The very best baked beans

Saturday 21st October 2017
Finally. The Borlottis are harvested.
With the holiday upon us and the weather pretty foul, I spent most of the day shelling beans.

I grow several types of beans. Apart from last year, when they all really struggled, they've always been an easy crop which produces well.
I prefer to grow climbers as they make better use of space. They tend to crop over a longer period too, though this isn't too important for drying beans.

For my fresh green beans I grow French bean Cobra. It is very prolific, stringless and very tasty.
I grow runner beans too, but I let them mature and harvest the beans inside. If harvested when the pods are swelled and beginning to yellow, the beans can be cooked from fresh. But left on the plant the pods dry and are easily cracked open to reveal the dried beans inside. These are excellent in winter casseroles. In fact on the continent this is the sole purpose for which runner beans are grown.

Some years are better for drying the beans than others. This year has been excellent. In a warm damp year they are best harvested earlier and dried artificially as the pods and beans can start to go mouldy on the plant.

I save the best pods for next year's beans.

As well as runner beans, I grow another called Gigantes. This gives a large butter bean. I used to grow runner bean Czar for this purpose, but Gigantes gives a much bigger bean. Besides, white runner beans are significantly less prolific than their cousins.

I grow Pea Beans too. They are hard to get hold of and I lost my stock last year when they failed to germinate. They produce a small bean with a beautiful ying-yang type pattern. Fortunately I managed to source some more.

The shelling out takes ages - a job for a wet day or to be done in front of the TV. They then go into the dehydrator for a while, just to make sure there is no residual moistness.

Left to right: Borlottis x2, Runner beans, Gigantes butter beans x2, Pea beans x2

The final harvest this year was a good one. It doesn't look like much but the beans go a long way and are full of protein. There was a period in my life when I was vegan (before it was the trendy thing to do) and dried beans were an important part of my diet. I love their taste and texture and all the better if I can now grow them myself.

On Sunday Sue cooked up a bean mix in the slow cooker. She followed a recipe for Boston beans and they were delicious, a great improvement on tinned baked beans, which is saying something.

We intend this winter to explore more versions of baked beans, drawing on our plentiful supply of frozen home grown tomatoes and dried herbs.

Possibly the greatest meal - we've managed to improve bangers, beans and chips.