How to store Barlotti Beans

[JacquiParticipant]

Last year I grew Barlotti Beans for the first time with poor harvest.
I carefully dried the Beans on trays in the greenhouse before putting them in a jar with a clip down lid with a rubber seal.
I went to use them today only to find they had started to go mouldy.

Does anyone have any better suggestions on how harvest and to store them next year.

Thank you

[ElleGeeParticipant]

Hi Jacqui, I grow Borlotti and other beans for drying each year. I tend to leave them on the plant as long as possible, so when I harvest them they are fairly dry already. I pod them then leave the beans out on trays under cover for about a week. I then put them into plastic tubs (takes much less space than the trays!) in my kitchen without the lid on – and every now and then I give them a toss to brings the lower ones to the surface. I guess I leave them like this for about 2 weeks (maybe longer as I tend to forget about them) before closing the lids. I’ve never had any go mouldy.
I live in France and something I have learnt from my neighbours is to store them semi-dry too – they are delicious and cook much faster. Harvest them when you have a good sized bean, pod them and then simply bag them up and freeze them. No need to further dry them, blanch or anything else.

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