It is the individual beans that get blanched though, right, not the whole shells ... ie you shell them first, not after? Correct. As for using, yes most will need to be boiled for a brief period (until al dente) before any other use such as saute or stir fry or in salads as they will still be very hard and hard to digest if not. One reason why pressure canning them works so well. For a side dish, boiling them for 20-30 mins until fork tender in a broth with added ingredients such as onions, garlic, peppers, and other seasonings is a common method of preparing them down south. They can also be baked, added to soups and stews, etc. They can be used in jambalaya and other creole recipes, a dish called Hoppin' John (a personal favorite), dirty rice recipes, and even mashed and used like refried beans. For freezing, after blanching and chilling, drain well and spread out in thin layer on cookie sheets to quick freeze before packaging. Dave

Thanks. The description on the Supernano Marconi Gold sounds interesting -- a yellow, half-runner, Romano would be an excellent addition to my bean selection. I'm happy with the current yellow and purple bush beans -- Dragon Langerie is the bean I plant when I can only grow one and Royal Burgundy Purple Pod is a definite improvement on the old Royalty Purple Pod for my purposes (which may not be anyone else's purposes so anyone inclined towards purple beans should try both). So its the pole and half-runner types in yellow and purple that I'm wondering about. As for the cowpeas, I won't say that you couldn't pay me to eat beans in the shell stage, but it wouldn't come cheap. ;-) :-D LOL I've never enjoyed limas, shell beans, or any form of dry bean except lentils and garbanzos. Are there any particular cowpea varieties that are better as snap beans than others? I'm enjoying learning to grow the heat-loving veggies I've never had before.

I can't speak about the shelly stage. For dry bean seeds, wait until the leaves turn brown and perhaps fall off.

