Harvest time
Fire beans sown in May bear the first ripe fruit from the beginning of July. Regular picking stimulates the formation of new fruits. You can harvest late-sown firebeans until frost.
also read
- Drying fire beans: instructions & subsequent use
- Planting firebeans successfully - an overview
- Planting firebeans in the garden and on the balcony
Harvest fire beans as tender, green beans
The small, young beans from a size of 5 cm are particularly tender. They are harvested as whole pods and processed as cut beans.
Harvest ripe dried beans
If you want to harvest dry beans, you have to let the pods and seeds fully ripen. If the weather stays dry, you let the pods dry out on the plant. Then spread them out side by side in a dry place and let them dry for at least two weeks.
Make sure to also consume boiled firebeans!
As with all types of beans, the pods and seeds of the fire bean are poisonous when raw. Therefore, always boil the beans before eating them as vegetables, soup or bean salad.
Preserving fire beans
You can preserve fire beans by boiling them down and freezing them. Deep freezing is recommended. This method is best used to preserve vitamins and taste.
High-yielding varieties
- Lady Di: 2 cm thick and up to 30 cm long, threadless pods
- Moonlight: new variety with fleshy pods, suitable for boiling and freezing
Tips & Tricks
Fire beans are best productive when sown from May to June. They can cope well with cooler weather in spring. On the other hand, the heat and drought in summer cause problems for the flowers and pods.
