"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Ophelia wrote:
"David Rance" wrote in message
...

I have had some black runner bean seeds now for over ten years. They
originally grew from the usual two-coloured ones but I thought that
black was unusual so I selected them and now always grow them.

Occasionally they revert to the normal two-coloured seed but mostly
they are all black. And a pod of two-coloured seeds would come from
the same plant that produces the black ones.

I've no idea what variety they are.

Do they taste different and do they keep their colour when cooked?

No, they're exactly the same. Since we always eat them as young green
beans the seeds haven't yet got their mature colours. (This applies to
the normal coloured ones as well as the black.)

Ok, thanks, David. What makes their colour change?

Dunno! Better ask Mendel!

Hmmm a little too late I fear ;-)

However, there are a few people around who have learnt from his
work :-)

It's impossible to tell which of the possible explanations is
the case without serious investigations, but there are several
common causes. My borlotti means used to be about 2/3 light,
but have drifted to being almost all light - a bit like
ladybirds, they have both dark patterns on a pale palette
and the converse.

For example, it can be caused by a fairly rare recessive gene,
so it rarely happens but will breed true when it does. And,
unless there is selection against that gene, it can remain
at low levels in a population for very long periods.

Thanks, Nick That makes sense

--
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/shop/

Normally runners are grown for the green pod, and with my sense of taste, they would have to have vastly different tastes for me to tell. It was pure luck that I discovered them. There weren't any in the ones I saved for next years seed. It was just having so many more growing than I needed and could get rid of, that I decided to let them grow on for the beans. I wasn't even sure how edible they would be... I have enough to see if they lose their colour when boiled, and as for taste, I think I will try them raw.

"Bigal" wrote in message
...

'David Rance[_3_ Wrote:
;1009340']On Sun, 9 Nov 2014 11:12:58 Ophelia wrote:
-


"David Rance" lid wrote in message
...-
On Fri, 7 Nov 2014 21:00:50 Ophelia wrote:
-


"David Rance" lid wrote in message
...
On Thu, 6 Nov 2014 15:11:17 Bigal wrote:

A good crop of runner beans thanks to a 5 year old bed of biochar.
(sorry, I just had to put that in.) So much so that I got fed up with
eating them, freezing them and picking them. I tell my neighbour to
help herself, but she is a bit loathed to do so. So I just let them
grow, thinking to shell them later to use the beans some other way. I
grew White Lady from saved seed, and a few weeks ago saved some more.
No
black ones. During the shelling I found one that contained jet black
beans. In all my years of gardening I have never come across a black
bean before, and I don't ever recall my father doing so.. (Taking
account of the fact that the beans are eaten green).. By the time I
had finished shelling (between jobs) I had found a total of eighty.
Two of the pods were still joined on the flower stalk, which makes me
think that it was a single plant that produced them. Comments
please, and I am sure that it wasn't the black leaking out of the
biochar.

I have had some black runner bean seeds now for over ten years.
They originally grew from the usual two-coloured ones but I thought
that black was unusual so I selected them and now always grow them.

Occasionally they revert to the normal two-coloured seed but mostly
they are all black. And a pod of two-coloured seeds would come from
the same plant that produces the black ones.

I've no idea what variety they are.

Do they taste different and do they keep their colour when cooked?-

No, they're exactly the same. Since we always eat them as young green
beans the seeds haven't yet got their mature colours. (This applies to
the normal coloured ones as well as the black.)-

Ok, thanks, David. What makes their colour change?-

Dunno! Better ask Mendel!

David

--
David Rance writing from Caversham, Reading, UK
Normally runners are grown for the green pod, and with my sense of
taste, they would have to have vastly different tastes for me to tell.
It was pure luck that I discovered them. There weren't any in the ones
I saved for next years seed. It was just having so many more growing
than I needed and could get rid of, that I decided to let them grow on
for the beans. I wasn't even sure how edible they would be... I have
enough to see if they lose their colour when boiled, and as for taste, I
think I will try them raw.

