Anyone know why my Romano beans are so tough? I've been picking them very young, about 3" long, and flat. Do they soften as they age? I've been giving them to my chickens, as they can't be chewed up.

Texaskitty, there are different types of Romanos (or, I consider the flat-podded Italian type beans to be "Romanos") -- and yes, some are quite fibrous! (they definitely don't soften as they get older...) I grow an old heirloom variety called "Blue Peter" aka "African Blue," which I love for their "beany" flavor, purple color (which changes to green when cooked), and vigorous growth (the vines get about 12 feet long even here in the north; I grow them on an 8-foot trellis). And they are as tender as any other bean I've ever grown.

Concur; I have grown the original Romano and it is an excellent bean. Tender until beans form at about 6 inches. I also grow Blue Peter, good but it gets shucky quicker than the Romano. There are newer Romano types like Hilda, Garden of Eden etc but I have not not grown them. If Romano's are tough at three inches you have a problem. Possibilities include stress causing the pods to develop prematurely. This often happens during a hot dry spell. Maybe mislabeled seeds, some dry type beans have flat pods but are always tough pods

What I'm growing as a Romano bean is called phaseolus vulgaris, and looks like this:


I looked that name up online and it's supposed to be a common green bean that looks like this:




So, I looked it up at the company where I bought it, and it's supposed to look like this:




This is not what I remember a Romano bean looked like.
Anyway, mine look like snow peas, taste nasty, so who do you buy your seeds from that are yummy?

Your photo looks like a lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus). These are intended for use as a shell bean either a green shelly or a dry bean. The pods of all varieties are inedible. Sources of Romano include http://www.burpee.com/vegetabl... http://sustainableseedco.com/h... http://www.allensterlinglothro... http://www.neseed.com/Bean-See... I use NESeed mostly. Territorial http://www.territorialseed.com... has newer Romano type type varieties Musica, Helda/Hilda, Super Marconi. There are other varieties but tha should give you a starting point.

Let you present crop fill with beans to point that some pods are showing yellow and then shell them out. You may have a delicious baby lima.

Now, that's an interesting idea. Maybe they are butter beans and I mislabeled them. I did plant butter beans, which are similar to Lima. I have a problem with my labels washing away, and then I put them where I think they should be.

texaskitty111 said:Now, that's an interesting idea. Maybe they are butter beans and I mislabeled them. I did plant butter beans, which are similar to Lima. I have a problem with my labels washing away, and then I put them where I think they should be.

I've heard of that happening... only to other people, of course!