On Fri, 18 Jul 2003 11:34:42 +0100, Christopher Norton
wrote:


If your gonna put em in the ground I`d say have a go. All you lose is a
bit of seed.

By pole bean would this be what the US call runner beans?

No. Our (USA) pole beans are typically not the same as your
(UK - I assume from your address) runner beans. Similar,
but with distinct differences.

I've grown both.

Our pole beans are (usually) eaten as snap beans, and called
'green beans' or 'string beans'. The pods are the part
eaten, before the seeds develop much if any inside. They
can be eaten as 'shell beans' (the seeds eaten fresh) or as
dried beans, but typically the young pods are eaten. The
French would call them 'haricots verts'. I'm not sure what
you call them in the UK but I think you call them 'green
beans'.

They are much nicer to eat (IMHO) than runner beans, which
tended (in my experience) to be tough and didn't have a very
good flavor, comparatively.

We use the expression 'pole beans' for various different
beans though: any that will grow up a pole (like runners).
Some are 'romano beans' - a broader, flatter bean which came
from Italy.

But not lima beans (eaten as fresh shell beans: pods not
edible), we don't call them 'pole beans'.

Pat