I have wanted to grow Borlotto beans for years so this year when I saw there was a dwarf variety of Borlotto bean, I jumped at the chance to sow them in pots first and then squeeze them into my already packed vegetable plot.

I grew these dwarf Borlotto beans especially for the beans in the pods. They can be dried and stored in a jar for winter to be added to stews, casseroles and soups. Apparently they have quite an earthy flavour which should add some depth to these dishes.

The advantage of having these delightful plants in your garden for a long time is they are beautiful to look at with their mottled red and white bean pods hanging in front of their light green foliage.

They are a spectacle in themselves, a centrepiece in the vegetable plot. To get the mature beans they have to hang there a long time so you’ll want something great to look at!

Once the bean pods are ready, they’ll go through a purple colour and then brown and then they are ready to pick, take the beans out and dried them on a flat single layer in the bottom of a dish or plate for a week or so.

These Dwarf Borlotto Beans are also the perfect compact size to grow in pots which I might do next year if I run out of space again.

Counting beans and moving beans are the perfect activities for a rainy day with children.

Please supervise children at all times and don’t do this activity if your child is prone to putting things in their mouths still.

These beans are perfect for children’s little hands. If you want your children to help you, open the pods and let them pick out the beans. When they are dry, I let my daughter put them into the jar and count some of them. There’s so many things you can do to get your children interested in vegetables or growing them.

Click here for more of my posts on Growing Vegetables with Children.

I absolutely love everything about this bean variety including the speckled beans. Unfortunately they loose their speckled colour when cooking so end up being normal white beans.

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Other Interesting Vegetables to Grow:

Growing Yellow Ball Round Courgettes

Growing Cauliflower Romanesco

Growing Dwarf Borlotto Beans