Of my short list of bean varieties I find myself least satisfied with Rattlesnake.

It's a fine and tasty bean, and I've kept it returning to my garden due to its ability to produce in the heat, but I find it doesn't mesh well with my somewhat sporadic bean picking habits.

Rattlesnake seems to get overgrown and stringy faster than my other varieties. I find it difficult to remove the strings because they are not heavy, and frenching takes an eon and is not wholly successful because the strings tend to be inset somewhat in the side of the bean.

My fault entirely, but I've found myself uttering a heavy sigh when I get down to the rattlesnake plants.

I've seen mention recently that rattlesnake makes a good dried bean and it got me wondering if I can squirm out of my picking/stringing/frenching duties :)

Do you enjoy rattlesnake as a shelly or dried bean?

~emmers