Just rambling thoughts..........

My garden has not been as productive this year as I was expecting. I am blaming it on first the freeze and then the hot, dry weather. Also, I think the bean seed we had for our Louisiana Purple Pod was not up to par. Anyway, we have had at least enough daily for our own meals and to share a bit with family/neighbors. Today’s picking was more of a gleaning—something I usually do at the end of summer. We planted a new row of beans a couple of weeks or so ago, and they are now climbing the trellises. Keeping my fingers crossed on them.

The tomatoes are looking good, and we are hoping that the blight doesn’t take over; same for the squash. Our garden is on low land, and for one reason that is good in that we don’t have to water as much as if on high ground, but the veggies do seem to be later in maturing. Just lucky to have that beautiful place, which is the main reason we are still in this location.

We were really late getting our cucumbers planted. They are just about at the blooming stage, and before we know it, hopefully, it will be time for pickles. In the past, I would make enough pickles one year to last two or three, and it may be that way this time. Don’t think I remember having a failure at cucumbers. I had a gift of about three pounds of cucumbers this week, and I am trying a recipe for bread and butter pickles, refrigerator style, to see if I like that. If it works, guess what family will be gifted with before long.

This morning, I canned three pints of cranberry beans from a short trial row in my garden. This was after about four pints earlier. We have been having them fresh, also. I have found out that bending over to pick the beans is trying on one’s back, so that would have to be a consideration in planting future larger areas. They are so pretty, though, and when the pods turn stripped or dark pink (thus cranberry), it is just plain gratifying to pick and shell the beans.

I remember many years ago my mother planted what we called “shelly beans” in her garden. They were so prolific, as were all her vegetables. My children were small and were used to fresh vegetables, as that was what they got when they visited “Mammaw” and then the largesse she favored us with on our frequent (planned?) visits to the country. This particular summer, Mammaw invited us to pick shelly beans from her garden. They were so beautiful that it just about made me feel greedy at the sight before me. I don’t remember now how many I picked, but I do remember that they were so delicious.

Fast forward now, last winter I was watching the food channel on TV and someone was preparing a recipe using dried cranberry beans. I don’t recall hearing that name before but ran across that at the grocery store where the pinto beans, etc. were. I bought a package and prepared a batch according to label directions, and we were pleasantly surprised at how delicious they were, and how economical. I decided to soak them and actually can them for convenience. Therefore, I only had to open a jar of beans and heat and season them for a meal, and we were ecstatic. We were into checking properties of foods because husband is a diabetic. We found out that dried beans are very nutritious and have a high content of protein. That is definitely a keeper in our food planning. Have to do some creative planning for them in the menu, but in the Southern tradition, that is not a big stretch. This is how I got the idea to plant the trial row to see if that would work, and it did.

Summer is definitely upon us, and I am glad that the most strenuous part of the gardening is over now. However, we still enjoy touring the garden in the early morning and late afternoon to enjoy how beautiful most of the things are, and are already making plans for what we will do next year.