went WAy out of my way,, to buy soem fresh green beens,,, wanted tyo can some, and give some away, ect. When I finally do find them,, had to get a half bushell, (too much for me),,, so I give ALOT away, can 11 pints, ate a bunch, and what happens today??,,,,, I was told to ,"come and get em" froma friend,, didnt even know they where growing green beans. So, now,, I picked almost another half bushell. Some are prety large, with well defined beans inside. Can I let these dry, adn plant them next year?

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), September 03, 2002

Answers

You can dry them but if they're hybrids they may not be quite like the ones you've got now. A lot depends on how mature the beans inside are, if they're not mature enough then it will be hit & miss on germination. Some times they will revert back to one of the varieties that were the parent plants. They would still be edible but they may not have the same hardiness,characteristics,or disease resistance of the beans you are planting.

-- Kathy Aldridge (beckoningwinds@yahoo.com), September 03, 2002.

I dehydrate my beans for soup mix.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), September 03, 2002.

My mother in law used to shell out those big beans and just throw them into the pan of green beans to cook with the rest.

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), September 05, 2002.

In the south they mix the shelled beans with the regular size green beans & cook them all up. You can even buy them canned in the stores as green beans & shelly's.

-- Kathy Aldridge (beckoningwinds@yahoo.com), September 05, 2002.