Reflections of katlupe: green beans

Showing posts with label green beans. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 05, 2012

Plants Showing Progress

Hobo supervising garden work!

We had some really hot days, then the weather turned rainy and cool. As I write this today, I am freezing. I do not want to start up our wood stove, so I just dress warmer. I started my garden, then was waiting for the plants to come up. Then it got so cool, I was thinking yesterday, that they probably won't come up. Surprise! Surprise! This morning they were showing their sleepy little heads!

Heirloom bush beans!

I am pretty far behind on starting seeds this year and having my raised beds ready to plant. Even if it is too cold to plant, usually my beds are ready to go by this time. Not this year! I am at the point in my life now where things are hurting and I have to put myself first. I will get the garden planted but I have time. Especially since it so cool. My son helped me out this morning by weeding my largest raised bed. That was a big help to me!

Heirloom cucumber seedlings coming along nicely!

My cucumber plants I started in the house and they can't go in the ground till I am sure it will be warm enough for them. I figured this way I will have a head start once I can put them in the ground. Most people do not start them in the house first, but if you have a short growing season it really makes sense to do it this way.

Peas

The peas I planted way back when I thought I'd start a cool weather garden. Well, the peas were the only ones who stuck around long enough out of those plants. The weather went from cool to freezing, to hot and now back to cool. There is only a handful of these plants but we can get some meals out of them. Were you able to get some of your plants started in the ground in your location?

Saturday, August 06, 2011

The Peaceful Forest Summer Garden

One of our many squash plants!

I seem to be pretty good at growing squash and green beans. What happened was I planted some squash seeds and they didn't come up. So I started more plants inside and by the time they were ready to transplant outside, the seeds had come up. So I have a good constant supply of squash this year.

Dandelions are good for you!

This morning I took a walk around to see what I had. I hadn't been out there the last few days. With raised beds you don't have to weed daily. I have been leaving the dandelions and red clover in. I think they help the plants. The beds that have them in seem to do really well. We eat the dandelions and lambs quarters in salads all summer long. I really don't like to cook them, but you can. I have thought of putting up some jars for the winter and they can be eaten as canned spinach or kale is.

Lambs Quarters is another wonderful weed!

A few of my squash plants have that powdery mildew on them. I always have that on cucumbers and squash plants. It could be because our yard is surrounded by trees and has more shade than they should have. I will have to try mixing up a homemade natural solution for it. Though it may be too late for mine now. They are still producing so it doesn't seem to prevent the squash from forming.

Cherry Tomato plants!

Tomatoes used to be plentiful too. But now that the air is full of those nasty spores that bring the Late Blight to NY gardens, I haven't grown them this year. The cherry tomatoes, as I told before on here, came up on their own. What is funny about that, is that they say to get rid of all the volunteers, so you don't get the blight. But these are the only tomatoes that I can grow, that do not get the blight! So we keep them. Have to at least have some fresh tomatoes for our salads! I cannot stand the ones bought in the stores as they have no taste.

Another raised bed of green beans in the backyard!

Green beans is a vegetable that I serve a lot. I like to add Italian dressing to it or cook it in bacon grease for a great flavor. I have even made it into my famous squash casserole by substituting it for the squash in the recipe. Cooking a pot of green beans with little potatoes is also a way I serve it. Last year my on line friend, Shawn, alerted me to the nice touch of canning the wax beans with the green beans. Now that is how I do it. Makes for a pretty dish!

Another squash plant!

By planting vegetables and harvesting wild foods, such as the good weeds and berries, wild grapes, apples and whatever else grows in our area, we are able to preserve foods for the winter. We eat some fresh and can the rest. I love coming up with new ways to cook the foods. It gets to be like a game, storing more food by finding new ones to can or preserve. What foods do you preserve for your winter supply?

Wednesday, June 01, 2011

Seeds A Week Later - Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Getting Our Garden Planted


Rebuilding the second bed.

Since I loved the first raised bed after my husband rebuilt it, he did another one since he still had some lumber left. It hardly took him any time at all. They are easier to plant in since they are 4" higher than the old ones.


Most of these are planted now!

The first two beds have green beans, the next two have wax beans and the other beds have a variety of squashes, cucumbers and some other plants. It looks like a big garden for two people, I know. I can everything and we eat it over time. I like knowing we have food to eat in the future. That way if you have a bad year for one or two vegetables you will have it in your pantry from the years before. It seems to balance out this way. Two years of having the tomatoes destroyed by the dreaded Late Blight, but used my last jar of canned tomatoes a couple weeks ago.

Green beans already coming up!

Imagine my joy this morning when I saw my first bed of green bean plants already showing their faces! These are bush beans, not pole beans. Pole beans need supports and at this time it is just easier for me not having to worry about that. We had so much rain that I was concerned that my seeds would rot. Not worried now! We are getting plenty of sunshine for the moment.