Question: Having just harvested my first crop of dried beans (a whopping med. egg basket full, unhulled! - test crop) I am now considering whether or not to integrate this crop into my regular gardening and the big ? is - what is the preferred method of harvesting for the small farmer who grows only enough for herself and a hubby, and has no equipment larger than a DR trimmer? Picking by hand is going to be unfeasible, of course, as it took me 30 min to harvst what I did today, and that's just a long row. Do you just mow them down and thresh in toto, plants and all? Wouldn't the beans fall out of their pods when whacked by the mower? How did small farmers used to do it?

Neat find: While flipping through a free magazine from a lumber store, I came across an add for a product called "No-Burn" According to the copy, suppsoedly anything sprayed with the product will not burn. Period. Mattresses, rugs, walls, curtains, etc. It also says that it is non-toxic. Does anyone have any info on this product? For those of us who do, or will be, using live flame in our homes for whatever reason, this product would seem to be de rigor for making the home safer, and those who live out west could spray their houses and roofs agaisnt wildfire (although it wouldn't prevent heat damage of course). ANyway, the address in the ad is

287 West Millbrook Rd. Raleigh, NC, 919-676-2772

It's in my area, so I'll try to check it out if I get a chance. I'm sure that they give demos to interested comsumers!

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), October 16, 2000

Answers

When I harvested dried beans one year, I took out the entire plant and put them all into a large sack, like a feed sack. (Everything has to be completely dry.) You can cram quite a few in there. Then I did a dance number on the sack. It is then fairly easy and less time consuming to seperate the bean out.

-- R. (thor610@yahoo.com), October 16, 2000.

When measuring the time, keep in mind that up until fairly recently nobody had access to power tools. If they had to spend *days* harvesting the dry bean crop, that's what they did, because they needed the beans (or corn, or wheat, or whatever). I notice a lot of people paying others to do their butchering for them, and it is a big job, but it is also doable, even by just a couple of people. Of course, I do realize that with (often) both husband and wife working outside the home, the time just isn't there. Another reason to work really hard at getting loose from the outside jobs.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), October 16, 2000.

When I was a teenager, I found something that works great at shelling them out, a crank ice cream freezer. put them in and crank like hell, most of the hulls stay on top. I thought it was a good idea, my parents thought it was a good reason for an attitude adjustment

-- Jay Blair (jayblair678@yahoo.com), October 19, 2000.

On beans, I surrendered, and stopped planting enough beans (pintos) to carry me through the year. Cost and time prohibitive...I'd have about 1/5 the garden in beans, and after droughts and bugs, I'd get maybe ten pounds of dried beans. Hmmm...ten pounds at .30/lb--$3, and all that work. I now buy my yearly bean supply for less than the 'seed' cost, and can devote garden space to something more productive.

Now, if civilization were to disappear tomorrow, I'd plant even more space in beans, and probably haul water by bucket, and sleep in the garden to keep critters away. Right now, economy of scale is out of whack.

-- phil briggs (phillipbriggs@thenett.com), October 21, 2000.

Soni, I can't agree with our friends that dried beans aren't worth growing. If you have very limited garden space, you have to make choices, but if you have room, I recommend planting pole beans. They will out-produce bush beans, are easier to pick, and more likely to mature & dry without rotting in wet weather (being up in the air as they are). I find shelling them by hand a pleasant task while talking with friends, listening to a book on tape or just staring at the mountains. But size matters. If the seed is 3 times as big as those little navy beans or turtle beans, you'll get 3 times as much food with the same amount of work. As for the economics, if you don't get joy out of growing beans or don't want to know where your food comes from, by all means buy 'em. But if you grow an open-pollinated variety, your seed need not cost you anything, and your labor can be charged to recreation. If you would like to try my chipmunk beans, I could send you a few seed.

-- Sam in W.Va. (snorris@dnr.state.wv.us), October 22, 2000.