Borlotti Beans: Different Levels of Maturity

I made a few mistakes growing borlotti beans last year ... I purchased the seeds without really understanding that they were intended to be "dried beans".  I ate many of them while still green as if they were french beans.  Tasty, by the way, but not what they are intended for.  And when I finally harvested them, I was a bit on the early side. 

I got some advice and waited longer this year.  Not sure if I have it quite down pat yet! These were harvested as soon as I got home tonight (lots of rain coming).  About seven pounds!

I immediately started to pop the beans from the pods.  Luckily I was close to my computer and, while opening some pods, I decided to check on the drying method. I was actually looking for how to dry the beans ... only to discover that the pods should be left to dry before removing the beans!  Oh boy, so much to learn.

In the meantime, I had already opened a few to test the readiness - these pics should help me next year to know when to harvest.  

Definitely the drier they are, the darker the colour.  These pods are so dry, I was thinking they seemed "mummified".  The colour of the beans is a deep purple.
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But some of these older beans have a brown spot where the beans were attached to the pod.  Is that bad??

These ones were not quite as dry, but certainly well on their way.  Hard to tell from the picture but they are more crimson than the deep purple.

These three brighter pink pods were obviously at different maturity levels considering the beans inside.

There were many pods that were "mummified" - totally wrinkled, with some so dry the beans were already rattling.  So I went ahead and opened them up.  I so love the colours!!  The rest are spread out on some newspaper to dry for a week or so ...

Harvest Monday: August 18, 2014

Kale x 2

I have really been slowing down in my posts and had even briefly decided to give up the whole idea of blogging.  My day job is keeping me busier and busier so that's part of it.  But to be honest, trying to keep up with new recipes every week is wearing me down.  Sometimes I just want to eat toast with peanut butter, you know?

Basil ... most of it went to a friend

But I have really enjoyed the sense of community from the Harvest Monday postings.  So a big thank you to Daphne of Daphne's Dandelions for hosting this event each and every Monday - a great opportunity for seasoned and beginner gardener's alike to show off (maybe even brag a bit?) about their green thumb.

I appreciate the comments I receive on my own harvests and equally enjoy checking out the harvests from others.  They are always inspirational and very often educational as well.  And I get great ideas for next year's garden (like those Musica beans that everyone else seems to be growing except me).

So I'll keep going ... though with less of a focus on cooking posts and generally fewer posts during the week so I don't get too overwhelmed.  Maybe it will only be Harvest Monday posts each week; I'll do those at a minimum.  And maybe the extra time I have will allow me to weigh the harvests like so many others already do ... or maybe not (I tried it once and it seemed like a lot of effort).

Jeanette, Nantais and Purple Haze

It will definitely give me more time to spend outside enjoying the sunshine on my face and the feel of dirt between my toes ... like last week when I planted carrots and beets for a late fall harvest (actually, I don't usually walk around in bare feet, it was a rare moment).

And here are the rest of the garden goodies for this week.

I rarely bother with drying sage as it is a herb I don't often use.  But the plant was threatening to overtake my precious french tarragon so I ripped a big chunk off.

I just bought a bunch of red onions at a farmers market because they looked so good.  So silly when I had these of my own to harvest (sometimes I can't help myself).

 And I finally have some peppers!  I have been waiting for most of my peppers to turn red so it's been a while.  Except for the anchos which are meant to be green.

 More mixed beets  ... time for a roasted beet salad.

Failures in the Squash/Melon Dept

I've been whining a lot about my lack of zucchini this summer - not a single one from about 8 plants!  But it isn't just the zucchini - it is all the plants that I put into straw bales this year including summer squash, pumpkin and watermelon. 

Bales were set out in early May

They are in the same vicinity as my winter squash which seems to be okay, although not terrific either.  Even in the mess of grass that came up in that area of the garden this year, I still have plenty of spaghetti and acorn squash on the way. 

But the butternut squash in that same garden has borne nothing so far and I only have two tiny cantaloupe.

The straw bale plants are tiny ... barely a foot tall when last year some were 8 feet in diameter a month earlier than this!

Here are two zucchini plants last July planted in hay bales.

I know that straw bales have much less nutritional value than do the hay bales that I used the previous year.  I added bone meal as well as some organic veggie fertilizer but nothing seems to help.  But I have a friend who has 3 of the same straw bales I do (I gave him three as he was nice enough to lend me his truck to get them) - his plants are perfectly fine!

When posting a previous complaint about this situation, someone asked about bees.  I may have dismissed that problem too soon.  Although the plants are small, they are flowering.  But that doesn't explain why the growth is so stunted - the growth of the vines has nothing to do with pollination.

This is my best pumpkin plant ... I might as well pull them all out.  Even if a pumpkin came up in the next day or two, it will not have enough time to mature.

And my only watermelon - again, this will never mature in time.

And these are my newest experiment ... mouse melon.  They are essentially baby watermelon that taste like sour cucumber.  I was very excited about these.  I have just a few mouse melon on their way and they don't get very big so are almost mature already.  But the plants (vines) themselves should be massive by now with hundreds of these little guys!

I will definitely get hay next year, not straw.  But I'm not convinced that is the only problem this year. The Red Kuri squash in another garden is equally stunted in its growth.  So maybe it is the very wet and cool summer we have been having? The concept of growing in bales is that between watering and sunshine, the inner part heats up and essentially begins to compost itself providing an appropriate medium for plant growth.  The hay bales last year were totally breaking down by this time; the straw bales are still in perfect condition. 

So basically, they were a total failure this year, but always great for a lesson learned to improve upon next year.

And the cool weather has been good for something ... my recent transplants of cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and brussels sprouts for a fall harvest.  There should be very little chance of bolting if this cool weather keeps up.