Last week, I wrote that I was concerned shelling tiny Urd Beans might be difficult.  I needn't have worried.  A few days later, when hot sunlight was streaming in the front window and across my pan of drying beans, I was startled by a loud pop.  "Huckleberry!" I exclaimed, sure that our spoiled cat had gotten into something he shouldn't have, but Huckleberry was asleep on the couch and the popping continued.

I eventually figured out what every Urd Bean grower out there already knows --- warm, dry weather will shell your Urd Beans for you.  When the pods reach a certain level of dryness, the two halves curl apart and the seeds explode out in every direction.  Picking another batch of pods this week, I had to carefully enclose entire fruits in my hand since even the gentle pressure of my fingers was enough to pop some pods open, just like pressing on a touch-me-not pod.

Green or damp pods don't pop on their own, but if you catch them during a dry day, you can gently roll a handful between your palms and remove the hulls from several pods at once.  Or just wait until the sun comes out and your kitchen turns into a rice krispies commercial --- snap, crackle, pop.

Want more in-depth information? Browse through our books.

Or explore more posts by date or by subject.

About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.



Want to be notified when new comments are posted on this page? Click on the RSS button after you add a comment to subscribe to the comment feed, or simply check the box beside "email replies to me" while writing your comment.

Powered by Branchable Wiki Hosting.