Most of the beans were shellies or at least were eaten when the pods were full of mature seeds so I will put the report here again. 5/20/12 started some beans in peat pots. 5/31 put beans on to soak and planted them all out on 6/2. After a nice May, June was unseasonably cold and wet. 7/5 seasonal daytime temperatures started. Nights were below normal most of the summer. Most of September had above average days but nights continued unusually cold with a 32F frost on 9/12! The first week of October there were several unusually cold nights at 29-30F but many of the beans continued to produce. Even the 27F frost on 10/22 did not totally end the bean season. Bush beans: Candy, shelly. They are very late and have runners. Very large and dense aggressive bushes. 10/10 some of these are maturing. Very nice large and plump shellies, red on cream maturing to red on pink. Some are just over an inch long. They are too late for here. Clem and Sarah's Big Bean, shelly. Most of them died in the cold wet June. 9/8 some pods are turning yellow. Clem's Purple, a single plant found in the Clem and Sarah's Big Bean patch in 2011. 9/8 some are turning yellow. 9/15 some drying out. Shellies are up to one inch long and are all purple, all white, purple speckles on white or white streaks on purple. Very attractive mix and they have good flavor and texture. The plants did far better than the white version in the cold wet June. Crow River Black, shelly. 9/8 some are turning yellow. 9/15 some drying out. Shellies have good flavor but firm texture. 9/30/12 finished the harvest. 2 gallons of dry pods plus shellies. Large plants with up to 44 pods on a plant. Duane Baptiste Potato Bean, shelly. 9/8 some pods are turning yellow. 9/15 Picking dry pods. Shellies are 1 inch long and have good flavor and texture. Family, shelly. 9/8 some are turning yellow. 9/15 some drying out. 9/22 plump shellies are dark red with cream splotches and are up to 7/8 inch long. Not a large crop. Giant Red Tarka (USDA PI 507984), shelly. Crop failure in cold wet June. The killer zombie slugs apparently got them. Golden Valley, shelly. 9/8 many are turning yellow. 9/15 Picking dry pods. Shellies are up to 3/4 inch long and they have good flavor and texture. Marveille de Piemonte, shelly. Sprouted seeds are small. 9/8 some are turning yellow. The plants were tiny. 9/29 the few pods are drying but the seeds do not look mature. Stockbridge Indian, shelly. 9/8 most pods are yellow. 9/15 Picked half a bucket of dry pods so far. The shellies have good flavor and texture. 9/29 picked the last of them, 2 gallons. Mostly dry. Plants are large and robust. Total of 2-1/2 gallons of dry pods and 1 gallon of shelly pods from 24 feet of row. This was the best bush shelly this year. Runner: Bianco di Spagna.* 9/15 a few are drying out. 10/6/12 picked 2 gallons of dry pods. 10/16 there are still lots of shellies. 10/21 Picking more dry pods. Pole Beans: Anellino Giallo black seed wax shrimp bean. 8/21 Several turned yellow and they have good flavor. 9/7 Crop is fairly heavy and even the most mature pods are stringless. 9/18 pods are swelling with maturing black seeds and they are still string free, tender and tasty. DW loves them. 9/30 a few pods are becoming flexible. 10/7 the hulls develop maroon streaks and splotches as seeds mature. They are very slow to dry but a few pods are starting to dry finally. 10/20 there are still lots of good plump snaps and I picked the drier ones for seed. 10/25 the drying pods are still fine snaps, fat with black seeds. This is a winner. Bingo*, shelly. 9/1 a few of the 8 inch pods are starting to soften. 9/8 first mess of mature shellies. 9/15 some drying out. 9/30/12 Picked a gallon of dry pods. 10/20 picked the rest of the shellies. This is a fine bean that makes good shellies over almost a two month period. Borlotto Lingua di Fuoco, shelly. 9/30 they are very slow to mature. None are soft yet. 10/14 Some look mature. 10/20 Picked almost 2 gallons of shellies from half a trellis (7 feet of row). Many of those I picked turned out to be not yet mature. Not suited for here. They did fine in Seattle but they have basically failed here twice. Borlotta Stregonta, shelly. Two 14 foot trellises. 9/30 - 5 gallons of dry pods from one trellis. Many shellies left. 10/6/12 another 8 gallons of dry pods from both trellises. Picked 5 gallons of shelly pods. Bosnian Pole, Romano type snap and shelly. 8/25 loaded with snaps. 10/8 most are at shelly stage or are drying, picked 4 gallons of shelly and dry pods. 10/20 picked most of the rest of the shellies. Brita's Footlong*, snap and shelly. 8/10 some 9" snaps but I did not try them. 9/15 some drying out. 9/29 many are dry, picked 2 gallons of dry pods. 10/16 there are still lots of shellies. 10/20 most are too dry to use as shellies. 10/25 a few shellies left. Chabarosk, shelly. Hulls look very similar to New Hampshire, dark green and purple. 10/5/12 a few are drying. 10/20 shellies look identical to New Hampshire except they are slightly smaller. Few are 7/8 inch and they are later. Many are not mature yet. Dolloff*, shelly. 9/1 a few pods are turning yellow. 9/5 a couple pods are drying. Good shellies and great as a dry bean. 9/29 Picked 5 gallons of dry pods from 3 trellises. 10/6 another 5 gallons of dry pods. 10/16 there are still lots of shellies. 10/20 the rest are too dry to use as shellies. Emerite, snap. 8/8 first Emerite. 10/6 picked a gallon of dry pods. Fortex*, snap 8/7 first mess of Fortex. 9/29 Late (planted July 7) Fortex are still good but we are running out. 10/10 there are still some usable late Fortex. I was able to save seed. Goose, shelly 9/29 Some are drying. Kew Blue, snap. 8/12 there are a few snaps. 8/21 we cooked a mess and they have ok flavor. 8/25 loaded with snaps. 9/29 many are drying. Kwintus, snap and shelly. 8/10 7" flat greasy looking snaps. 9/29 many are dry. Picked 2 gallons of dry pods from 5 feet of row. 10/16 there are still lots of shellies.10/25 there are a few shellies still usable. Neon Goose*, shelly. 9/1/12 a few are bright pink and softening. What a mix of types! 10/6 picked them all, 2-1/2 gallons of dry and shelly pods from half a trellis (7 foot row). New Hampshire, shelly. 9/29 about 1/3 are dry. Hulls are dark green and purple. 10/16 there are still lots of shellies. The tasty 7/8 inch shellies are very plump and cream with purple streaks. They continue drying in the rain. 10/20 most are dry. North Carolina Speckled Long Greasy Cutshort.*, snap 9/7 starting to plump up. 9/30 only one turning yellow. 10/13 A few are drying out. 10/20 there are still loads of snaps and a few that are dry. This is now the main source of snaps and DW likes them. 10/25 still loads of snaps. Tennessee Cutshort*, snap. 8/18 Many are plump. 9/8 A few turning yellow. 9/30 half are dry. 10/6 all are dry. Tobacco Worm*, snap. 9/8 a few are yellow and drying. 9/15 some drying out. They are very fine eating even when the pods are completely yellow. 10/20 there are still a lot of snaps but most are dry. 10/25 all are drying. Volga German Siberian, shelly. 3-4 foot half-runner vines. 9/1 pink pods are softening. 9/8 first mess of tasty � inch shellies. 9/15 some are drying out. 9/29 all are dry. White Simpson Greasy, snap. 9/29 Many are softening. DW likes the younger green ones as snaps. 9/30 several are dry. 10/4 they are very good quality even when all yellow. 10/10/12 On this trellis, there is one vine with black seeded striped hull greasy beans with fine flavor and texture. They do have strings. Some of these are drying. No!!! (Sound of one hand slapping the other hand.) Do not eat any more of these!! Save the rest for seed!! 10/25 there are still some usable snaps on the whites seeded plants but most are drying. *Some of these were started on peat pots. - Dick