To harvest or not to harvest? Etna Bush Beans that is…

Posted on Jul 18 in gardening reference, living simply, Urban Homesteadingby TalinaPrint

Google has led me astray. I’ve got my hands on the soup beans I’ve been coveting, the Etna Bush Bean but there seems to be no consistent information about the proper harvesting of these beauties. Google has failed me this time…

All you fellow gardeners, urban homesteaders and farmers please chime in: When do you know your Etna Bush Beans are ready for harvest and drying?

Back when I was seed shopping I did some reading on them and was under the impression the beans were left on the plant to mature and begin drying out, then the whole plant was yanked and brought in for drying and then bean harvesting.

Then over the weekend when I went to double check my understanding of the harvest process I found a separate site noting the beans should be picked to encourage future bean production. So we went out and picked the seemingly ripe beans this evening. As we picked them we noted that some are beginning to get reddish streaks on the green bean pod so we thought it was a promising sign.

Then I came across this blog post that has a great photo of the various stages of harvesting the Etna Bush Bean and doubted that we picked our bucket of beans at the right time.

But someone wrote a “how to” article here that says to harvest beans once pods are plump to promote future blooms and continual bean production on the plant. I understand the concept as it applies to many other vegetable varieties but does it apply to the Etna Bush Bean or any other drying bean for that matter?

I believe I am having some search overload in combination with my end of pregnancy indecisiveness. So what is the story fellow gardening readers? When do you harvest your Etna Bush Beans that you want to dry for soup making?