I have grown runner beans for years - always very successful. I have always
used bought beans as seeds. This year I have left some beans unpicked - they
are quite long and quite big beans inside them now.

I intend to harvest, dry and us as seed for next year.

Any comments or suggestions please.

In article ,
Judith in England wrote:

I have grown runner beans for years - always very successful. I have always
used bought beans as seeds. This year I have left some beans unpicked - they
are quite long and quite big beans inside them now.

I intend to harvest, dry and us as seed for next year.

Have the pods dried out and are the beans mottled dark brown? If
not, they aren't ripe enough and you may as well cook them. A
rule of thumb that I use for French beans is that, if they shrivel
when I dry them out properly, they aren't ripe enough to germinate.

A retired colleague of mine does that with runners, but I do it
mainly with berlotti and pea bean.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Judith in England wrote:
I have grown runner beans for years - always very successful. I have always
used bought beans as seeds. This year I have left some beans unpicked - they
are quite long and quite big beans inside them now.

I intend to harvest, dry and us as seed for next year.

Any comments or suggestions please.

Yes, do that, good plan. :-)
(I didn't buy beans for years and years)

On Sat, 13 Oct 2012 14:46:41 +0100 (BST), wrote:

In article ,
Judith in England wrote:

I have grown runner beans for years - always very successful. I have always
used bought beans as seeds. This year I have left some beans unpicked - they
are quite long and quite big beans inside them now.

I intend to harvest, dry and us as seed for next year.

Have the pods dried out and are the beans mottled dark brown? If
not, they aren't ripe enough and you may as well cook them. A
rule of thumb that I use for French beans is that, if they shrivel
when I dry them out properly, they aren't ripe enough to germinate.

A retired colleague of mine does that with runners, but I do it
mainly with berlotti and pea bean.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.


No the pods have not dried out at all (I didn't want to eat them as I still
have plenty of smaller ones - the bigger ones are big because I intentionally
left them!!)

I think from what you suggest that I will leave on the plants until they
shrivel up, and then check that the beans have become mottled - I guess so that
they look like those in the seed packets.


Thanks

wrote in :

In article ,
Judith in England wrote:

I have grown runner beans for years - always very successful. I have
always used bought beans as seeds. This year I have left some beans
unpicked - they are quite long and quite big beans inside them now.

I intend to harvest, dry and us as seed for next year.

Have the pods dried out and are the beans mottled dark brown? If
not, they aren't ripe enough and you may as well cook them. A
rule of thumb that I use for French beans is that, if they shrivel
when I dry them out properly, they aren't ripe enough to germinate.

A retired colleague of mine does that with runners, but I do it
mainly with berlotti and pea bean.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

You can save seed from every bean and pea and you will probably never have
to buy any more. And you can sow them very close together, apart from what
the seed companies tell you. They sell you a packet of 50 broad bean seeds,
and say there is enough for a 6m row. That is ridiculous. You can trebble
that, and more when you have your own to sow. Trebble the harvest in that
6m row. Same with peas, get them in the ground nearly touching each other.

As a matter of fact I have sown my early pea and broad beans a few days
ago. I have enough if they fail, and will sow more and more as the year
goes on. Up until June sowing.

I must say that IME the pod must be dry and Khaki colour and not green or
yellow. My personal preference is to leave every pod on the bush until you
see that sandy/khaki colour.

Baz

On Sat, 13 Oct 2012 15:45:56 GMT, Baz wrote:

snip


As a matter of fact I have sown my early pea and broad beans a few days
ago. I have enough if they fail, and will sow more and more as the year
goes on. Up until June sowing.


Sounds interesting - can you expand a bit. Where are you - are they outside or
under cover etc etc

In article ,
Judith in England wrote:

No the pods have not dried out at all (I didn't want to eat them as I still
have plenty of smaller ones - the bigger ones are big because I intentionally
left them!!)

Grrk. It's been a bad year. Most of my drying beans are like that,
too.

I think from what you suggest that I will leave on the plants until they
shrivel up, and then check that the beans have become mottled - I guess so that
they look like those in the seed packets.

