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The Year of the Bean

August 17th, 2012 at 07:57 pm

Each summer's vegetable garden produces a surplus of some vegetables and a shortage of others, usually due to the vagaries of weather, insect pests and my own random planting patterns.

This year is definitely the Year of the Bean.

I planted four long rows of yellow wax beans and green string beans and I just can't keep up with picking them.

I also tried growing edamame for the first time this year.

I made this beautiful and delicious summer salad with the edamame I grew, along with my tomatoes:



I pictured myself eating this salad all summer long, but in truth I've only had it twice, mainly because the edamame takes so long to mature. And that's its main drawback, as far as I can see. I also failed to plant anywheres near a sufficient number of them to really enjoy them en masse. Mine are a little tiny; I may have harvested a tad early, but I read so many warnings that there's just a narrow window of time, about 10 days, to harvest the pods before they become inedible. So I watched them closely once they appeared, trying to determine if they were "bright green" (when they should be picked) or "yellowish green, when it was supposedly too late.

Unlike the yellow and green beans, which mature rapidly and can be picked for quite some time, the edamame takes up valuable real estate in the garden but is only harvestable right about now.

They're said to ripen all at the same time and so you're supposed to pull up the whole plant by the roots, as I did, and then boil the whole pods for five minutes. After that, you can easily push the beans out of the pods.

I have only so much space in the garden, so I don't know whether I'd want to plant them again next year. It was a novelty growing them, but perhaps it would be easier to buy them frozen and save space in the garden for faster growers.

In other garden news...

My single zucchini plant and single yellow squash plant bit the dust a few weeks ago, victims of the squash vine borer. I did manage to get 9 zucchinis and 3 yellow squashes, though.

My three cucumber vines also are gone due to wilt. Enjoyed 12 English cucumbers beforehand.

I'll have a complete wrapup of the season's total harvest and its monetary value, based on the organic equivalent found in the supermarket.

Right now, it's Tomato Time and I've been freezing them every other day now.

6 Responses to “The Year of the Bean”

  1. baselle Says:
    1345231508

    Edamame is still delicious when its tiny, so I'd err on that side.

  2. baselle Says:
    1345231750

    5 minutes seems like a long time for boiling edamame. I use the frozen ones, and frankly all I do is boil salted water, dump in the frozen pods. Pods sink. When the pods float they are done. Drain pods well and sprinkle pods with kosher salt. Yum, just like in the bar.

  3. patientsaver Says:
    1345248224

    I think most frozen veggies from the store are parboiled, so they would cook faster.

  4. My English Castle Says:
    1345257307

    It's gorgeous!

  5. Jerry Says:
    1345297542

    That is just a beautiful salad, and it is great that you can grow so many things! How much room does this take up on your yard, and does it lead to a lot of time involved in care of the plants? My wife has been growing herbs on our back porch, and I love having the insurance that we can eat what we grow. It's cheaper and it's better for you.
    Jerry

  6. patientsaver Says:
    1345329441

    Thanks, Jerry. My garden is an irregular shape because I needed it to go around several shrubs and plantings, but I'm guessing I have about 100 square feet. The garden is labor-intensive in the spring, mainly preparing the ground, sowing the seed and frequent watering to get everything started, then mulching, but after that it's mostly on its own and there's really not much upkeep involved if you mulch well to suppress weeds and keep the soil from drying out too much. there's nothing more enjoyable then walking down to the garden near day's end and seeing what there is to pick. Maybe a few tomatoes and another bowlful of stringbeans, perhaps a green pepper or two. Can't recommend it enough!

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