[Growster...]

As we'll soon have to revert to normal diets (?), I was wondering if there are decent suppliers of what are normally called butter beans, but also get called Lima beans, etc.

Every year we amass hundreds of unused pods from the runners, and I always save the seed, but the purple colour just doesn't make the cut...

I see D.T.Brown do a seed version, but does anyone have any suggestions for a 'pole' bean that produces large white beans near the end of the season?

[Swing Swang]

You coul try 'Lazy Housewife' Pole Bean from RealSeeds.co.uk

This company are really helpful, and if you say that you want them to eat dried then they'll certainly get back to you. When it comes to white varieties then you'll be looking at French rather than runner beans and you can often get good results by just growing your favourite shop bought/eating beans.

[Salmo]

I do not think you can grow Lima beans (i.e. butter beans) in the UK? Someone will probably prove me wrong.

Your best bet is borlotto beans. Usually these have speckler seed but there may be a white or nearly white variety.

[Goneterseed]

I grow a variety called Czar, it think from DT Browns. They are the nearest I've found to butter beans.

The true one's will not grow in our climate.

[sunshineband]

We grew Greek Gigantes, which are pretty similar to butter beans in shape and texture. Bought seeds from Real Seeds and grew them up wigwams, letting them just get on with life all Summer. Decent harvest!

[mumofstig]

I grow these
http://www.dtbrownseeds.co.uk/s.nl?search=spagna+bean#.WGK0K2dvjIU
pic from my diary

ps. ignore camera date!

[sunshineband]

They look good!

[Growster...]

Thank you all!

Isn't it strange that they're so rare here! Beans are so good for protein and roughage etc, and could be a life-saver - especially if tinned with tomato sauce... We often put fresh tomato (or frozen) in with a tin of Heinz, and they're altogether different! And of course, beans dry so easily, so they take up no room either!

I used to walk our JRT though a field of farm beans, and always grabbed a pod to munch for the next half hour. (Yes, I know it's a) pinching, and b) very bad for you, but I'm still here - I think...

I reckon 2017 might be 'The Year of The Bean'! I'll get Rowan Atkinson to sponsor it!

(It's so nice to start even considering thinking about what you might want to ponder about for the garden, isn't it! Sweet peas go in in a couple of weeks, and onions soon after)!

[New shoot]

I don't know why more people don't grow drying beans tbh. They are such an easy going crop and so versatile.  You can pick them fresh and cook them either to eat straight away or freeze, or dry them.  There's such a variety of colours, textures and tastes as well. 

This year I have quite a collection to go at.  Borlotti beans - both climbing and dwarf, Cherokee Trail of Tears - a brilliant climbing black bean, plus a huge pack of Franchii Impero Bianco - a dwarf white bean.  The 50p seed sales always tempt me into buying more than I thought I needed, but I never regret sowing them.  It certainly spoils you for the usual supermarket selection 
 

[sunshineband]

I don't know why more people don't grow drying beans tbh. They are such an easy going crop and so versatile.  You can pick them fresh and cook them either to eat straight away or freeze, or dry them.  There's such a variety of colours, textures and tastes as well. 

This year I have quite a collection to go at.  Borlotti beans - both climbing and dwarf, Cherokee Trail of Tears - a brilliant climbing black bean, plus a huge pack of Franchii Impero Bianco - a dwarf white bean.  The 50p seed sales always tempt me into buying more than I thought I needed, but I never regret sowing them.  It certainly spoils you for the usual supermarket selection 

and this year I was given lentil seeds too.... have to find a corner to give them a go! Chickpeas were not too bad last year, fruiting despite the early rabbit attack so they are on my list. I agree: drying beans are such good value crops and it surprises me that so few people locally seem to grow any

[mumofstig]

it surprises me that so few people locally seem to grow any

Probably just because they are so cheap to buy, ready dried.

Well worth growing your own if you have the space, though

[Growster...]

Twongo's butter beans are 50p a tin, and as that makes two 'portions', it sounds good sense to grow them doesn't it, as that's only about thee or four pods a throw!

Mrs Growster sometimes makes a proper spoon-standing soup, and if there are some beans in the fridge, I'll pop them in as well, and that really does last for the rest of the day, (and most of the next day as well...)!

I once went for a Japanese lunch, and among the various dishes, they served up some squares of coloured bean curd as a sweet course. It was fabulous!

And what about bean shoots? Marvellous!

Yup, it makes your 'pulse' race doesn't it - 2017 could well be 'The Year of The Bean'!

[DanielCoffey]

As I see it, one of the issues with  growing beans specifically for drying is the amount of space you need to grow enough to be more than a novelty. Yes, you can plant Czar, eat the young runners then as they begin to get to the stringy stage, leave them on the bush to develop fully and start drying but the yield isn't brilliant if you intend to live off the crop.

A chap from the BushcraftUK forum was growing Wizard field beans for storage and I asked him how many he thought he would have to grow to support a couple of people as a principal bean and the answer was in tens of metres of beds.

There is a seller of British-grown beans that are so much better than the commodity beans found in health shops but their selection is a little restricted at the moment due to wet summers. We use them heavily, especially their whole favas and red haricots. I can't wait to see if they get a crop of Gog Magogs (Czar) beans next year since they have not had any for two seasons now.

[mumofstig]

Twongo's butter beans are 50p a tin, and as that makes two 'portions', it sounds good sense to grow them doesn't it, as that's only about thee or four pods a throw

You have to use the price for dried ones, for a fair comparison, though, Growster  ; )

375g of dried butter beans are £1 at Trashco, about 8 portions.
I get about 2 'bowlfuls' from a jam-packed wigwam the equivalent of buying about 2 bags of dried ones. (make sure you save enough seed for the next year - or the cost of buying seed, each year, will make growing them even less cost effective)

Growing them is a good use of any spare space you have, but other than that, on a small plot, I don't think they are worth growing.

If you do grow some let us know how you get on : )

[New shoot]

A chap from the BushcraftUK forum was growing Wizard field beans for storage and I asked him how many he thought he would have to grow to support a couple of people as a principal bean and the answer was in tens of metres of beds.

To be fair, that would be true of any staple food crop if you were making a serious attempt to be self sufficient, be it wheat, oats, potatoes or whatever.  Wizard beans are remarkably productive and require almost no work, so I can see his reasoning for choosing them.   I've dried surplus crops of these and they are very good to cook with.   You can also grow them overwinter, have an early summer crop and then reuse the ground for other things.

I'm growing beans because I can grow different, tastier types than I can buy locally and because I like having some fresh and some dried.  As mum says, if you have room, they are worth trying.

Last year I grew my climbing drying beans amongst the squash in a modified version of the 3 sisters method.  I had dwarf ones in a row, but might revert to inter-planting them with sweetcorn next year, which I have done before successfully.

We're not veggie, but we do eat a lot of pulses.  I've got enough dried to last us a fair few months, plus several tubs of picked fresh and cooked ones in the freezer.   I buy dhals because you can't grow them here, but other than that, we can eat our own crops for a decent part of the year