When I arrived at the allotment this morning I was given a couple of the most enormous beans I have ever seen. Check out the photo below.
My friend Di who passed these beans on to me says that they are called Poor Man’s Bean. They grow easily in the tropics. She also tells me that the reason they are called Poor Man’s Bean is because you have to be pretty desperate for a meal to bother with them as the outer shell is so tough and hard to penetrate, and so I am told are the beans inside. But that’s all I know about them. Maybe someone else can enlighten me further.
Allotment Adventures with Jean 
Mar 31, 2012 @ 06:25:47
They ARE huge!
Mar 31, 2012 @ 09:58:20
They are, aren’t they. That is one of the interesting things I have found gardening in a sub-tropical region, if you find a plant that likes the climate they just take off. One of my allotment neighbours is growing snake beans and they have grown so high he has no hope of harvesting the top ones without a ladder. I reckon Jack could be living at the top of that beanstalk and you’d never know!
Jul 21, 2015 @ 20:51:56
You have to pick the beans very young and flat, like a snowpea. Gotta be quick though. Snip them off rather than pulling so you don’t damage the flowering vine. Just stirfry as you would snowpeas.
Jul 22, 2015 @ 08:08:20
Heather, thank you for your helpful comment.