How long do green beans keep?
 

How long do green beans keep in a refrigerator? I ask, because I have a couple of bean pods that are big enough to pick, but most are tiny and will be a while before they are ready. I just wondered how long they will keep while I wait for more to add to them. Yes, it's my first year growing green beans of any kind. So I haven't a clue what I'm doing.

Why not toss those that are ripe in the freezer until others are ripe enough to eat, and then eat them?

beans grow fast, you should be OK. if you keep them in a plastic bag, maybe with a barely damp paper towel, they should be fine for 3-4 days easy.
I thought freezing was best done after blanching, but havent frozen any myself.
good luck

I usually get little batches like that too, and save them in the freezer. When I get a whole big bag I do the blanching thing and either can them or eat them.
If you want to keep them in the fridge and they're whole they'll usually still be okay in a week, although I find that they'll have toughened up.

I don't know they never last that long around here. :)

I have found that frozen green beans tend to get rubbery if not blanched before freezing. I normally can all of mine.

I hadn't even thought of freezing them. Thanks for the suggestion!

Amigatec, thanks for pointing that out. I hadn't really noticed much of a difference in blanching them pre or post freezing, but I did realize that when I'm using unblanched beans from the freezer I put them in a casserole or soup. Most of the time I can them, which is probably why there isn't much of a difference in texture.

Well, I have now picked my first 15-20 bean pods. I took the advice to blanch and freeze them. So now I'm just waiting to have more to add to them. The vines are growing like nuts and already 9-10 feet long. Just how long will these things get?

I grew some Kentucky Wonder on the fence once, they grew up one side and down the other until they hit the ground.

I grew some italian purple striped pole beans last year on a wire fence, they sprinted to the top and then kind of wrapped themselves into a tangle. I kept them cut back level with the fence because it was difficult to work around the giant knot once it started toppling over. It probably cut their production down, but I still had plenty of beans and they did grow side shoots and kept going. They just wouldn't work with me on growing sideways no matter how hard I trained them.