Is It Time to Harvest Beans Yet?

Beans make such a wonderful addition to your garden. I love filling in empty spots in my garden with bush beans. I barely do anything to care for them, and then after just 60 days, I get a huge bean harvest from tiny plants that barely took up any space at all. It's a garden win-win.

So how do you know when it's time to harvest those beans? It depends on whether you want to eat the beans fresh or dry them for later use. Let's look first at how to harvest fresh beans like snap beans and shelling beans.

When to Harvest Fresh Snap Beans

Beans and cowpeas are typically ready to be harvested fresh about 55 to 60 days after planting. Make sure to check the anticipated days to maturity written on the back of the seed packet for the type you're growing.

When you're nearing the harvest date, start checking your plants for beans that have reached the expected length at time of harvest. French filet beans are ready for harvest when the pods are just 4" long, while yard-long beans are best harvested before they exceed 18" in length! That's a lot of variation, so make sure you know how big the type you're growing is expected to get.

You typically want to harvest as soon as your pods have reached the desired length. The seeds will be just beginning to form inside, so you'll barely be able to see them from the outside. The pods will still be nice and tender. (They're technically unripe fruit at this stage). Pods can also be snapped easily in half, which is how we get the name "snap beans." If you wait too long, the pods will start to get tough and develop strings.

You can also look to the bean flowers as a clue. Most pods are ready for harvest about one to two weeks after the blossoms form.

What About Fresh Shelling Beans?

There's a group of beans called shell beans that are typically harvested dry. Think kidney beans, black beans, and fava beans. You can actually harvest these the exact same way you would snap beans—while they're still young and tender. You'll be able to eat these bean pods whole the way you would a green bean.

You can also harvest them once the beans inside have developed but before they dry. Think edamame. The pod will still be green, but the beans inside will be visibly swelling. You'll need to remove the string and shell these beans before eating. I love sliding fattened-up beans out of their pod. Fava beans are particularly fun to shell because the inside of the pods are fuzzy.

As beans continue to mature inside the pod, they change from bright green to pale green to white. You may find you enjoy the flavor and texture of shell beans most when they're white (like navy beans and butter beans).

How to Harvest Fresh Beans

To avoid damaging the branches or vines, use a clean pair of pruners, scissors, or snips to harvest your pods. Cut just above the pod while holding it away from the stem, and leave a little bit of stem attached. Wait until you're ready to enjoy your beans to pinch off the ends.

If you must use your hands to harvest your beans, then make sure to hold the stem with one hand and tug the pod free while gently twisting. Take care not to damage the branches, especially if you're growing pole beans. Those branches can continue to produce.

Return every couple of days to harvest more beans. You want to keep your plants well picked so they'll continue producing more pods for you.

How to Store Fresh Beans from the Garden

Store your pods unwashed in a closed container in your refrigerator crisper drawer. They should last about 7 days.

Make sure to wash your beans and snap off the ends before enjoying them.

How to Freeze Garden-Fresh Beans

Beans retain their nutrients for up to 6 months in the freezer. To freeze your beans, first snap off the ends and cut your beans to your preferred length. Lightly blanch them and then let them dry before freezing them in freezer-safe bags for best results.

When to Harvest Dried Beans

If you want to harvest a dried bean like fava beans, pinto beans, cowpeas (aka black-eyed peas), or black beans, you'll need to leave the pods on the plant a few weeks longer so they can fully form. You can typically harvest dried beans about 80 to 90 days after planting, though some gardeners just wait until their first frost is on the way.

You'll know dried beans are ready for harvest when the shells are hard and dry and have turned the color of straw. You'll also hear a rattling sound when you shake the pod.

How to Harvest Dried Beans

Use your hands or a clean pair of pruners to cut the pod from the branch.

It's super easy to break open the pod and collect the beans inside. Place all your beans on a cooking sheet for another week or two to ensure they're fully dried before storing them.

How to Store Dried Beans from the Garden

Dried beans should be stored inside a food-safe container with a tight-fitting lid (like a mason jar). Place them in a cool, dry place, and your beans will keep for years. When you're ready to use them, all you have to do is soak them in water overnight to rehydrate them.

The fun part is you can plant some of these dried beans, otherwise known as beans seeds, in next year's garden!

How Many Beans Can You Harvest from One Plant?

The answer depends on whether you're growing bush beans or pole beans. Bush beans produce almost all at once, while pole beans will continue to produce until frost comes along. Overall, you can get about 3 times as many beans from a pole variety than a bush variety.

I typically expect to get several pounds of beans from each pole bean plant. Keep in mind that's over the entire course of the growing season. I recommend growing at least 3 to 5 pole bean plants per person in your family to get a good-size harvest of fresh beans. Make sure to harvest frequently and never let the seeds inside any of the pods reach full maturity to keep your plants super productive.

For bush beans, each plant might produce about half a pound of beans. I recommend growing 5 to 10 bush bean plants per person, and replant throughout the season for a more continuous harvest.

Should You Harvest All of Your Beans Before Frost?

Bean plants are frost sensitive, so harvest all the pods on the plant when frost is in the forecast. Remove the plants from your garden by cutting them at their base, leaving the roots in the soil. As long as your plants didn't have major pest or disease issues, you can toss them into your compost pile.

What Happens If You Wait Too Long to Harvest Your Beans?

If you're hoping for the tastiest fresh beans, it's best to harvest them when they're still tender, before the seeds inside swell against the pod. If you wait too long—even just a day or two late sometimes—your beans can taste woody or bitter and develop too many tough strings.

Take the super popular green bean variety Kentucky Wonder. It has stringless pods only when harvested young. If you miss your harvest window, you can shell the beans or let them dry on the plant to save your own bean seeds or harvest dried beans.

Why Is My Pole Bean Plant No Longer Producing Beans?

This is not a pollination issue. It's a temperature issue. Pole beans sometimes stop producing when the weather grows too hot over summer (over 90°F). If they do continue to flower and fruit, the beans might be a little too tough. Some bean varieties tolerate heat better than others, so make sure you're growing a good variety for your season and climate.

If your beans have stopped producing, you can pull the plants and grow something that will give you a harvest over the next few months, or you can keep your plants well-watered until the temps drop. Once your daytime highs are back in the 80s, you should start to get flowers and then beans again.

How to Use Up Beans from the Garden

I'm not one for canning, so here are some of my favorite ways to use up large bean harvests fresh:

• Try PlantYou's hidden bean soup recipe. This is perfect for any of your shelling beans.
• Steam snap beans for about 5 minutes.
• Sauté your snap beans and sprinkle them with slivered almonds to make green beans almondine.
• Use any of your fresh snap beans to make a Nicoise salad.
• Combine your snap beans and dried beans in Martha Stewart's Mediterranean Three Bean Salad.
• Toss your rehydrated dried beans into some homemade chili.

Learn more about the culinary delight of shell beans from my favorite seasonal recipe creator, Joshua McFadden, in this free excerpt from his book, Six Seasons.

Time to Harvest Some Beans

There ya go! I spilled the beans on how to harvest and enjoy your beans.

If you're feeling a little impatient waiting on your first bean harvest, you can always harvest some of the younger leaves on your plants. Not only are they a great spinach substitute, they're also chockfull of nutrition (mainly vitamin A and iron). That's another really fun example of how you get to enjoy more parts of the plant when you grow your own!