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
