2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

[meadow]

i wonder if you are thinking of hyacinth beans?

That could be. It was one that I was considering for hummingbirds, and decided against growing it because our family commonly nibbles in the garden and this plant is highly toxic when eaten raw. I really think it is runner beans though.

eta: I should say that it isn't that I'm remembering runner beans exactly, it is that I am remembering a firm 'rule' (which is that runner beans are highly toxic). But I don't remember how I came to have that rule.

 

[flowerbug]

That could be. It was one that I was considering for hummingbirds, and decided against growing it because our family commonly nibbles in the garden and this plant is highly toxic when eaten raw. I really think it is runner beans though.

eta: I should say that it isn't that I'm remembering runner beans exactly, it is that I am remembering a firm 'rule' (which is that runner beans are highly toxic). But I don't remember how I came to have that rule.

runner beans also can be toxic to animals and people but i don't consider them more toxic than a red kidney bean. they should be cooked. i think dried hyacinth beans would be more toxic. some people do eat and cook the young pods. i've never tried them but we did grow them a few times here so i could check out the purple flowers.

 

[heirloomgal]

I read about kidney beans and thier particular lectin a few years ago. I'm not sure what to make of that since I've only ever cooked kidney beans in a crockpot, and usually set on low overnight. I like to make chili so I've done it fairly often, and never had a problem? And I've been cooking them like that for about 12 years. I checked out a site called Mumm's Sprouts, and they sell all kinds of seeds for that purpose, and they do have a P. vulgaris bean on thier list of sproutables, a Borlotti I think. I don't think bean lectins are all that dangerous, apparently most of them are water soluble and on the surface of seeds. I think it's more about thier digestibility and that varies from person to person relative to thier gut health.

 

[Zeedman]

I'm fond of sprouted lentils.

Kidney beans require boiling for a certain amount of time to deactivate a toxin (crockpots won't do it) so you sure don't want to eat those as sprouts.

eta: What @Pulsegleaner said! Pulsegleaner, it is sticking in my head that there is one bean in particular that is dangerous to eat raw (or maybe it is just certain parts) and I keep thinking it is runner beans. Do you know if they particularly more toxic than most other beans? (I'm especially curious because some of the large white ones are so delicious as Pizza Beans (HA!) but I'm hesitant to have them as a regular part of our diet)

All of the Phaseolus beans are toxic to some degree eaten raw... probably limas worst of all. Hyacinth beans too. Domestication may have reduced toxicity in some varieties, but personally, I wouldn't eat any of those as sprouts.

 

[meadow]

I read about kidney beans and thier particular lectin a few years ago. I'm not sure what to make of that since I've only ever cooked kidney beans in a crockpot, and usually set on low overnight. I like to make chili so I've done it fairly often, and never had a problem? And I've been cooking them like that for about 12 years. I checked out a site called Mumm's Sprouts, and they sell all kinds of seeds for that purpose, and they do have a P. vulgaris bean on thier list of sproutables, a Borlotti I think. I don't think bean lectins are all that dangerous, apparently most of them are water soluble and on the surface of seeds. I think it's more about thier digestibility and that varies from person to person relative to thier gut health.

Yeah, I'm not finding much other than people saying that the toxin is present and to boil them.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

That could be. It was one that I was considering for hummingbirds, and decided against growing it because our family commonly nibbles in the garden and this plant is highly toxic when eaten raw. I really think it is runner beans though.

eta: I should say that it isn't that I'm remembering runner beans exactly, it is that I am remembering a firm 'rule' (which is that runner beans are highly toxic). But I don't remember how I came to have that rule.

Immature hyacinth bean pods are fine (cooked); they're a standard vegetable in much of South and Southeast Asia (and Africa too, I think).

SOME mature hyacinth beans (mostly white seeded ones) are safe to consume dried and mature after you have cooked them.

For the others, leaching is required to make them safe, so you have to boil them in several changes of water, or let a lot of water pass over them (in a lot of areas, they let them soak in a moving river for a week or so.)

 

[Jack Holloway]

I remain amazed at how people figured out how to make these things edible.

 

[flowerbug]

I remain amazed at how people figured out how to make these things edible.

by trial and vomit (or death)...

all existing humans owe a debt to those who came before and learned how to do many things and, well, i'm greatful that my parents had sex at least four times (once for each of us siblings). no details necessary... but thankful, yes.

survivors can learn from those who didn't, so being a good observer paid off too. us wall huggers, we are rarely first to battle or high and mighty claiming the first prize, but i'm quite ok with that too.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

by trial and vomit (or death)...

all existing humans owe a debt to those who came before and learned how to do many things and, well, i'm greatful that my parents had sex at least four times (once for each of us siblings). no details necessary... but thankful, yes.

I'm still a little mystified by our discovery that we could consume the milk of other animals safely (especially now that archeological evidence shows we were consuming milk and dairy products LONG before the genetic mutation that meant that some people retained lactase production into adulthood. Basically people were consuming milk on a regular basis KNOWING it would cause pain and diarrhea.) I can only assume some person managed to hunt and kill a few nursing animals, and didn't want to let ANY of it go to waste, not matter HOW much it would hurt them. Regular consumption would have had to come after animal domestication; given how hard it is to kill a wild animal, trying to milk one that was still alive and fighting back would be nearly impossible.)

survivors can learn from those who didn't, so being a good observer paid off too. us wall huggers, we are rarely first to battle or high and mighty claiming the first prize, but i'm quite ok with that too.

"The early bird may get the worm, but it's the second mouse who gets the cheese."

or

 

[flowerbug]

...
"The early bird may get the worm, but it's the second mouse who gets the cheese."

or

or "Here, hold my mead!" ...

as for milking and such i'm pretty sure that would have been the goats and sheep that were more easily domesticated at first compared to the much larger animals, but once people knew it could be done in any form (from watching mothers nurse) it shouldn't have been too hard to extrapolate... getting animals tamed and domesticated and docile enough to put up with us, well, i'm not able to see completely into the past but there's a pretty good chance we were herders and perhaps nomadic ones at that (moving with the animals to fresh pastureage as the seasons and rainfall changed) so that too would have played some role. also the domestication of dogs as herder companions and animal protection.

if people could not deal well with milk they could however often deal with cheeses and yogurts - you just had to be stable enough to make those things and i'd not be too surprised if some of those were made "on the go".