Vanilla beans pods are an expensive, (labour intensive) spice to harvest. Green vanilla beans require about 9 months to mature before an extensive period of curing - resulting in sweet, moist fragrant beans. To use - simply split the bean lengthways & scrape out the seeds with the back of a small knife. Add both the seeds & the pod to the liquid to be flavoured. The pods can be removed, rinsed and allowed to dry, and added to your sugar jar to make an ongoing supply of vanilla sugar.