I've been concerned about what I'm going to do with this plant now that the message has sprouted. I really wish the company had listed the kind of plant used on the packaging, and maybe some uses for it after the message had been read and the novelty wore off. I didn't want to just let witither and die.
After doing a little digging, I've discovered that this is a scarlet runner bean plant. It will grow between 8 and 12 feet high, and produce bright red flowers. Some people grow this plant for the flowers alone, however it will produce huge bean pods filled with edible beans--this plant is known in some quarters as the Oregon lima bean. The beans can be eaten fresh or dried, and some native tribes eat the tuberous roots. They are an annual plant, and can produce between 50 and 60 pods per plant, so maybe it'll provide a nice side dish of roots and beans for the family in 3 months or so.
Wanderer wrote:I've been concerned about what I'm going to do with this plant now that the message has sprouted. I really wish the company had listed the kind of plant used on the packaging, and maybe some uses for it after the message had been read and the novelty wore off. I didn't want to just let witither and die.
After doing a little digging, I've discovered that this is a scarlet runner bean plant. It will grow between 8 and 12 feet high, and produce bright red flowers. Some people grow this plant for the flowers alone, however it will produce huge bean pods filled with edible beans--this plant is known in some quarters as the Oregon lima bean. The beans can be eaten fresh or dried, and some native tribes eat the tuberous roots. They are an annual plant, and can produce between 50 and 60 pods per plant, so maybe it'll provide a nice side dish of roots and beans for the family in 3 months or so.
You can eat it right now--roots (washed off), leaves, and all. I've done it many times. Whole baby plants are delicious.
Wanderer wrote:I've been concerned about what I'm going to do with this plant now that the message has sprouted. I really wish the company had listed the kind of plant used on the packaging, and maybe some uses for it after the message had been read and the novelty wore off. I didn't want to just let witither and die.
After doing a little digging, I've discovered that this is a scarlet runner bean plant. It will grow between 8 and 12 feet high, and produce bright red flowers. Some people grow this plant for the flowers alone, however it will produce huge bean pods filled with edible beans--this plant is known in some quarters as the Oregon lima bean. The beans can be eaten fresh or dried, and some native tribes eat the tuberous roots. They are an annual plant, and can produce between 50 and 60 pods per plant, so maybe it'll provide a nice side dish of roots and beans for the family in 3 months or so.
You can eat it right now--roots (washed off), leaves, and all. I've done it many times. Whole baby plants are delicious.
Wanderer wrote:Not enough of it now for a meal...gotta fatten it up a bit.
Put the whole thing on a sandwich, instead of (or in addition to) lettuce. It will taste pretty.
Well, then it'd only be a meal for one. From what I've read, though, runner beans are in that unique class of plants where the entire plant is considered edible..the flower, the root, the leaves, and the bean, and even the bean pod (if picked when immature before it becomes fibrous). It appears to be a fast grower, and I really won't have to wait that long before it's big enough to share.
That said, legumes really should be cooked..many of them (if not all) contain digestive-inhibiting toxins destroyed by cooking.
djm wrote:I wish I could remember the name of them so I could post a link, but there used to be these clear plastic molds made especially for vegetables that you would tie over a growing squash, tomato, pepper, etc. The vegetable would eventually grow into the shape of the mold, which would be of a strange face or animal. The results looked pretty funny, and would have been great to serve up to company.
djm wrote:I wish I could remember the name of them so I could post a link, but there used to be these clear plastic molds made especially for vegetables that you would tie over a growing squash, tomato, pepper, etc. The vegetable would eventually grow into the shape of the mold, which would be of a strange face or animal. The results looked pretty funny, and would have been great to serve up to company.
From what I've read, though, runner beans are in that unique class of plants where the entire plant is considered edible..the flower, the root, the leaves, and the bean, and even the bean pod (if picked when immature before it becomes fibrous). It appears to be a fast grower, and I really won't have to wait that long before it's big enough to share.
