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re: string beans

HI, Nan and everyone...

String beans used to require 'stringing'. I find that many types (pole and bush) if not picked early enough become 'stringy' - I guess it has to do with the lignin toughening up, esp. in the string part.

There are lots of fairly new bean offerings because of breeding work that don't get stringy even if you leave them there forever - some good ones are "Fortex" and "Emerite" (there, style mavens....for it's a French word....). Both are filet types when young, but keep elongating to almost one foot, and up to about 1/2" thick if you don't get to them in time....however they have a fine flavour at any stage. We grew only about 10-12"Emerite" plants at the nursery last year and they just went on and on and on producing HUGE quantities of beans....highly recommended.

Less successful was an heirloom called Black Valentine (black seeded, not pods)....they were tasty but had those old-fashioned strings. I recall saying "oh, that's why they called them string beans"...



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