anybody grow lima beans?

[chuckwood]

I just picked the last of mine. The morning glories got into my pole limas again like they always do. Tomorrow I'm going to torch it all with a propane burner I use for killing weeds. I'm hoping to burn up most of the glory seeds on the vines so they don't sprout as much next year. They are a real pest, once your garden is infected you can never really get rid of them all. Just one successful vine is enough to reinfect it all again.

This last picking was almost 2 bushels. There's really nothing like fresh limas. You saute them first in butter, helps seal all that flavor in. Then add some water, season the way you like it, and cook slowly till done. If you've ever had them fresh like this, you won't be eating canned limas anymore. Shelling them is very labor intensive. Commercially grown limas are shelled by machine, wish I had one of those.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

I'm convinced if I was forced to eat Lima beans or starve I'd wither away.

My dog won't even eat them and we call him a stomach on legs.

 

[chuckwood]

I'm convinced if I was forced to 3at Lima beans or starve I'd wither away.

My dog won't even eat them and we call him a stomach on legs.

My grandson won't eat 'em either. But I'll make the claim you never had 'em cooked right, or your first helping was nasty and came out of a can and ruined you. Limas are even better when you make succotash, that's how the native Americans liked them.

 

[backhoelover]

what are these people going to do when we have to live off the land, some of them would starve

 

[backhoelover]

My father in law and I have a 100x100 garden every year and alway have limas

 

[Del_]

My favorite lima bean is the heirloom Dr. Martin pole lima.

It's a very large lima that stays green at maturity and taste a lot like baby limas.

Yes, that is a U.S. quarter in the photo.

 

[chuckwood]

My favorite lima bean is the heirloom Dr. Martin pole lima.

It's a very large lima that stays green at maturity and taste a lot like baby limas.

Yes, that is a U.S. quarter in the photo.
View attachment 454668

Those are at least twice the size of what I'm getting. It seems to me that the larger the beans are, the less time you spend per pound in shelling them. The baby limas taste better than the large ones, but you spend twice as much time getting them out of the pods. If the Dr. Martin variety tastes like baby limas, then that's an unbeatable combination. I'll look them up online and see if I can get any seeds.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

My grandson won't eat 'em either. But I'll make the claim you never had 'em cooked right, or your first helping was nasty and came out of a can and ruined you. Limas are even better when you make succotash, that's how the native Americans liked them.

I can't really explain, but it's the texture and flavor that doesn't sit well with me. I'm not much of a fussy eater, but I can't do it.
They are easily in the top 5 of my gross food list.
I'm part Mi'kmaq and nope to succotash too!

 

[chuckwood]

I can't really explain, but it's the texture and flavor that doesn't sit well with me.

That's almost exactly word for word what my grandson says about beans, string beans or lima it's all the same to him. I lecture him sometimes about how healthy and full of proteins beans are, but he doesn't care what I say.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

I remember years back my Dad coming home from work and my Mom had dished out supper... us kids where nearly blowing snot bubbles trying not to laugh when he went on a rant about her trying to poison him and us by serving Lima beans.
Probably a had to be there moment.
.. I'm chuckling as I type.

 

[Del_]

There is a large range in the taste of lima beans and how they are prepared.

 

[chuckwood]

There is a large range in the taste of lima beans and how they are prepared.

Too many people just boil lima beans in water and then complain about the results. Put a good sized lump of butter in the pan, get it hot and then add your beans. Spend about five minutes or so tossing your beans around in the hot butter. Keep 'em moving so they don't char and you get all the beans exposed to the hot butter. That's why we call 'em butterbeans. Then add a small amount of water, some salt, maybe a bullion cube - whatever spices you might like - and simmer until they are soft. Yum!

 

[CentaurG2]

I have grown fava beans but never lima beans. To be honest, I really don’t actually like favas so I usually try to hide them in batches of chili. I have noticed most folks will eat around them.

 

[066blaster]

I loved Lima beans as a kid , haven't had any in years. Now I want some.

 

[Brushpile]

I'm convinced if I was forced to eat Lima beans or starve I'd wither away.

My dog won't even eat them and we call him a stomach on legs.

That reminded me of this.

 

[chuckwood]

I loved Lima beans as a kid , haven't had any in years. Now I want some.

They aren't that easy to find fresh. In most grocery stores and markets, you'll find them either canned or frozen. The canned limas are junk and taste bad. The frozen ones are a bit better, but they still don't compare to the ones fresh from the garden or home grown and home frozen.

 

[066blaster]

I remember getting the little frozen bags. We would fight over them when we were kids. I'll have to try to grow some.

 

[amberg]

like my lima beans, I grow the pole beans on a trellis. ( King of the garden ) also plant 2 acres of silver queen corn so I will have a endless supply of succotash. corn, tomatoes, and butter beans, is good eating IMO.

 

[amberg]

Only four month's until planting time. this year 5 acres sunflowers, 3 acres wheat, ( all ready planted ) 3 acres sweet corn, ( silver queen ) tomatoes, squash, butter beans, and green peppers. ( doves like sunflowers ) I like succotash!

 

[chuckwood]

Only four month's until planting time. this year 5 acres sunflowers, 3 acres wheat, ( all ready planted ) 3 acres sweet corn, ( silver queen ) tomatoes, squash, butter beans, and green peppers. ( doves like sunflowers ) I like succotash!

Succotash is one of my favorites. You are a commercial grower, right? Five acres is a lot of sunflowers, I've thought about growing them just for the birds to enjoy and for us to look at, but there's only so much time in the day to spend on gardening chores. I enjoy buying those salted and roasted sunflower seeds and stuffing them in my mouth like a wad of chewing tobacco, annoying people by spitting seed shells and salt water all over the place. Do it mostly when I'm sweating outside and can use a bit more salt.

I can't yet figure out why it takes so long for my lima beans to grow to maturity. On the seed bags it says they'll be ready for harvest around 80 days after planting. For mine it always takes around at least 120 days. This coming year I'm trying the Dr. Martin's variety, which I understand has twice the size and twice the taste of the King of the Garden variety. The big chore with limas is shelling them. The larger the lima, the less time involved in shelling. A while back I checked out some machines you can build yourself out of simple machine parts and plywood to shell them mechanically, but this still only looks practical for a commercial operation and not a home gardener. I've tried a few smaller shelling machines for home use, but they didn't work very well.