[loobs61]

Hi everyone,
I have a lot of runner beans still on the vines but are to far gone to eat now, would probably be very stringy and tough. Apart from saving the beans inside for sowing next year is there any other way I can use them? seems such a waste to just throw them away .
 

[cadalot]

Cut them up and compost them

[ARPoet]

Pick the least stringy and chop em up finely and put into yogurt cups and freeze them for use in stews, soups and pasta sauce in the winter.

[Nobbie]

Let them dry off and use the beans in place of kidney beans in chillis etc.

[mumofstig]

Trench compost them - dig a trench, fill and then cover it.

Good for under peas and beans 

[Mr Dog]

Let them dry off and use the beans in place of kidney beans in chillis etc.

Seconded...add to winter stews, make bean soups. Why waste an extremely useful crop by composting or digging it in when you've put the effort in to grow it?

Once we've had our fill of fresh beans and frozen enough for winter use I leave them on the plants for as long as I can/dare (before the frosts arrive at the latest) then pick and leave the pods to dry fully in the garage before shelling and storing the beans in plastic tubs.

Runner beans aren't just for the pods!

[Dave NE]

A recent country file episode was focusing on the WI 100 years and one person pickled her runners, the presenter was knocked out by how tasty they were, Dave

[loobs61]

  Thanks for the replys everyone, I particularly like the sound of nobbies reply, using them in chilli con carn in place of kidney beans.

[loobs61]

A question for Nobbie,
Whats the best way to store the beans once taken from pods, I love the idea of using them in chillis

[mumofstig]

You can either freeze the shelled beans, or dry them and store in jars, once fully dried.

[GrannieAnnie]

But make sure they are properly dry before jarring them up.  I dried my borlotti beans last year for ages in trays, but when I put them in the jars they started to go mouldy.  So I froze the rest!

[jaydig]

But make sure they are properly dry before jarring them up.  I dried my borlotti beans last year for ages in trays, but when I put them in the jars they started to go mouldy.  So I froze the rest!

Same thing happened with mine, Grannie. Now, like you,  I just pod mine and freeze them instead.

[cadalot]

Same here I saved them for seeds and they went mouldy they last better in envelopes rather than jars

[Headgardener22]

I've made runner bean chutney in the past

[Nobbie]

I dried mine by hanging them in the shed for a while until they were easy to shell, and then put them on a tray in the airing cupboard to dry them fully before putting them in a sealed kilner jar. That was the end of last season and they still look fine. Really must use them soon.