Violet Beans, Green Beans and French Beans

Cindy planted some pole beans this year, including some heirloom Violet beans, which really are a striking violet color on the vine, but turn green when cooked.  She also planted some regular green beans.  The vines have become so heavy that they are sinking down the poles.  That makes the foliage so thick that the beans are difficult to see, even the violet ones.

As a result, some of the beans hid out in the cover until they were long and pretty tough.  She picked some of them yesterday, but thought they were too tough to use.  She tried cutting through the hull, thought the knife was too dull, tried another knife, couldn't cut it with that one and tried the kitchen scissors.  At that point she was about ready to throw them away, but she decided to try cutting them as French beans instead, slicing through the hulls lengthwise.  Fortunately, that worked and the beans became very soft and tender in the chicken, wild rice and green bean casserole she made for dinner.

That started us thinking that Europeans, with limited land available, probably traditionally grew pole beans rather than bush beans, and probably therefore encountered the same problem of tough hulls and developed the practice of cutting them in the French style.  It's a lot of work to cut them that way, but it worked beautifully.

The vines may be wilting a bit, there are still blossoms forming, so apparently there will be more green and violet beans coming this year.