Beans - Drying

Standard climbing varieties should be sown 5cm (2") deep, 23cm (9") apart in the row. Usually two rows 45cm (18") apart are grown together using bamboo canes sloping inwards and tied to a horizontal bar for support. Dwarf varieties can be sown 15cm (6") apart in rows 60 - 75cm (24 - 30") wide. Both types should not be sown in the open until all danger of frost is passed. Earlier crops can be obtained by sowing seeds in pots in the greenhouse at the end of April or early May and transplanting end of May to first week in June. Dwarf French beans can be sown as late as early July. Bean Seed Fly can be a devastating pest in French Beans. Sowing indoors and planting out will lessen its effect. Pollination may be assisted by growing Buckwheat, Phacelia or Sweet Peas nearby.

If you want to eat as a standard French bean, simply leave pods on the plant and harvest  when young and tender, gather as normal. However if you wish to use your produce for drying beans leave the pods on the plant to mature, your plant should no longer be producing flowers when pods have reached maturity. If possible the best place for your beans to start drying is on the plant, simply leave them in place, (still watering and looking after the plant) and when the pod skins go brown and brittle, in the autumn, harvest the pods and they should be easily shelled. If the weather is wet and the pods can not dry in situ then pull the whole plant and hang in shed or other dry place, or pick the pods and dry on cardboard in a warm place, good air flow is essential. Watch out for moulds and rots, and discard any that show signs of problems. When beans are hard simply store in paper bags or cardboard boxes, again watch out for mould and rot, this would indicate that the beans were not dry enough when put into storage.