[MoreWhisky]

This is the first yr ive grown borlotti beans and im just after any advice about harvesting, drying and any tastey recipes please. I also hear u can eat them raw when small is this true?

My beans are starting to fill out nice now and look very pretty 

Cheers MW.

[Quetzal]

We got a recipe from Sarah Raven's book of vegetable cooking: you boil the beans until they're cooked, and then add them to some sliced onions/red peppers/white wine/bit of sugar/lot of olive oil, put it in a jar, makes a sort of sweet and sour bean dish that keeps for ages and tastes great.

[lacewing]

I grow Borlotti beans every year and use the dried beans in soups, stews and cassroles, during the winter months.  I stop watering the plants around the second week in September. Wait until the pods become dry and papery, then harvest and shell the beans. Spread the beans out on trays and place in a dry airy place for a few days to dry out compleatly. Pack into jars and store in a cool dark place.  Dried beans should be soaked overnig before use,

[MoreWhisky]

Ive still had problems with these beans,

 The first lot i picked just dried shrunk brown winkly things i have thrown them out.

The rest i have left unpicked until the pods are purple and more 'papery' . I have had to pick them tonight as im frightened left any longer they will drop the beans. so i now have a big bag of these to sort out tonight, as they are my last im still a bit worried about drying these out 

The beans still do seem to have some moisture in them, The lovely colour they are now are they meant to retain this colour when dry?

Any further advice offered to a borlotti bean amateur would be really helpfull as i dont want to ruin these my last lot now. 

[mumofstig]

they should end up looking like the seed you planted, when completely dry.

[New shoot]

They will be usable whatever stage they are at MoreWhisky 

If I have to pick Borlotti for dried beans when the pods are not totally dry, I spread them out in the greenhouse for a week or so.

If the beans have swelled but are nowhere near dried, I cook them - they take about 20-30 mins - and freeze them.  Handy to have around as you can empty the whole bag into soups, stews or chillies straight from the freezer.  I prefer the latter and tend to pick beans at this stage now.  They have a different texture and taste to dried beans and to be honest you will be hard pushed to tell shop bought dried Borlotti from homegrown.

[MoreWhisky]

Thanks for the advice from you both.

I might cook some and freeze them tomorrow.

[lacewing]

As mentioned above, did you stop watering in september? And if the weather had been anything like what we have had down here in Kent, your beans should be bone dry by now. I harvested mine last week, when the pods were crackley dry and the beans inside hard. After podding, I spread the beans out on trays in the greenhouse for a few days, then packed them into Kilner jars. They will retain their lovely speckley colour if stored in the dark but will go brown and lose the specks if exposed to light.

[MoreWhisky]

Hi Lacewing , yes i did stop watering ages ago but there still does seem some moisture still in the beans even tho the pods are paper like. I tried drying my first lot on a window sill that explains why they went brown then.

Im drying this lot in the dark now, one question for you when they are dry do they still have to stay in the dark to retain that colour then?

Thanks for your help Lacewing.

[lacewing]

Yes, they really do need to be stored in a dark place to retain their colour.  The trick about drying them is, not to harvest too soon. They should be left until the plants look like they have given up growing and the leaves start yellowing. The beans should then be quite hard and only need a few days air drying to complete the process. Good luck!

[Paul Plots]

This year was the 1st year of growing them for me - so thanks for this thread - interesting reading.

I have very few to dry as I picked them as they were growing and we ate most of them then