Cranberry Bean Harvest

I shelled my dried cranberry beans recently. I’ve aspired to grow them for several years. Cranberry beans were the “novelty crop” in my summer garden. Since I had not previously grown beans for shelling, I only planted a 1 x 4 foot swath. Though the harvest was small, I was pleased. One ounce of seed yielded 12 oz. of dried beans. I’ll save a third to replant next spring to increase the yield. There’s an autumn soup ahead with the remainder.

The self-supporting bush-type plants thrived even with the summer weather that did not favor other crops. The soil was heavily amended with compost and organic vegetable fertilizer and I coated the seeds with soil inoculant at planting. Germination was excellent. My seed source was Territorial Seed Co.

This Instagram post about harvesting cranberry beans from Territorial Seed Co. prompted me to do the final two steps.

Scroll to the end to link to my two previous posts on cranberry beans for their history (dating to the early 1800’s in the US) and my musings.

For more tips on growing dried beans for shelling check out the Harvest to Table post, How to Grow Dry Beans