Shelling beans is a generic term for beans meant to be harvested and used when the beans inside their pods have matured in size, but the pods are still green and fresh. This is before the pods have moved on to the dried state that is usually more appropriate for dried beans.You pick shelling beans at the point just before the pod would start drying, specifically as the pods start to change from green to yellow. At this stage, the beans inside are still soft and tender.
The pods of many beans and the beans themselves at this point are often starting to be streaked with red.
An example of a shelling bean is fresh lima beans, which are often sold frozen.
Some of the beans typically harvested as shelling beans will be okay as green beans if harvested earlier; others will not because their pods are just too fibrous right from the get-go, even when very young
The plants of shelling beans can be bush or pole-type bean plants.
Language Notes
Also called Horto Beans, Shell Beans, Shelly Beans.