Dried Beans Straight from the Vine

If you're like me, your space is very limited.  

When it comes to the season's end, and I am busy canning, drying, and freezing, my kitchen looks like a disheveled farmer's market.  I dry many of my herbs in unused spaces, but seeds need more room to spread out, and need ample time to thoroughly dry before storing.

Thanks to my excellent father-in-law, who taught me to allow my beans dry on the vine, my counter tops are a bit more clear.

That's a lie, I just find something else to fill them up with.  

This is what my black beans look like when they are in the early ripening stage.

These are fully ripe and even a bit past their picking prime.  If you wanted to have black beans to eat right from the pod, you would want to pick them just before they turn this dark purple

These are my black beans totally dry.  They look like a dead, brown, dried up pod.

Perfect.

At this point, I harvest the pods and easily pop them open straight down the center.

Beautiful, dried black beans, ready to store.  I do lay them out overnight, just to make sure there is no moisture on them from handling, and then seal them in an air-tight container or mason jar.

"He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame."  Proverbs 10:5