Nice looking beans, as always, farnerdill! Are those bush? I read cangreen is bush. Are they pretty easy picking?

I pick green limas every 2 days...3 at the most as I love the greener and more tender ones rather than the larger starchier ones. I raise Fordhook 242 bush

Cangreen is bush, no more difficult to pick than any other bush lima. The smaller the lima , the more difficult to pick, but the major difference in effort is in the shelling. Cangree is average size for a baby lima. Baby limas are much less starchy at all stages than potato limas like Fordhook. Even Baby Fordhooks are less starchy than Fordhooks, while still falling in the potato lima category.
{{gwi:109648}}

Planted limas for the first time this year. (Fordhook 242) Mine were slow to grow, and started falling over when they were 6" to 8" tall. Got annoyed with them and just let them go. The plants at the ends of the rows grew up through the fence, and flourished. The directions on the seed packet said nothing about support. We like the larger limas, but are apprehensive about trying them again next year. A lot of work for the few we got, but they sure were good!

I just let the plants lean over. Mine have produced pretty well and are still going strong. The early ones are large plants now.

The bush beans have produced far better for me than pole beans which quickly "top" out, but the bush beans are more indeterminate.

About support for bush lima beans: down here in SC ours seem to be growing much bigger than expected (well... certainly much bigger than they used to up in NJ).

So a little support is helpful, unless the rows are very widely spaced.

But they don't need much support--a bit of netting strung between posts is enough.

Bumping this thread. My first time growing limas, and they're getting ripe to pick now for fresh beans, but getting the pods open is a trial. They don't pop like pea pods, they don't zip open.

I'm beginning to dread the prospect of shelling all those beans.

You can get pretty good at it.

HOW?

I just press my thumb into the middle of the non-curved side and open it apart.

Don't follow you? Most varieties of lima beans shell easily when full, certainly easier than an English pea, southern pea. or green shellie. There are a few varieties that have a shell that resembles shrink wrap but not many.

OK, perhaps my difficulties in shelling these things indicate they aren't quite ripe to harvest yet. Although the beans do look ready once I extract a few. I want them as green shellies, not dried beans.

Well, I am reposting how to shell those green limas after picking and shelling some today. Twist the pod and it will open some...pick the beans out. I pick every 2 or 3 days to keep them tender. Nickle sized beans are great in the Fordhook 242.

The first set is near the base and I notice that young one are setting on the top as a second set.

Sorry, I or it made a duplicate.

This post was edited by wayne_5 on Wed, Aug 7, 13 at 12:42

Some lima varieties are much easier to shell if you cut a narrow strip of the curved edge of the pod away with a sharp knife.

Don't eat limas raw. Like many legumes, they have toxic properties when raw.

These Jackson Wonders are more like dime sized, which I think they're supposed to be. I'll go out tomorrow and see if I can extract any,

So these are the limas. I'd rather have them on the smaller side, as baby limas, but it's a lot easier to shell them when they've grown larger.

Still have to say they're harder to shell than peas.

I use kitchen shears, much easier than a knife.

first time on site here. also first time planting lima beans. my question is is the pod itself edible? thanks

Yes, But they are not palatable. Tough as corn shucks. If you can eat them, they are not poisonous.

My fordhhook limas are just beginning to fill out. I like them exactly like the photo provided by itilton (August 2013). My husband (whose family have generations of farming/gardening experience - while I'm a city-girl novice) says to let them dry before picking. I don't care for the dried limas I find in the stores. Used to buy frozen fordhook limas when I lived in So. Calif. and loved them. I 've not been able to get them since leaving there and no one seems to know what I want ( not the frozen "baby limas"). Hence, my attempt to grow them. Should I let them dry? Do they stay green and moist? I think they look the right color and size now. (Area NW Missouri.)

Let dry only if you want dried limas. For green shellies pick them as soon as pods are fully plump. There are frozen food companies that vend Fordhooks in the green shellie stage. They will be labeled as Fordhooks. They will be much larger and thicker than the Jackson Wonders which are a colored baby lima.

I like the limas pretty small [much smaller than tilton;s ] and very green when cooked or frozen. Cooked with a bit of olive oil.

Fordhooks are quite different in size , texture, and taste Than baby limas or even the giant limas especially the green tinted ones. Many people like one or the other but a significant percentage definitely like one but not the other.