Dragon Tongue Beans Are Amazing!!

Seed catalogs arriving in the middle of Winter is one of my favorite things.  I actually toss the majority of the mass market catalogs but I always make sure to order the beautiful one from Baker Creek Seeds.  This wasn't going to be a post singing Baker Creek Seeds' praises, but if you haven't experienced their catalog, order one.  It's the stuff dreams are made from.  The full color photographs are stunning, and their descriptions are spot on, as well.  And they don't make everything sound great, grand, and wonderful, either, they are honest in their descriptions.  If something is pretty, but tastes horrid, you will know.  If it's difficult to grow in certain areas, that is expressed, too.  Everything is GMO free, and they specialize in heirloom varieties.  I have only ordered my seeds from them for the last 3 years and they will forever have a loyal customer in me.  Also, this is not a sponsored ad for them, but I think I will let them see how much I love them.

But, anyway, here's the actual topic of this post:  Today's Dragon Tongue bean harvest. 

These beans are huge and the plants are so proliferate.  This is my third harvest and my biggest one so far, but there are many small beans and lots of blooms still on the plants so I know it won't be my last.  Also, I want to say that while the beans are huge, they are still very tender when cooked.  You can even eat them raw, my grandson ate a handful of them as soon as he picked them.

I'm going to try my hand at pressure canning these today.  I've never used a pressure canner and I'll admit I'm more than a little nervous about it.  My grandma would use it and had me terrified that it could BLOW at any minute and to stay out of the kitchen.  I'm sure that rattling it does will put my anxiety through the roof, but if it doesn't blow up and kill us all then it will all be worth it.  If the beans and I survive, I'll make another post on how they turn out.  If you don't see another post on it, well, then, you'll know, I suppose.

Just wanted to show another pic of all the beautiful variations you get from this one seed.  When they are cooked, sadly all the purple goes away, but you are left with the beautiful creamy color like the one on the right.  Another good note, there are zero strings on these, no matter how big they grow.  Also, you can leave them on the plant to dry and then use the inner beans like any dried beans.  I'd like to do that, but they are so tasty cooked that I don't know if I'll be able to leave any out to dry.