Pole beans as dry beans?

Sad times, I finished pulling my garden last night by harvesting my scarlet runner beans as dry beans. I had pretty good luck with them this year. My wife is having a great time using them in her classroom to teach her agriculture unit. The kids think they are the magic beans from Jack and the Bean Stalk because they are so cool looking (she teaches kindergarten). She has used all sorts of different seed and life cycle examples from our garden and it fits so nicely with the I.B. philosophy of her school. Nice to see our garden put to so many good uses:)

OK, back to the subject question: Does anyone have suggestions on what variety of pole beans work best to harvest as dry beans? Most of the "dry" beans I notice are bush type and with my limited space I would like to use a type of pole bean. Started planning next year's garden already and want to plant a few defferent varieties.

Any of the pole beans can be used as dry beans. I'd try Kentucky Wonder, one of the older varieties. Also, check out the heirloom beans, many of them are dual purpose, as the homestead didn't have the luxury of two kinds of beans.

Sort of like dual purpose chickens, and cows.

TMaple, if you want a very prolific pole bean along the lines of "butterbean" I'd highly recommend Willow Leaf. Not only is it a great fresh bean, or shelly, it is also a great dry bean. The plants will also handle a few end of summer/Fall frosts, too, allowing whatever pods are on the vines late in the year to continue filling out.

If you are looking for a pole dry bean along the lines of a snap bean you will definitely enjoy Tobacco Worm bean. I consider it a multi-use bean as you can pick it early for snap beans, allow the pods to fill out and use it as a shelly bean, and also allow them to mature and use it as a dry bean. 'Tis one of the best dry beans I've enjoyed. (Ya see, I broke into my seed stock one year, just to give them a try, and I was real pleased with the flavor.)

By the way, both of the above mentioned beans or open-pollinated so you should be able to save seeds from either. If you choose to grow both of those in close proximity you can also rest assured those two won't cross with each other, thereby giving you pure stock each year.

Hope this helps!
Happy Gardening!

Shoe

All pole beans, as Shoe mentioned can be used as dry beans. The fleshy pod ones are best as snap beans and more difficult to shell as dry beans. Many of the really stringy ones are best used as green shellies or dry beans because the pods get tough and fibrous really fast. Genuine Cornfield, Cutshorts, There a lot of pole beans (P. vulgaris) out there. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=pole+bean&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&searcher%5Bgrex%5D=&search_prefs%5Bblank_cultivar%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search&offset=0

If you wish to try pole lima beans (P. lunatus), I would suggest the earlier maturing Carolina/Sieva rather than Willow Leaf which will probably be difficult in Minnesota. Willow Leaf is great below the Mason-Dixon line but problematic above it.

In your climate, you can grow runner beans (P. coccineus) which can also be used as dry beans. There are better cultivars than Scarlet Runner. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=runner+bean&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&searcher%5Bgrex%5D=&search_prefs%5Bblank_cultivar%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search

Thanks, and good point, Farmerdill, on TMaple's short growing season. I hadn't taken that into consideration. (Probably cus I'm such a big proponent of Willow Leafs!)

I was looking for another early pole lima; are you familiar with Carolina Red by any chance?

Shoe

Thanks for all the input, please keep it coming. The short season can be a challenge sometimes, especially when I read about people on the forum harvesting their produce for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners (yeah, I'm jealous) Beans are one of my must haves in the garden and I have plans for some new trellis' next year and I figured it would be a good time to try some new varieties of beans. I have grown a lot of bush beans but I am giving that space to tomatoes next year.

TMaple, although it is not a common practice in the U.S. you can start bean seeds in pots and transplant them out, giving you a bit of a head start on your growing season. (Getting a bean seed to germinate in cold soil is quite a feat; once they are germed though they can handle cooler temps than most folks realize, especially if you've worked your ground up and it has begun to warm up.)

Let us know what you decide. I'd be interested in how ya did!

