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Post by chrysanthemum on Sept 3, 2022 18:38:52 GMT -6
More blooms today. It was a pale gray morning here, and those lavender blooms were just so pretty. They’re all on the western trellis so far. They get shade earlier in the day but probably get more sun right at midday. Maybe there’s just more competition for nutrients in the other bed. It’s interesting to see how the two sides are different, though.
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Post by hmoosek on Sept 3, 2022 20:16:12 GMT -6
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Post by chrysanthemum on Sept 4, 2022 12:54:40 GMT -6
More blooms today. God makes some beautiful things for us to enjoy. I wondered if the beans would start out green and turn red. It seems that they do start out green. The tiny pod is to the right of the flower. I couldn’t get a photo to focus well on just the pods.
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Post by amyinowasso on Sept 7, 2022 12:10:32 GMT -6
Red noodle beans, yard long beans, etc, are Vigna unguiculata, cow peas. They have a slightly different texture and flavor than Phaseolus vulgaris, green beans, though they can sub through the heat, since they tolerate it better than Phaseolus vulgaris. Good in stir-fry. I will be interested to see how you like it pickled.
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Post by macmex on Sept 7, 2022 13:35:04 GMT -6
Cowpea flowers are so beautiful and so maddeningly difficult to capture in a picture. THAT is a great photo!
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Post by chrysanthemum on Sept 7, 2022 18:21:10 GMT -6
Red noodle beans, yard long beans, etc, are Vigna unguiculata, cow peas. They have a slightly different texture and flavor than Phaseolus vulgaris, green beans, though they can sub through the heat, since they tolerate it better than Phaseolus vulgaris. Good in stir-fry. I will be interested to see how you like it pickled. We are just starting to have small bean pods form on the plant now. I’ve never tasted one of these in any form, but I know that they aren’t a one-for-one substitute for green beans. I imagine that our first taste will be a sautée. I’ll only pickle them if I have a real abundance. My dill is transplanted, but I think the beans are going to outpace it. It’s probably waiting for the weather to cool more before it takes off, whereas the beans are perfectly happy with temperatures in the 90’s.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Sept 7, 2022 18:23:24 GMT -6
Cowpea flowers are so beautiful and so maddeningly difficult to capture in a picture. THAT is a great photo! Thanks, macmex. The tiny pods are even harder, I think, at least with my camera. Some of my pods are elongating and getting some red to them. I’m finding their growth very exciting, especially after such a bad summer in the garden.
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Post by amyinowasso on Sept 9, 2022 21:21:28 GMT -6
Chrysanthemum, my experience with long beans were not the red noodle, but when you consider that one bean is about a serving for one person, it is not hard to see how you'll have plenty. Mine reseeded several years. They're fun, my grandson was fascinated with the long beans with seeds inside.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Sept 10, 2022 5:56:21 GMT -6
My younger kids are pretty excited by the beans as well, though I may be the one that’s most excited at this point to have a potential harvest after so much lack of productivity in the garden this summer. The idea that one bean could make a serving is pretty mind-boggling. Does harvesting when they’re about pencil thickness sound right to you, amyinowasso, macmex? Mine are getting quite long, but they’re still very thin, so I haven’t thought about harvesting yet.
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Post by amyinowasso on Sept 10, 2022 9:47:15 GMT -6
I grew "Long Bean Taiwan Black Seeded", it was a flat-ish bean, 1/2" wide, the seeds are small, though you can cook them as you would cowpeas when mature. I don't think it ever made "yard long" beans, but 2 feet probably. I would pick mine at about 18". That will make 6 3" pieces, which is a serving for me. I have a picture, but I haven't mastered posting them yet.
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Post by amyinowasso on Sept 10, 2022 9:49:11 GMT -6
I think you'll have to experiment with those to find the texture you like.
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Post by amyinowasso on Sept 10, 2022 11:18:08 GMT -6
I probably should have cropped this. A single long bean volunteer, the 2 beans noted in red. I estimat from the cow panel openings they are 20" long. Probably rough and past fresh eating. We used them as a science experiment by opening them and taking out the seeds. Grandson insisted on taking them home, where he forgot them and then learned what undried beans do in a ziplock bag.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Sept 10, 2022 20:27:14 GMT -6
Thanks for the photo, amyinowasso . Here’s my photo update for the day.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Sept 13, 2022 20:40:16 GMT -6
We harvested our first red noodle beans today. They probably could have gone longer, but my six year old was really keen on eating them, and we needed a good vegetable for our lunch. We harvested 11, I believe, and sauteed them with a handful of shishito peppers. Neither the bean harvest nor the shishito harvest was anywhere near large enough, but together the made a small side dish, and everybody enjoyed it immensely. I forgot to take a picture of the cooked beans until I had already served out most of the dish. They didn’t hold their color with this particular preparation. It was just a sautee in olive oil with a little salt sprinkled on. The flavor was so good, I really don’t mind that they weren’t red. It will be a while before we have enough for dilly beans, I think, but I’m excited that everybody liked these. (Well, five of the six as one person was not present at lunch today.)
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Post by hmoosek on Sept 13, 2022 21:36:08 GMT -6
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