Full of Beans!

I have started harvesting my dry bean crop.   For several days now Harold and I have been picking and podding out dry bean pods.  Every year I grow several varieties of beans, and this year I grew Mexican red beans, Topaz pintos, navy beans, Jacob's Cattle beans, Hidalca (a type of heirloom bean), Yin Yang beans (a black and white bean), and Vermont Cranberry.   All these different bean types have different tastes and textures.   People always ask me how come I grow dry beans "when you can buy them at the store cheap".  Well, you can't buy all these beans at the store!  Sure, you can buy navy beans and pintos and red kidney beans, but you can't buy the other varieties.  And besides, homegrown dry beans have a much better flavor than beans that have been stored in a warehouse someplace for a couple years.   My dry beans cook quicker and have a fresher taste.
     We eat plenty of beans.   We like them just as is, cooked and maybe some pepper relish stirred in, along with cornbread made from scratch.   We also like beans and rice, beans with pasta, bean soups, baked beans, burritos and tacos and refried beans,  and beans with couscous.  When winter snows have us snowbound (we are the last in line for the snow plowing guy), I know that we will have plenty to eat from the pantry.
     It's very relaxing for us to sit and pod out the beans.  Harold and I put on some music and sit at the table talking and working with the dry pods.  Better than any TV show, I can tell you that.   I usually dry the beans in trays until sometime in October, then put the beans in jars.   They stay good that way for several years.   Every year I try to grow 3 or 4 different types of beans, so I always have plenty of variety to choose from.   Dry beans are easy to grow - basically put them in the ground, then let them grow and forget about them until fall.   When the pods are dry and crisp, they are ready to harvest!  Beans are a great source of protein, inexpensive, and good for you.

We picked several five gallon buckets of beans today.   I already picked a couple buckets last week, and there are still a few more buckets left to pick out in the garden. 

One must be diligent about harvesting the beans, though.  Once the pods become dry and start to open slightly, you must pick them as they are ready, and before the rain.  Once the dry pods crack open and moisture gets in, the beans are ruined because they will sprout.   I always grow non hybrid beans and especially heirloom varieties.   By saving the seeds from one year to the next, I can always have a supply of beans to grow.  The Hidalca and Yin Yang beans I received from a seed saver group at the local tribal college.   There are lots of seed saver organizations that welcome new types of seeds and exchanges.   Next year I hope to grow some of the heirloom Native American beans, Maine Yellow Eyes, and a couple varieties of Mexican beans.   There is a difference in the tastes of each one, and they have different textures when cooked.   Oh - I am also drying some of my lima beans this year, too.   Dried limas are a good addition to soups and hamburger/bean hot dishes.

I have started to dry some of the varieties already.   By the time all is harvested, I should end up with about 6 or 7 quart jars full of dry beans.  Perhaps more, as it is hard to tell.