The bean pods need to be cleared away. Birds can work wonders

The beans are ripening now, and some of the pods have even dried out. So it’s slowly time to harvest. We headed out to the garden and checked the crop. We were also surprised to find that some of the pods had been slightly nibbled and the beans themselves were missing. It turns out the ever-present birds have taken a fancy to the beans. It’s a shame, because the harvest isn’t exactly huge, so we don’t really need to share it with them. So when should you harvest the beans, and how can you effectively protect them from raids by the birds? We’ll reveal that to you in the following lines.

There’s no point in harvesting green pods

Exactly. When the pods are green, or feature a colour combination that includes green, there’s no point in harvesting them. The beans simply need to ripen. If you look at our beans, their pods are a greenish-purple colour. After all, these aren’t your typical beans, but ones that are sort of streaked. They have a dark purple mottled centre, and the rest of the bean is a light purple.

Photo: Radek Stepan

Harvest the dried pods

With these, we can be sure that the beans are truly ripe as they should be. Just take a look at the pod. It is usually completely dry, including the stalk itself that holds it to the plant. When snapping off the pod, you need to be very careful not to tear off a large part of the plant. The best way is to use a pair of scissors and cut the pod off at the point where the dry stalk is.

Tip: Tips for preparing beans. No more gas and long cooking times.

Watch out for birds

You need to protect the beans from birds using ordinary netting. There’s nothing simpler than putting up a net that birds simply won’t be able to get through. Bird netting is widely available in high-street shops and online. Birds often pull up bean seedlings, but here they’ve even dared to go for the dry pods, which is rather unusual. Normally, they’ve never paid any attention to the beans.

Sources: Author – grower

Photo and photogallery: Radek Stepan