Shoe

Famerdill and Horseshoe,
Between the two of you, could you explain to me these "phases" of a bean: "snaps", "shelly", "dry" Pole beans, bush beans, runners. Here's the bean/peas that are familiar to me that I'd like to grow: green beans that look like those Green Giant (et al) cut ones I buy in the can (only mine will taste MUCH better) - I have Kentucky Wonder seeds but haven't managed to get them to grow. I think I planted them at the wrong time last Spring, and it was too hot for them. Sugar snap peas; lady cream peas; crowder peas, purple hull peas, Louisiana Red kidney beans (haven't a clue what you grow to get this one!) and black eyed peas. Once I manage to grow the familiar stuff I'd like to branch out and try other types of beans/peas.

Your knowledgable input and experience would be most appreciated!

P.S. I have a slam dunk bean trellis just waiting for something to climb up on it! Please tell me what to plant.

Thanks in advance,

Linda

Gymgirl. The snap beans ( green pods) that are normally canned are versions of the bush Blue Lake. There are several companies ( Allen come to mind) that can the flat Romano types as Italian green beans. All processed snap beans (pods) are bush. Pole beans are climbing beans of any type. Because of the labor involved, they are pretty much limited to home gardeners or small scale market gardeners. Florida use to have some fresh market acreage around Dade county, but it is pretty much gone now.

Green shellies, are beans or peas shelled out before they dry. Many lima beans are processed this way either frozen or canned. Again bush versions. Common beans for shellies are done mostly by home gardeners and local market growers. Cowpeas are processed ( can or freezer) as green shellies. Most often Blackeyes or field peas. If you want other types, its grow your own or visit a local market.

Dry beans are just that. Dried in the pod on the vine and mechanically harvested. Bush form of course. These are ones you find in the grocery store under dried beans. Labor is prohibitive to commercially harvest pole beans, but many home gardeners do.

Kentucky Wonders are great for snaps and a satisfactory green shellie. They don't like heat so they don't do well here. Lazy Wife, Rattlesnake, McCaslan, and Missouri Wonder take the hot early summers a little better. Shoe is more into "heirloom" cultivars than I am so he might offer you some better options.

Runner beans are a different species. They like a northern European climate ( cool, moist). Have not found any that do more than be a short lived ornamental here. Blooms are pretty, but no beans.

The standard Red Kidney is a bush bean best suited for dry beans. Don't know a Red Kidney with Louisianna as a modifier.

Thanks, Farmerdill!

Try Native Seed for some uncommon heirloom beans, pole and bush for many different climates.

I've found a bolita bean (a dry bean) that was selected in a town not far from here, so it should be ready for my climate!

=o) Jay

I have checked out Native Seed and I think its a pretty cool sight. I am leaning towards heirlooms and organic selections and I found some that I find interesting. Haven't really looked into them to see if they would be good choices for my zone or not, but I am interested in True Red Cranberry, Mayflower, and one called Hidatsa Shield Figure Dry Bean. Anybody have any input on these varieties? I found them at http://www.heirloomseeds.com/beans.htm I find beans one of the most interesting plants you can grow in the garden just because of the diversity of selections. They are right up there with tomatoes IMO.

FarmerDill wrote,

"Lazy Wife, Rattlesnake, McCaslan, and Missouri Wonder take the hot early summers a little better. Shoe is more into "heirloom" cultivars than I am so he might offer you some better options."

Actually those are some great options, F-Dill! (And all are considered heirlooms.)

TMaple, I have only grown Uncle Walt's Vermont Cranberry beans but not the one you have listed (True Red Cranberry). Mayflower is definitely an oldie but haven't grown it either.

You might also like Baker Creek Heirlooms. The owner/originator of the site is very involved in heirlooms as well as many other areas of seed saving/production/introduction of various varieties. Check them out at
http://rareseeds.com/seeds/

Happy Gardening, Folks!
Shoe

I'll second the Bolita suggestion for a dry bean in short seasons/cool climates. I'm in NM too and waaaay up in the hills and the bolitas were ready for harvest the third week of september for me, and I had planted them June 1. These are an ancestor of the pinto, supposedly, and they are a sort of combo bush/pole type, from what I can tell.

Thanks for the info, it's encouraging! Third week of Sept would work great here.

Where's Llano?