How To Harvest Lima Beans - Fresh or Dry

Lima bean, butter beans, sieva beans...whatever you want to call them, they are delicious. Christy Wilhelmi from Gardenerd shows you how to harvest them both fresh and dry.
If you need help processing dry beans, check out our video on the subject at the end.
Whether you’re new to gardening or a garden nerd veteran, there’s a place for you at Gardenerd.com. Find resources at gardenerd.com/blog
Join the mailing list for gardening tips and upcoming classes: gardenerd.com/signup/
Consider becoming a Patreon Subscriber to support the free info we provide on this channel and at Gardenerd.com: / gardenerd
Order Christy's new novel, Garden Variety: gardenerd.com/product/garden-...
Get on the waiting list for our upcoming Pest Control Online Course: gardenerd.com/pest-control-on...
Purchase your copy of Gardening for Geeks updated in 2020: gardenerd.com/shop-gardening-...
Grab a copy of Christy's new book "Grow Your Own Mini Fruit Garden": gardenerd.com/mini-fruit-garden/
Follow Gardenerd on social media:
Twitter: / gardenerd1
Pinterest: / gardenerd
Instagram: / gardenerd1
Facebook: / gardenerd.com

[@kedramarjenhoff2192]

So glad I found you! I'm growing lima beans for the first time and it's so fun! Mine are not quite ready to harvest, but we are getting there! I'm in NE Florida and we are DRY - no rain for so long! Watering with city water - yuk! Thanks for your tips for harvesting! Can't wait to see more from you!

[@David.AE2089]

I grew Lima beans last year and I did not know when to harvest them so thanks you for telling me

[@hastycontemplation]

Very informative, thank you.

[@markm1514]

I can't believe I've missed y'alls channel so far, I'm looking forward to your next video as much as this year's lima bean harvest.

[@Gardenerd]

Glad you found us!

[@tombkds1]

Thanx for the info.

[@robertadunaway7030]

Good info, thanks.

[@Gardenerd]

Glad it was helpful!

[@meelalaeswaryannalingam2013]

Super ❤

[@jamiemiller5616]

Yes you can pick & shell them when they are full & green. Just rinse & blanch them in salt water then freeze.

[@darrybush5293]

Christmas Lima Beans are my favorite bean to grow and eat. I also grow King of the Garden. Happy Gardening from Z10b Southern California sunset zone 24

[@Gardenerd]

Ooh, I'll have to look out for that one. I'm always game to try new varieties.

[@bonniepoole1095]

When I watch garden posts, I wish each vid would start with WHERE the garden is located. Some sites do say which environment they are referring to, some don't. I believe that Gardenerd is in the LA, California area? Is that correct?

[@Gardenerd]

That is correct. We are in Los Angeles, near Venice Beach.

[@starlessmystery6429]

I saw a video of a woman in India and she cooked the entire green pods in a pot and then mashed them up with spices to make a dip they were dipping bread in

[@Gardenerd]

Ooh, nifty idea. Thanks for sharing.

[@bobhaverkos8687]

Do you have a source for those carolina sieva bean seeds? Can't find them anywhere.

[@Gardenerd]

Both Seed Savers Exchange and Southern Exposure Seed Exchange have them in stock. I believe I got mine from one of them.

[@robertbecker1999]

Hi. I experimented with Lima beans this year and figured the pods had to have a full look before harvesting fresh but a lot of the pods on my plants are falling off the vine prematurely. Do you know why? Maybe the plants need more water??? Thanks Gardennuerd.

[@Gardenerd]

Sorry to hear that. Without knowing your growing conditions, it's hard to say what might be the problem. It could be water, but it could be that the soil is in a state where nutrients aren't available to the plant. Meaning that something could be blocking nutrient uptake (compaction, lack of good soil microbial populations, high zinc, etc). If your beans are grown in a container, yes, they need water and nutrients more often. If you're growing in the ground, test your soil for nutrient levels. If they are abundant, then it's probably one of the above-mentioned scenarios. Beans typically store nitrogen in their roots until beans start to form. Then the plant uses up the stored nitrogen to make beans. So it's technically a nitrogen neutral plant at that stage. Fruiting crops still need phosphorus and potassium to make fruit. A plant will abort what it can't support. So check those levels. That's my best guess with the information you've provided.

[@brianneedham5539]

Can you please tell me where I can purchase the Carolina Sieva butter bean. I can’t find them anywhere. Any help would be greatly appreciated by me and my daughter who loves them. Thanks

[@Gardenerd]

I have seen them for sale on Seed Savers Exchange, and Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. At the time of this comment posting, SeedSavers appears to be out of stock. I did a quick search for "carolina sieva beans" and got a few small seed companies as a result like TrueLove Seeds and Firefly Farm & Mercantile. Check those out.

[@foxmulder7616]

DO THE PLANTS CONTINUE TO PRODUCE FLOWERS/BEANS THROUGHOUT THAT WHOLE 1.5 YEARS OR DO YOU HAVE TO DO SOMETHING SPECIAL? THANKS! 🙏

[@Gardenerd]

I recall there being a dormancy period where they don't produce, but they start back up again once the weather warms up.

[@Hill_Billy_Without_A_Hill]

So, are the pods edible at anytime, or for lima variety you only can eat the beans?

[@Gardenerd]

The pods are very fibrous, so I don't recommend eating them. Shell them first, and if they are young you only have to shell the bean from the pod, not the second inner bean. Once they mature, they have to be shelled twice.

[@bonniesoliz141]

I live in northern MN and tried growing lima beans this year. We've had a pretty warm summer and the plants did well, however I was about a month late planting. They are not the pole beans, but the bush lima type. next week it will be in the 60's and I'm wondering if you can cut the long vine that the pods grow on, and hang them to dry. I'm not sure they're ready to pick, but I have such a short growing season. And, what happens if you pick them while they're not too filled out?

[@Gardenerd]

Leaving them attached to the cut vine is a good idea to help them finish ripening indoors. If they don't ripen and fully dry out, they may shrivel up and rot. But your plan seems like a good one to test out. I know some people pull the whole plant and hang it upside down indoors to finish the process. That seems to work really well.

[@starlessmystery6429]

Please someone tell me why they are saying the pods have to be dried out. I picked a bunch of them not knowing this in the green pods but the beans were the correct size and then just dried them on a tray out of the pods. I don’t understand why everyone is always saying the pods have to be dry but they never say why

[@Gardenerd]

The likelihood of rot increases if the beans are not dry when harvested. That said, if your conditions are not soggy (rain, humidity, etc) the beans will most likely dry just fine after being shelled while green. Also - if you are saving the beans for seeds, seed maturity is often very different than plant maturity. For example, cucumbers: we pick them green to eat them, but the seeds are not mature for growing next year until the fruit turns yellow (well past the desired eating stage). I hope this helps.

[@starlessmystery6429]

@@Gardenerd yes it did. Thank you 🙂

[@starlessmystery6429]

@@Gardenerd I dry all of my herbs, seeds, everything on trays in the refrigerator….even things like lemon and lime and tangerine zest. Dries faster with no humidity

[@Gardenerd]

@@starlessmystery6429 Great idea. I hadn't heard that before.

[@jamiemiller5616]

You don't need to trellis them if the are a bush variety

[@Gardenerd]

Correct. We grow both bush and pole varieties, and the bush varieties don't need a trellis. We were demonstrating on a pole variety, and those need a trellis.