Drying and Shelling Beans
Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Beans to Dry
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow dried beans in the accompanying table’s tabs:
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- How many bean plants to plant for dried beans
- Growing conditions for dried beans
- When to plant dried beans
- How to plant dried beans
- Watering, fertilizing, and pruning dried beans
- Companion plantings for dried beans
- How to harvest, store, and use dried beans
Growing Beans to Dry
Dried and shelled beans are a warm-season annual legume. They are an excellent source of protein in a convenient, storable form easily used for cooking. Broad, kidney, lima, navy, pinto, and white beans are among the most commonly dried bean varieties.
See Collecting and Saving Seed for a demonstration on how to shuck and store dried beans for use as seed or to preserve and store them for later use in food preparation.
Dried Beans Plant and Care Guide
How Much to Plant
Allow 4–8 plants per household member, yielding 2–3 lbs. (0.9–1.4 kg).
How to Plant
Seed germinates in 7–12 days. Sow seed in garden soil in full sun in spring when soil warms to 60–85°F (16–29°C). Sow seed 1-1/2–2 in. (38–50 mm) deep, 1 in. (25 mm) apart, thinning to 4 in. (10 cm) apart, in rows 18–30 in. (45–75 cm) apart or in a circle planted around a pole.
Best Conditions for Growth
Growing temperature: 60–85°F (16–29°C). Best in mild-summer climates. Prepare soil 12–16 in. (30–40 cm) deep.
Soil Type and Fertility
Moist, well-drained, sandy soil. Fertility: Rich. 6.0–6.8 pH. Prepare soil at least 1 ft. (30 cm) deep. Rotate legume crops throughout the garden to naturally boost soil nitrogen levels.
Proper Care
Easy. Keep evenly moist until flowers form pods; damp thereafter. Fertilize monthly with 5–10–10 formula or well-rotted manure. Avoid deep cultivation that could cut through the shallow, widespread roots. Powdery mildew susceptible.
Pairing Recommendations
Carrots, cauliflower, cucumbers, potatoes, and summer savory.
Maturity, Picking and Gathering
65–70 days. Pick pods when they mature and begin to wither, spread them on a flat surface in a warm, protected spot, and dry thoroughly; in arid climates, allow pods to dry on vines. Fully dry pods will split open naturally to reveal the dried beans; mature pods also can be dried in a vegetable dehydrator.
See Collecting and Saving Seed for a demonstration on how to shuck and store dried beans for use as seed or for later use in food preparation.
How to Store and Preserve
Dried in porous, fabric bags stored in a cool, dry location, to 1 year; sealed in plastic bags and frozen, to 2 years. Some dried-bean cultivars picked at the green, shelling stage known as “shuckies”—especially French flageolet, French horticultural, and great northern white beans—also may be eaten steamed with butter or cooked in soups and casseroles as you would snap beans and peas.