How to Dry Butter Beans

If you want to store or can butter beans, they need to be properly dried first. Fortunately this is a very simple and straightforward process.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Large barrel or very large bucket
• Twine or twist ties

1. Beans need to be allowed to dry on the plant. Beans are ready to be harvested when the beans rattle in the pods.

2. Pull up the entire plant by the roots and tie them into bundles of five to seven plants. You can normally due this by hand.

3. Hang the plants upside down until the plant has completely dried. Generally the plants are hung on wooden racks approximately 7 feet in height.

4. Once they are dried, the beans will need to be thrashed. Take hold of the bundles and hit them hard against the inside of the barrel. This will shatter the seed pods and allow the beans to fall gather in the barrel.

5. Separate the dried seeds from the other debris which has fallen into the barrel. The beans are now ready to be stored or used in your favorite recipe.

Tips & Warnings

• Be certain to keep your plants well watered up until the time of harvest. You want the beans to dry, but you do not want the plant to be in distress. If you are working with a large number of beans, you may consider investing in automated thrashing equipment.
• Bean plants can do very well in moderate soil. They generally do not respond to fertilizers.