What Happened To Lima Beans?

[puff_not_snuff]

When I was a kid my Grandparents were always either growing or buying lima beans at farm stands. I was a finicky eater and a snot nose kid so I never indulged in them despite my dear Grandmother always telling me how great they are and always "putting up" a winter's worth in her freezer. Well, now as an adult I love lima beans but they are so hard to come by fresh, I wish I grew some this year but put in favas instead which didn't do very well. Anyone have anything to add to lima bean watch 2022? Are they easy to find by you?

 

[--dante--]

I don't remember seeing fresh ones for years. Only frozen where I live (Western PA).

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I just grow them. I see them dried, canned, and frozen at our grocers. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them in fresh produce, unless it was at the farmers market.

 

[mso489]

It takes an experienced cook to tell a lima bean from a butter bean. I suspect the farmer's market of passing off one for the other depending on what people ask for. I like limas, too, and don't know why they are hard to find in the produce market.

 

[logs]

They became butter beans

 

[puff_not_snuff]

They became butter beans

Yea, I sort of realized that but I rarely find them under that name too... Perhaps they are still popular in the south? Can one find fresh black eyed peas down there?

 

[logs]

Butter beans and black eyed peas are both common in southern grocery stores... typically in cans. Not sure about fresh because I never made those.

You can find them on Amazon pretty easily:

https://www.amazon.com/Glory-Foods-Seasoned-Southern-Butter/dp/B00LZ0378G/ref=sr_1_7?crid=XF607GIPXIP2&keywords=butter+beans&qid=1660511545&sprefix=butter+beans%2Caps%2C136&sr=8-7

 

[--dante--]

I just grow them. I see them dried, canned, and frozen at our grocers. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them in fresh produce, unless it was at the farmers market.

Yeah now that you mention it, I've never once seen them at a grocery store -- just rarely at a farmer's stand.

 

[--dante--]

They became butter beans

I think butter beans are just bigger lima beans and vice-versa.

 

[logs]

I think butter beans are just bigger lima beans and vice-versa.

Sounds about right. It's mostly in how you prepare them really.

 

[puff_not_snuff]

Sounds about right. It's mostly in how you prepare them really.

I buy the split dried ones from time to time. They cook much faster than the whole.

 

[STP]

Kids like me were force-fed them and vowed to never eat them again…

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Growing up on a farm, limas were shelled fresh and butterbeans were allowed to dry on the plant or vines. Which sorta baffles me when I see both butterbeans and limas dried and frozen. So, not sure why other farmers distinguish them as such.

 

[Zack Miller]

A few in a multi-bean soup are okay. Otherwise yuk.

 

[tbradsim1]

I used to raise on poles, speckled butter beans, almost as big as a quarter, they were really good cooked with ham.

 

[--dante--]

I used to raise on poles, speckled butter beans, almost as big as a quarter, they were really good cooked with ham.

Oh yeah, the bigger the bean the better with ham.

 

[AppalachianPipe92]

We've got em at farm stands here in GA. But i don't really see them fresh at the grocer, at least recently.
We cook them with ham hocks. I love lima beans.
Good argument that they're often labeled butter beans now.

 

[MilesDavis]

I noticed their absence in the frozen food sections of my local groceries. I finally found them recently. I, too, was wondering about this.

 

[StringBEan]

Fresh ones aren’t too common in my part of Alabama, but there’s an abundance of canned ones. Here’s to hoping you find some fresh, and soon!

 

[Streeper541]

I've never seen then fresh unless I've grown them. I've obly ever seen them available canned or frozen. Any way you go, I love 'em!