Yes. And, when you dry them out inside, they should not shrivel
(even slightly). If they do, I doubt that they will germinate.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Judith in England" wrote



I have grown runner beans for years - always very successful. I have
always
used bought beans as seeds. This year I have left some beans unpicked -
they
are quite long and quite big beans inside them now.

I intend to harvest, dry and us as seed for next year.

Any comments or suggestions please.

Yes it works well, the only problem may be if you grow more than one variety
like us in which case you will probably have hybrids between the varieties.
You need the pods to dry out and go brown and to start to split and show the
seeds. Red runners are purpley mottled and white are more white, both should
be plump and firm to the squeeze. I hang my beans up in a cotton sack in a
cool dry place for a while to dry properly and then bag them into paper
bags.

You can save the roots like Dahlias. They grow again with lots of sprouts so
you have to pick out the ones you don't want, you get early bean plants
though.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

On 13/10/2012 14:36, Judith in England wrote:


I have grown runner beans for years - always very successful. I have always
used bought beans as seeds. This year I have left some beans unpicked - they
are quite long and quite big beans inside them now.

I intend to harvest, dry and us as seed for next year.

Any comments or suggestions please.

No problems, leave them on the vines till they dry out and the pods are
almost the colour of a brown paper bag, don't worry to much about rain
as they are maturing, I normally save my own seed and we have a high
rainfall, my pods are all still green and still swelling.
A frost or two wont hurt them, but Mice do like them as they ripen,
I pick mine and store them in an old sprout sack, cabbage net, onion
sack are also great to finish drying them indoors.
In Victorian times they used to save the roots to grow again the
following year, they will give you an early pick, but not a very large
harvest so best to grow fresh each year, though a few roots in pots can
be interesting.
I would never plant runner beans closer than 4 inches, I usually sow 2
seeds every 6 inches to allow for those that fail or get eaten.
For peas I've always taken out a drill about 4 inches wide, (the width
of a drag hoe blade) and scatter the peas along the drill.
If you plant to close you can run the risk of Mildew in humid weather.
David @ the damp end of Swansea Bay where even on a sunny day we still
have to have the odd shower.

On 13/10/2012 18:00, wrote:

In article ,
Judith in England wrote:

No the pods have not dried out at all (I didn't want to eat them as I still
have plenty of smaller ones - the bigger ones are big because I intentionally
left them!!)

Grrk. It's been a bad year. Most of my drying beans are like that,
too.

I think from what you suggest that I will leave on the plants until they
shrivel up, and then check that the beans have become mottled - I guess so that
they look like those in the seed packets.

Yes. And, when you dry them out inside, they should not shrivel
(even slightly). If they do, I doubt that they will germinate.

It's been so wet here that my french beans are sprouting in the pod!

David

--
David Rance writing from Le Mesnil Villement, Calvados, France
http://rance.org.uk

On 13/10/2012 14:46, wrote:

I have grown runner beans for years - always very successful. I have always
used bought beans as seeds. This year I have left some beans unpicked - they
are quite long and quite big beans inside them now.

I intend to harvest, dry and us as seed for next year.

Have the pods dried out and are the beans mottled dark brown? If
not, they aren't ripe enough and you may as well cook them. A
rule of thumb that I use for French beans is that, if they shrivel
when I dry them out properly, they aren't ripe enough to germinate.

A retired colleague of mine does that with runners, but I do it
mainly with berlotti and pea bean.

I read this only an hour or two after having picked some runner bean
pods that were still green!

For twenty years and more I've followed the advice you gave above but
this time I thought I would try before they get to that dessicated stage
just to see what happens. They weren't green green, but were beginning
to show signs of discoloration so I thought I'd give it a try. The seeds
were full and fat and don't seem to show any sign of shrivelling yet.
I'll see what happens over the next months.

However, based on what you said above, I'll leave the rest until they
are truly dried out!

David

--
David Rance writing from Le Mesnil Villement, Calvados, France
http://rance.org.uk

"David Rance" wrote in message ...

It's been so wet here that my french beans are sprouting in the pod!

