Our First Try At Growing Black Beans

Tricia likes to cook Black Beans.  In Spanish they are called frijoles negros.  I have also seen them called black turtle beans.  Tricia makes refried beans with them.  We always buy dried black beans to soak and then cook and so I thought, "What the heck?  Let's grow some."  I purchased a package of seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (rareseeds.com) and since they are open pollinated seeds, I'll save a few to replant next year.

The heat of summer is upon us and repeated rainfall has really played a number on the black beans since they are planted on the lower end of the garden.  They look kind of sickly in spots, but they are full of pods.

Since I have never grown them before, I did a little research on when to harvest them.  I actually opened up a green pod to see what they look like and oddly, they weren't black yet.  I read that you don't want to harvest them when the pods are green as they aren't ripe yet.

You also don't want to harvest them when they turn pale yellow either.

You really want to wait until they are dried and the pods are brown.  Of course, you have to time the harvest perfectly, because if they get too dry, the pods will burst open and your black beans will scatter all over the ground.

The other problem with waiting for them to dry on the stalk is that with our amount of yearly rainfall, leaving them in the pods to ripen exposes them to the risk of sprouting in the pod if it stays wet.  With more rainfall approaching, I figured that I should harvest now so as not to risk losing the crop.  I went out and pulled the mostly ripened dry pods off the plants.

I sat in front of the television tonight and shelled a bowl full of beautiful black beans.  Some of the beans were sprouted, but most were perfect.  I'll let them dry for a bit and then we'll cook them up.

There are plenty green pods still on the plant, so I'll check for ripeness in a week and harvest more of them  It will be nice to eat some, put some dried black beans in the pantry and save some for planting this fall and again next spring.