Beans

In 2018, a friend grew several different varieties of beans, and saved some seeds. For Christmas, she gave me a jar of an assortment of the beautifully coloured dried beans. I sorted them out according to their colours and got her to name them, and tell me which were climbers and which were bush. This year, I planned space for them in my garden and planted them.

Last night, we had the first picking of some of the Mosteller climbing beans. They were delicious, steamed about five minutes, until just a little tender. Beans are such a rewarding crop, and climbers keep bearing until frost. They don't usually have many pests, and they bear enough at once to make it worth while getting out the steamer for processing. Processed and frozen beans are nothing like fresh, but in the middle of winter, they taste wonderful.

I think I am throwing in the towel on peas. They are fun to get in the ground, something you can plant early when it is too soon for a lot of things, when you are itching to get planting. They pop up fairly quickly, giving gratification...but after picking and shelling, there doesn't seem to be much there! They are delicious, but I think next year, I'll just plant the few I had no room for this year, and call it quits on peas.