Would it be worth the time it took to harvest & shell, then package? Dried beans are pretty cheap in the store. Although some specialty beans can be a bit pricy. Check out some grocery store prices or better yet a food co-op and go from there.

I've heard that you can take the dried pods and run them thru the wringer of a wringer washing machine. I'm lucky enough to have a wringer machine. I have Cherokee wax (black beans) and something the seed company called "bush blue lake" (white beans). The blue lake were not bush, they vined so much, we weren't able to pick without pulling the plants. I planted over 3 feet between rows, but the plants twined together between the rows along with the plants within the rows.

If you have specialty dried beans like calypso or anasazi you can get up to $5 a pound for hand cleaned beans. I have not been able to get more than $2 a pound for black beans.

Beans are low pay for the amount of time and land you have to devote to getting good dried beans. generally one can find organic sources for dried beans for less than $2 a pound for most types of beans-black beans tend to stay around $1 a pound and I cannot compete with that price.

So much so that we no longer do them. We did have, like you, blue lakes get away from us and they will be come seed stock

To market, put a 1/2 pound to a pound in a zip lock baggie, slap a label on the bag and you are good to go.

Ok, since we have quite a few black beans, purple beans with lt brown seeds and the white blue lake, all got away, I might get 'out there' and pick them. They will probably be seed for us next year, but I may try to sell some. Right now, rain is starting and expecting 4" over the next 24-36 hrs, so it will be alittle while before I can pick them.

I guess this will be a 'greenhouse' cleanup day.

see if you can sell them unshelled. There were people selling them that way at our market for $1.00 a lb--but they didn't have to clean them either!

where's your market, sandy 0225? I'm in Lafayette.

muncie, Minnetrista cultural center 8-12 Sat, 4-6 Weds

yorktown, at the library, friday 4-7

Lafayette's Tues 7am-noon, Thurs (at Purdue next year) 3-6pm and Sat 7am-noon. I think 3 markets per week is enough. The West Lafayette has a separate market on Wed 3-6pm, but I don't have enough energy to do that one also.