Dwarf / French Beans Question

I want to grow some green beans this year. Ive bought green beans frozen in the shop but I have no idea what type of beans they are. Are they dwarf or French beans? How high do both plants grow? They don't seem to say in the seed catalogues and I need to buy some bamboo canes for them first.

Also any recommendations on a particular variety?

 

There are Dwarf (about a foot or 18" tall) and Climbing French beans, and Runner Beans.

French Beans have either flat pods (so look a bit like Runner Beans, different flavour though) or cylindrical beans.

I grew several different varietites of Dwarf French Beans one Summer and had a blind tasting and everyone liked a different one,a nd all said that there was little to choose between them. We had a French exchange student staying and her preference was completely different to the Brits ...

Climbers need canes (they are self climbing, so they don't need nets unlike climbing peas)

For Climbing French I'm fairly sure that Blue Lake is the one that I've read people on forums saying they like

http://www.suttons.co.uk/Shop/Vegetable+Seeds/Bean+%28Climbing+French%29+Blue+Lake+Seeds+195541.htm?sku=195541

 

Hi JJ,

Yep, your climbing french bean sounds like what you are after. The french call them Haricot Vert & you top & tail and eat the pods. When they are mature, the seeds are your standard baked bean.

I'm trying Anellino Giallo or the golden shrimp bean this year (Don't speak Italian, but the name looks like something to do with worms to me)

The pods are yellow, thought that would make them easier to spot. You don't want to let any pods mature on the plant, it will think its done its job of making babies & stop making any more.

If you pick them off regularly, they will crop till the light levels decrease.

 

I grew "Blue Lake" last year, taste and crop was good. "Blue lake" was a "Freebie" last year with the BBC's digin campaign, I wonder if thats why there are so many online references to them? Probably a lot in circulation at the moment.

Steve...

 

[size=large]"anellino giallo" means "small yellow ring", not to be confused with "agnellino" which means "small lamb".[/size]

 

Cheers Flower,

Thats where I was getting confused, same word stem.

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

Isn't there a pasta called Agnellotti

 

My "research" was prior to last year, so problem not a direct influecne in my case ... but ... there are lots of "What variety are you growing this year" that are full of comments from folk saying "I'm new so I am planting what won the poll last year" ... and then the non-Newbies probably stop reading the forums by the time they get to the point of actually discovering what they like the taste of!

Self fulfilling proficy :( I think I will breed a rubbish variety of something, and then fill the polls with "First Choice" answers ...

 

My first foray into veg growing last year included a small bed of Dwarf French Beans (Tendergreen).

They were easy to grow and look after and produced a bountiful crop. Will be planting them again this year in a couple of beds alongside peas or Broad beans.

 

My first dwarf lop eared french beans,"masterpiece" showed their heads today.

 

Instead of ones like you get in bags from the supermarket freezers, have you also considered growing the fine 'filet' type beans (which are normally much more expensive to buy, but just as easy to grow) and sold in small packs in the fresh veg section?

I grow Safari (AKA Kenyan) every year, let some go to seed, so free seeds for following years. As I'm growing in cold, wet clay soil I start them off in 24 x cell tray inserts, with at least a couple of seeds in each in my greenhouse, transfer to coldframes and acclimatise to aggressive outdoor sun & wind prior to planting out.

Just snip the ends off a bunch held in your hand using scissors and cook whole either by boiling, or lightly boiling then frying with pressed garlic.

But I've never had as much success freezing these as the other varieties mentioned above.

 

Have you tried blanching them for 2 mins in boiling water & then open freezing them before packing into freezer bags ?

:DOH:Course you have.

What was the problem then Scrunge?

 

They are a Flat Bean though Ziggy - which may not be what the O/P is expecting (assuming they are wanting Haricot-style)

Its the one that we grow though (together with the Climbing "Limka", also a flat bean), coz that's what Chef says she wants

 

When freezing very fine diameter 'filet' beans, with the very biggest about the same diameter as a drinking straw, they don't seem robust enough to withstand freezing & defrosting and turn into mush - or at least all of ours have every time we've tried it (including blanching). And we've never seen frozen filet beans available in the shops.

 

Aah, need to be blast frozen then, no blanching. Straight into liquid nitrogen.

Best us average gardeners stick to eating them fresh then. Its a good idea, grow a few for summer meals while we store the prolific croppers for when there is nothing green in the garden


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Just looked at the pic on the packet, you are right, tis a flat bean, illegitimate children.

I guess my french beans last year were blue lake too, they were from the BBC. They were fine, nothing wrong with them

 

Caveat Emptor applies I think! Your only problem is a visual one - well, maybe not entirely, they aren't like Haricot Verte as we prepare ours like runners - cross cut and cook, for example.

Try a few and then send me the rest for next year if you don't like them ... :thumb: