I save them for growing the next season, but I've never used them as a dry bean for eating. Mine are sometimes slightly mottled/striped, and sometimes all brownish, but they don't resemble true cranberry beans. The variety I grow is Garden of Eden, an heirloom - every variety is going to look different.

I wouldn't hesitate to eat them cooked as a dry bean, but they are so good fresh, and they freeze so well, and I doubt I'd ever have enough to keep them as a dry bean.

Thanks rgreen!

I'm not sure what variety I have. Our plants last year were so prolific we couldn't keep up with them fresh and had many beans left over for drying/growing. We don't currently have a lot of freezer space but I do like to freeze produce or canned products. What method do you use for freezing your green beans?

I snap them into the size I want and water blanch them for about 3 minutes, cool in ice water for about the same time, dry, and put them into freezer bags. Sometimes I use my vacuum sealer, but usually not with beans... it just depends on how soon I think I'll be using them.

You may want to cross-post this question into the Harvest forum. The regulars who post there are much more experienced than I with storing veggies. Just post the same question, and include a few lines about freezing/canning or whatever else. :-)

minis, I grew Italian Horticultural beans, and they look a lot like cranberry beans to me, so maybe that's what is being referred to on line, although my southern husband says they look like "October" beans. They look like this when they are shelled, and I dried some but I mostly just put them in quart ziplocks and freeze them, then it only takes a couple of hours to cook them instead of all day.

Annie