Beans

[Millymollymandy]

MMM runner beans and kidney beans ARE the same thing, my Dad and grandparents always called them kidney beans- he corrects me everytime I mention runners! I guess there is one type of runner that makes special red beans that are good for chilli, bit like borlotti and jsut one type of french bean as far as I can make out?

But why don't they taste the same, and if that really is the case why don't we grow runners for the beans inside - seeing as how much a tin of kidney beans costs!!! Think I'll do an experiment with the rest of the runner beans that are way past it on the plant - I only chuck them in the compost anyway.

[Green Aura]

I've tried growing red kidney beans - a variety called minny or mini - can't remember. Without much success.

But the beans you get out of varieties like butler or painted lady, look very much like borlotti and butter beans if you let them grow big enough. Which has never been a problem for us - the little buggers always seemed to double in size while we were out at work

[grahamhobbs]

All the different types of beans do seem very confusing, I ordered some white butter beans (Fagiolo di Spagna) from Franchi Seeds, the only place I could find them, only to have them delivered and described on the packet as bi-colour runner beans! I've obviously questioned that because I definately wanted traditional white butter beans.
However it does seem that there is little difference between beans, it is just that some varieties have been developed for eating as pods or as beans, with some being good eating for both purposes, but otherwise you might find the pods stringy or the beans tasteless.
The question about whether beans have to be boiled to remove toxins has not been fully clarified. Obviously dried beans have to be boiled to make them soft to eat, so the question is a bit academic; and some beans when fresh do not need boiling eg broad beans, but are their some (perhaps red kindney beans) that need to be boiled even when fresh.
Finally a quick tip, don't leave beans or peas to dry too long on the plant, you might come back and find a mouse has eaten the lot, it's happened to me.

[Green Aura]

If you want butter beans, can't you just buy a packet from the supermarket and grow some from them?

They're only dried beans after all.

[grahamhobbs]

Green Aura, yes sure you can. In fact I didn't need to go out as we have some already in a jar at home. We normally save our seed and just prefer to know the provenance of what we are sowing and saving.

[Millymollymandy]

From wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beans

about the toxins in beans:

Some kinds of raw beans and especially red and kidney beans, contain a harmful toxin (the lectin Phytohaemagglutinin) that must be destroyed by cooking. A recommended method is to boil the beans for at least ten minutes; undercooked beans may be more toxic than raw beans.[7] Cooking beans in a slow cooker, because of the lower temperatures often used, may not destroy toxins even though the beans do not smell or taste 'bad'[7] (though this should not be a problem if the food reaches boiling and stays there for some time).

and then this bit is under 'common bean'

Before they are eaten, the raw bean seeds should be soaked in water for several hours and then boiled for at least ten minutes in new fresh water to degrade a toxic compound — the lectin phytohaemagglutinin — found in the bean, which would otherwise cause severe gastric upset. This compound is present in many varieties (and in some other species of bean), but is especially concentrated in red kidney beans and white kidney beans (Cannellini beans). Although in the case of dry beans the ten minutes required to degrade the toxin is much shorter than the hours required to fully cook the beans themselves, outbreaks of poisoning have been associated with the use of slow cookers whose low cooking temperatures may be unable to degrade the toxin. Sprouts of pulses high in haemaglutins should not be eaten. Kidney beans, especially, should not be soaked or sprouted

[Peggy Sue]

, which would otherwise cause severe gastric upset.

I can vouch for that bit

Well cooked, Pork & beans should be!

[kiwirach]

You guys had me googling this morning but I couldn't find what actual plant red kidney beans come from - other than a Latin name which turned out to be the Latin name for nearly ALL beans.

the red kidney beans i'm growing are from a bean plant called 'Canadian Wonder', and they are lovely red beans....i started shelling some of the dried pods last night!. someone somewhere said that you need to grows large numbers of plants to get a decent crop to store.....i only planted 6 this year and will see what the outcome is, so i know how to adjust for next year.
i should add, this is the first year growing them, so i dont know what they taste like yet....altho the catalogues billed them as the 'true red kidney bean', so i dont imagine theres a problem with the taste!.