Saving Seeds from Heirloom Beans

Three years ago a neighbour gave me a handful of speckled climbing beans her family has grown since the 1950s. Nobody knows the name, so we call them "Mrs Novak's beans". Every year I save seed so the line carries on.

Why beans are easy

Beans are self-pollinating. The flowers pollinate themselves before they even open, so different varieties grown side by side rarely cross. Pick your best plants and leave a few pods on them.

Drying and storing

• Leave the pods on the plant until they are brown, dry and rattle.
• If wet weather threatens, pull the whole plant and hang it upside down in the shed.
• Shell the beans, spread them on a tray for a week, then store in a paper envelope.
• A few days in the freezer kills any bean weevils hiding inside.

This year's haul: 640 g of seed, more than enough for us and for six envelopes to share at the spring seed swap.