Report back whatever you do with them) I've never seen black ones so I am
intrigued)



--
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/shop/

On Sun, 9 Nov 2014 22:20:10 Bigal wrote:


'David Rance[_3_ Wrote:
;1009340']On Sun, 9 Nov 2014 11:12:58 Ophelia wrote:
-


"David Rance" lid wrote in message
...-
On Fri, 7 Nov 2014 21:00:50 Ophelia wrote:
-


"David Rance" lid wrote in message
...
On Thu, 6 Nov 2014 15:11:17 Bigal wrote:

A good crop of runner beans thanks to a 5 year old bed of biochar.
(sorry, I just had to put that in.) So much so that I got fed up with
eating them, freezing them and picking them. I tell my neighbour to
help herself, but she is a bit loathed to do so. So I just let them
grow, thinking to shell them later to use the beans some other way. I
grew White Lady from saved seed, and a few weeks ago saved some more.
No
black ones. During the shelling I found one that contained jet black
beans. In all my years of gardening I have never come across a black
bean before, and I don't ever recall my father doing so.. (Taking
account of the fact that the beans are eaten green).. By the time I
had finished shelling (between jobs) I had found a total of eighty.
Two of the pods were still joined on the flower stalk, which makes me
think that it was a single plant that produced them. Comments
please, and I am sure that it wasn't the black leaking out of the
biochar.

I have had some black runner bean seeds now for over ten years.
They originally grew from the usual two-coloured ones but I thought
that black was unusual so I selected them and now always grow them.

Occasionally they revert to the normal two-coloured seed but mostly
they are all black. And a pod of two-coloured seeds would come from
the same plant that produces the black ones.

I've no idea what variety they are.

Do they taste different and do they keep their colour when cooked?-

No, they're exactly the same. Since we always eat them as young green
beans the seeds haven't yet got their mature colours. (This applies to
the normal coloured ones as well as the black.)-

Ok, thanks, David. What makes their colour change?-

Dunno! Better ask Mendel!

David

--
David Rance writing from Caversham, Reading, UK
Normally runners are grown for the green pod, and with my sense of
taste, they would have to have vastly different tastes for me to tell.
It was pure luck that I discovered them. There weren't any in the ones
I saved for next years seed. It was just having so many more growing
than I needed and could get rid of, that I decided to let them grow on
for the beans. I wasn't even sure how edible they would be... I have
enough to see if they lose their colour when boiled, and as for taste, I
think I will try them raw.

Not a good idea as they are poisonous until cooked. Nick M. has written
about this several times here.

David

--
David Rance writing from Caversham, Reading, UK

In article ,
David Rance wrote:
On Sun, 9 Nov 2014 22:20:10 Bigal wrote:

Normally runners are grown for the green pod, and with my sense of
taste, they would have to have vastly different tastes for me to tell.
It was pure luck that I discovered them. There weren't any in the ones
I saved for next years seed. It was just having so many more growing
than I needed and could get rid of, that I decided to let them grow on
for the beans. I wasn't even sure how edible they would be... I have
enough to see if they lose their colour when boiled, and as for taste, I
think I will try them raw.

Not a good idea as they are poisonous until cooked. Nick M. has written
about this several times here.

Yes. You probably won't come to much harm by eating ONE raw,
but people have killed themselves by eating undercooked, ripe
Phaseolus beans. Exactly when the toxin develops, I don't know,
but it is supposed to be mostly in the skins.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaseolus_vulgaris


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Thanks for the info. l tried the kernels of one white and one black, No obvious difference in taste. l also boiled a couiple of black one for half an hour, and left them to soak overnight in the same water. No change in colour. l am now left thinking about next year, whether to grow all black, all white or half a row of each. The researcher in me says go for all black. The white beans can be bought any time.
Just out of curiosity, l have grown some Swiss chard 3 ft high this year. I haven't grown any for several years, and l don't remember it being that big. Has it been a particularly good year for it?