shelling and eating Giant Big Overgrown green beans

[patandchickens]

Probably I'm just "slow" (well ok, not so much with the "probably" part ) but after years of growing various sorts of bush, pole and runner beans and getting behind on the harvest (or missing some) so that you end up with giant, maturing beans that look like a snake that's been eating a string o' hogs...

...it FINALLY occurred to me that I could probably shell them out, boil them up and eat them. Same as you'd do with lima beans.

Yup, turns out that the result is fairly yummy. I can't decide whether it's fortunate or unfortunate that their frightening fungicidal-looking hot pink color fades on boiling to a nasty grey-mauve, but from an eatin' point of view they are really good. Especially they make good succotash with fresh corn. I tried it with two bush beans that I had somehow missed picking for a long time, and they were pretty good too, although rather smaller.

So, just passing this along for any other 'haphazard harvesters' like me

(Yes, I will let a *few* fully mature to save for next year)

Pat

 

[me&thegals]

Cool beans!

 

[bills]

I have to admit I have found a few bush beans that somehow remained hidden amongst the foilage, well past the usual point of harvest. Never have eaten any, so your post does give one "food for thought".

If one had a lot of them, I suppose you could cook the dryed beans into a nice bacon & bean soup.

My scarlet runner beans must be decendents of beans that my Dad originally dried some 15 years ago, as I continue to dry some, and replant every year.