Dried bean, today, tomorrow and forever

If we could encourage every person to grow one thing it would be beans. Dried beans that is. Most
are low maintenance, low water needs, and while pole or climbing beans might be hard to control they take up very little space. Most can be planted 6 to 12 inches apart in rows 12" apart. This makes them one of the easiest to grow in small spaces, square foot gardens or containers.

Cranberry Bean

Sister bean (adebakwal)

We grow a heirloom black bean similar to Black Turtle Beans as well as a cranberry bean type, Abenaki Beans, they tend to tower anywhere from 5 to 7 feet tall and continue to produce through out the season and do not need to be harvested until the pod dries. Tolerant to light frost and high heat, if watered daily, they seem to love heavily fertilized soil (we use chicken waste and wood chip compost), they also control ground weeds well. The biggest asset is they store well in sealed quart jars, which is about three cups of dried beans or almost 6 cups of cooked beans that is four to five meals per jar, not to mention save the beans and replant some next year. Talk about a return on an investment!


The largest issue is how to use those dried beans and well we are still learning how to use them, because unlike canned beans or even bagged dried beans, these can remain quit hard and unpalatable for some time. Today we share a piece from Joybilee Farm on how to cook dried beans
Read more here:
http://joybileefarm.com/how-to-cook-dried-beans/