Reply #2: Hi and welcome! Ask me any tomato, pepper or eggplant questions (I "major" in those)...or any other

[NRaleighLiberal]

As far as the beans....if you've got the pods that are staring to dry (they get hollow and start to get crunchy!), sure, pull them, remove the beans, dry on paper plates for a few weeks in the house, then store them so that they remain dry (I use plastic or glass bottles or vials). Even if they are not drying yet, once the pods feel hollow around the beans when you squeeze them, they won't do any more ripening on the vine - just drying - so you can take them out of the pods, put them on plates, and let them air dry in the same way.

Also, once the Heavenly Blues drop their flowers, they will also produce seed pods - once they dry, harvest the seeds for next year.

We are a bit away from a first frost in Raleigh, and my sweet and hot peppers and eggplant are actually still going strong - no more tomatoes, sadly (all 200 plants dead and gone!)