Drying Scarlet Runner Beans

At the end of the season, I let the last of my Scarlet Runner Beans "go to seed."  One year I saved the seeds to plant the following spring, but all I got was plant, no beans.

This year I saved what was left of my beans to dry for cooking.

Scarlet Runner Beans make very large pods if you let them go. Inside, the seeds really increase in size and plump out.


Before cutting down my bean plants (I grow mine in a cut down 55-gallon plastic barrel), I removed the dried bean pods.

Having dried on the vine, the pods are easy to pop open to remove the partially dried seeds from inside.

To make sure that the beans are completely dry before storing, I leave them in a pan and place them near a window where the warm fall sunshine will complete the drying process.

I store the beans in canning jars. I don't get much from my one barrel of bean plants, but there'll be enough to make a pot of chili and beans this coming winter. Waste not, want not. -- Margy