hot weather we've had. Lots more to come off my three plants.

First of the dried bush beans are in.

@Bluejay77 Where were the Paula beans from? I definitely got a cross on the plant in the Paula bean row. The plant is 6 inches taller than the other Paula plants, purple veining, and purple pods. At first I thought a purple dove seed might have accidentally made it in with the Paula seed, but no this is definitely a cross as it looks nothing like purple dove and is a different shape and much bigger. Very pretty seeds! Took some pictures tonight, but the lighting is bad (will try to take more pics if there is interest). The color is almost a dusty purple.


Paula bean is on the upper left. Purple Dove on the upper right. Our mystery bean center by the quarter. Got quite a few seeds and more still on that one plant.

Lady0bug said:

@Bluejay77 Where were the Paula beans from? I definitely got a cross on the plant in the Paula bean row. The plant is 6 inches taller than the other Paula plants, purple veining, and purple pods.

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I got the bean from a fellow in Port Byron, Illinois. He's a Seed Savers Exchange member. I tend to get some outcrossing from his seeds. I'm also getting a lighter colored seed out of the three I planted in flower pots. Seems though I have more of the darker ones. I'm getting all green pods with purple stripping. The bean is supposed to be a snap bean. One of the late Robert Lobitz's original beans.

The "bush" long beans (Thai Soldier) are winding down, and a lot of pods are drying for seed. The pod color is striking & the early yield was heavy, but I wasn't impressed by the flavor or texture of the cooked pods. Not bad as the early part of a succession strategy though, while waiting for the better (but later) pole varieties.The dry seeds are not elongated like most yardlong beans, and look very similar to black eyed peas.

Left: Thai Soldier Right: 3-Feet-Plus

The pole yardlong (3-Feet-Plus) has picked up where Thai Soldier left off; the vines are branching vigorously & yielding heavily. A few of the earliest pods were let go, and I picked the first dry pod today. These would probably go until frost if kept picked, but at some point, I need to let them go for dry seed. This is one of my favorites; firm, slightly sweet, and slow to develop seed. The dry pods have an unusual greenish tint when dry.

The Tarahumara runner beans were slow starters compared to the other pole beans, to the point where I wondered if I had spaced them too far apart. They are 12" apart in the row, and were put in as transplants when squirrels destroyed the first seedlings. The vines flowered very early, but the foliage remained sparse - until a couple weeks ago. The vines began sprouting new branch runners at nearly every node, and growth has really exploded since then. Quite a few pods have already set, but the vines show no sign of slowing down. Hummingbirds have taken notice, and are daily visitors... you can just see one as a blur in the photo below.

There are two adjacent rows, gradually merging into one tangled mass. Every garden needs a little chaos, and the hummers like it, so I let it be.