David

--
Now there's a nice Verbal crop for you !

I have a vast stock of the glut year of 2009 Runner seed.
What does the team think of using seed of more than one year old ?

Regards
Pete

On 14/10/2012 09:01, Pete wrote:


"David Rance" wrote in message ...

It's been so wet here that my french beans are sprouting in the pod!

David


You might find this chart of use
Veg and flower seeds and how long they are at their best:

Veg seed Flower seed
No of years
Asparagus 3 Ageratum 4
Aubergine 5 Amaranthus 4-5
Beans 3 Anthemis 2
Beetroot 4 Anthirrhium 3-4
Broccoli 5 Calendula 5-6
Brussels sprouts 5 Celosia 4
Cabbage 4-5 Cineraria 3-4
Carrot 3-4 Clarkia 2-3
Cauliflower 4-5 Cosmos 3-4
Celeriac 5 Digitalis 2
Celery 5-6 Eschscholzia 3
Chicory 5 Gaillardia 2-3
Chinese cabbage 5 Godetia 3
Cucumber 5-6 Helianthus 2-3
Endive 3-4 Heliotrope 1-2
Fennel 4 Hollyhock 2-3
Kale 5 Impatiens 2
Kohl rabi 5 Larkspur 1-2
Leek 3 Linaria 3
Lettuce 4-5 Linum 1-2
Marrow 5-6 Lobelia 4
Melon 5 Marigold 2-3
Onion 1-2 Mesembryanthemum 3-4
Parsley 2-3 Myosotis 2
Parsnip 1-2 Nasturtium 5-7
Pea 3 Nicotiana 4-5
Pepper 4 Nigella 2
Pumpkin 4 Pansy 2
Radish 5 Petunia 2-3
Salsify 2 Phlox 2
Scorzonera 2 Salvia 1
Seakale 1-2 Schizanthus 4-5
Spinach 5 Sweet peas 2-3
Sweetcorn 1-2 Sweet William 2
Tomato 4 Viola 1
Turnip 5 Wallflower 4-5
Watercress 5 Zinnia 5-6

On 13/10/2012 15:36, Judith in England wrote:


I have grown runner beans for years - always very successful. I have always
used bought beans as seeds. This year I have left some beans unpicked - they
are quite long and quite big beans inside them now.

I intend to harvest, dry and us as seed for next year.

Any comments or suggestions please.


I've always used beans saved from previous years. The variety was
originally 'Streamline' bought in England around 10 years ago! As others
have already mentioned, they need to be dry before harvesting. I simply
wait until the frosts have killed the plants and while clearing the
patch I pull off and shell the ripe pods - they are brown and like a
stiff paper.

The important thing that others haven't mentioned is to keep the bean
seeds in a cool, dry airy place over Winter. I once made the mistake of
putting them into a sealed plastic tub and the following Spring it was
just a rotting mass. What does work very well is to put a good handful
of beans into some old tights and put a knot in them, snipping off the
little bag of beans and hanging it in the attic.All my saved seeds keep
perfectly this way - they need to be hung to stop any mice scoffing
them, it also helps the air to circulate and keeps them in good condition.

If I've got lots of bean seeds to save (some for stews etc) then I can
use a whole leg off a pair of tights, putting a knot between each bunch
of beans (like a long string of sausages) this makes it easy to just
snip off the lowest hanging 'sausage' when some beans are wanted.

In article ,
David Rance wrote:

For twenty years and more I've followed the advice you gave above but
this time I thought I would try before they get to that dessicated stage
just to see what happens. They weren't green green, but were beginning
to show signs of discoloration so I thought I'd give it a try. The seeds
were full and fat and don't seem to show any sign of shrivelling yet.
I'll see what happens over the next months.

However, based on what you said above, I'll leave the rest until they
are truly dried out!

Well, you always have to balance letting them dry out against letting
them rot. One year mine didn't start to dry out and I left them up,
but continual rain started and they just rotted. I shall have to
pick many of mine this year before the pods have fully dried out.

But I haven't tried a controlled experiment to see exactly how far
they have to get before they germinate. That is my rule of thumb.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.