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.

Beans and Greens

My new favorite food is greens!  Or should that be my new favorite foods are greens?  I need the grammar nazi to help me out here.  But anyway, I love kale, and collards especially.  Tonight I picked a bunch of collard leaves from the garden, around 10 or 12 of the biggest ones. 

I brought them in and rinsed both sides of each leaf and cut out the stem in the middle.  If the leaves were smaller you can leave the stem in but when the are bigger like this they seem a little tough.  After removing the stem, I stacked them, and cut into smaller pieces, around 1" x 2" roughly.  Below is a basic recipe for making BEANS AND GREENS.

Olive oil
Collard leaves, 10-12 large, stems removed and roughly chopped
Medium yellow onion, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can navy beans, or pinto, or black eyed peas, rinsed well
salt
pepper
soy sauce

In a medium pan, add 1 Tablespoon of olive oil and let heat for 1 minute.  Add the onions and let cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add garlic and let cook for 1 minute.  Add the greens and let cook for 5 minutes, stir and about 5 minutes more or until tender.  Add the beans, stir, and heat through, about 2 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste, and a splash of soy sauce, stir and serve.

Gardening, and How "Not Dead" It Is

The way I rate my gardening projects is by how "not dead" they are.  I cannot keep a plant alive if it is in the house, and I've not had a lot of luck with trees, but I can usually do pretty well with a garden.  I think it helps that once the plant or seed is in the ground I pretty much leave it alone. 

Unfortunately, where I put the garden this year is nothing but very poor soil.  I'd planned on adding a truckload of really good soil and compost to it, but didn't seem to get it done this year.  I'm hoping to be able to do it this fall so in the spring it's ready to go with just a little tilling.

I was also rather late getting things planted and the first round of tomatoes I started from seed inside never survived transplanting into bigger containers, so I started more seeds around the time other people were putting the plants into their gardens. 

Here are some pics of a few of the things in my gardens from the last couple of days, almost the end of June.

These are the two types of beans I'm growing.  In the front are bush beans called Greasy Grits and the ones in the back are pole beans called Dragon's Tongue.  Both can be eaten when green and can also be left on the plant to dry.  I plan on trying them both ways.

 This little corner gets little sun and a lot of water runoff from the porch roof when it rains.  I'm actually surprised anything grows  in it.  I have sunflowers along the walls and mixed dwarf cockscomb in the middle.  Oddly I planted the cockscomb all over the whole area but it's only growing in that little section in the middle.

I don't know if you can see, but it's a couple of tiny baby carrots.  I'd planted them in the garden forever ago, it seems, and had given up on them ever coming up, but a couple of them are giving it a go.

The stems on this have a purplish tint to them, that's because they are Purple Peacock Broccoli.  I don't have a lot of them coming up either, but at this point, I'm pretty happy with any that make the attempt.

This is some of my Strawberry Popcorn and it's around knee high and if I remember my little sayings then it's about right on schedule.  "Corn should be knee high by the fourth of July."  Oh, look over the weeds, too, I really need to get them pulled before they get out of hand, it's just been too darn hot!

Super Frugal Pole Bean Trellis

This is my first time growing pole beans and I was a little concerned on how I could give them something to climb without having to buy something made specifically for that purpose.  I remembered seeing a tip on how to do it a good while ago, but I can't remember where now.  It said to use some sort of string (or twine, or yarn) and tie one end to a rock and put the rock beside the plants as they are emerging and tie the other end onto something higher.  It so happened that I decided to plant them in a very neglected flower bed that my husband had built years ago in front of our porch, so that gave me the banisters above the bed to use for the string.  Instead of tying the string to a banister I wrapped the string around two of them and tied a rock to both ends.  I did that all along the bed and I can't wait to see if it works! 

The beans in the back are Dragon's Tongue and the ones in the front of the bed are bush beans and they are Greasy Grits.  All the seeds I'm using this year are from Baker Creek Seeds, and I've had excellent luck with them for the last several years that I've used them.  I don't get paid to say that, either, they are just that good.

The Pig That Ran Through The Garden And Dove Into The Chicken Coop Soup

I gave a list of ingredients to my friends on Facebook and asked for suggestions for a name for this soup.  This name, given by my old classmate, Mike, was my favorite.  I think I'll put up recipe name requests from now on, this is by far a better name than I could come up with.  So, following is the recipe for THE PIG THAT RAN THROUGH THE GARDEN AND DOVE INTO THE CHICKEN COOP SOUP.

1 quart chicken broth
1 ham bone, optional
1-2 cups cooked ham, diced
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
4 cans great northern beans, drained and rinsed
Several handfuls fresh kale, chopped
Ground red pepper, optional

Into a soup pot, place the ham bone and chicken broth and bring to a boil.  I used frozen chicken broth that I'd made from a rotisserie chicken a few months ago, but the kind in a box or can will work just as well.  After it comes to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and add the minced garlic and let simmer another 5-10 minutes.  Remove the ham bone if you are using it and add the diced ham and the beans.  If you need to, you can add more broth or water to keep the ingredients covered.  Return to a boil then reduce to a simmer, covered, for about 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.   Remove the lid and start piling on the kale, it will wilt down so you want to use a lot.  Sprinkle the ground red pepper on top of the kale if you are using it.   Push it down with the lid and let it simmer another couple of minutes then stir it well and let simmer at least another 5 minutes.

Serve with some crusty bread and you have a delicious and filling meal.

I didn't add any additional salt to this soup as the ham and chicken broth both contain more than enough.  If the ground red pepper is a little too spice for you, you can substitute it with regular black pepper or leave it out altogether.  I hope you enjoy this soup as much as we do.  Do you think you'll try it?  Be sure to let me know if you do.