navy bean soup recipe (with measurements)

 Apparently 'eyeballing' and experimenting with ingredients isn't as common as it was when I was learning to cook - so I made this recipe again as an actual recipe with measurements.  I 'scientifically' tested it out- and it worked fine.  Bonus is I now have two quarts of soup to eat this week at work :)

 

 

 Navy Bean Soup (with measurements)

makes two quarts (or two pints and a quart, which is how I put it up for convenience) 

 Note : This recipe was created to make a specific point of how to use dried beans, to have that in my 'cooking arsenal' and know how long it would take to make it correctly.  My daughter had wondered how to cook the beans from dry state, and there are SO many versions out there I wanted something I had done myself to show her a good method.  I use a lot of lentils and split peas, but dried beans do take patience and time to prepare properly.  Navy beans are small and cook up well into soups like this.  Dried beans are a lot cheaper than canned beans, are very available in many places and keep very well.  They keep even better when stored in a cabinet in a tight container like a coffee can, to prevent cabinet fly getting into the plastic bags.  You could use canned beans for this, just figure out what quantity you like and of course, it would make it quicker as the canned beans would already be at the softened state, just heat it up with the vegetables in it until they are done and blend it. 

The Method / Recipe :

In a large pot rinse one cup of navy beans - fresher beans are best, pick out any discolored or bits of other things (stem, gravel whatever, depends on your brand, they're much better about that than they were when I was a kid, as well)

pour out rinse water, add 4 cups of clean water to pot with beans

add 1 tablespoon of distilled white vinegar

Do NOT add salt or oil

put on stove and bring to a rolling boil - let it boil like that stirring for a bit, the beans may rise to the top and become sort of wrinkled

turn off the heat, remove pot from heat, add a lid to the pot, let sit undrained for 1 HOUR

 

After one hour :

add about a tablespoon of olive oil

add rosemary and garlic powder, flake, minced whatever you like 

add some ham or bacon or kielbasa if you want (it helps a lot to add fat but you don't want to overwhelm or add too much saltiness)  I used one round of Canadian bacon that Mark had bought for pizza, cut up very fine

optional : black pepper, ground brown mustard seed and/or celery seed

 

Put pot back on heat and bring back to a boil, stir well.

bring down to a simmer, where it just barely bubbles or not even quite bubbling but close, keep at this heat for 1.5 hours or so, stirring occasionally

remove a bean or two onto a plate and try to mash it with the back of a spoon

if it mashes easily, it is time to continue - if not, stir well and keep at temperature for another half hour, test again - if you had added salt before, it will be very difficult to get this to work well, as the beans may have hardened, so no SALT other than what might have already been in the meat 

 if mashable : add several good handfuls of diced zucchini and another of sliced onion, carrots might work in this or bok choy tops and bottoms - I've done the latter with no real change in taste but have been wondering if I might put carrots in it or if that taste would be too different

I also add some Garlic Parmesan grill seasoning at this point, because it is VERY good, but I know it has salt in it, so I don't add it earlier.

bring pot back to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes or so until the vegetables are well cooked - I have my veggies in the freezer, so this works well for them

take entire pot off of heat, put on a towel or trivet on a counter, and blend with a stick blender until smooth 

Either serve when cooled with bread and maybe some shredded cheese or : Pour up into two clean glass quart jars or two pints and a quart, leaving about an inch at the top of each jar - place tops on and put in refrigerator after they have cooled on the counter some, using within four to five days.  This will not keep out of the refrigerator, and it is best to use it as soon as you can, but I routinely get four or five days out of it before it is gone.

Another nice variation for serving : add several tablespoons of diced mild green chiles to the pot when rewarming, and then tear up flour tortilla into very small pieces, heat with the soup and it becomes almost a noodle.   

 

Madeleine cookies :

It seems I have to keep putting this recipe back up in multiple places because either I'm spelling it off, or the algorithm just really doesn't like to give it back to me when I ask.  It has went as far as to say that the website doesn't have a recipe for it - when in fact, it probably has about four different ones.  I make this sometimes once a week, but not too much more often than that - and know I've posted the recipe several times over the years although it always does fluctuate some.

What I'm using lately for the Madeleine recipe - also called magdalenas in Catalan

3 large chicken eggs, set out on counter to warm up and beat with 1 tsp of vanilla extract, 1/2 cup of white sugar plus 1 softened stick of butter plus 2 tbsp of dark brown sugar - beat together for a total of FIVE minutes - then mix in 1 cup (little more) of white flour (that has come out of the freezer a few minutes beforehand) and 1 tsp of baking powder and less than 1/2 tsp of salt - mix dry ingredients in portions into the wet mixture. 375 preheated oven, each well of the madeleine pan brushed with butter and coated with flour, fill wells up only half way, and remove from oven as soon as the outer bits of the cookie begins to brown in the pan and a finger pressed makes the cookie bounce back - turn out onto plate to prevent it from overcooking in the madeleine pan.  All that bit about pouring in melted butter at one point and/or chilling the dough before baking it -- I tried that time and again, and found it really didn't matter in the end product at least not to me.

 Madeleine cookies

3 large eggs

1 tsp of vanilla extract (mixed with the eggs) 

1/2 cup of white sugar

2 tbsp of dark brown sugar

1/2 cup (one stick) of pre-softened butter

1 to 1 and 1/4 cups of all purpose flour

1 tsp of baking powder

1/2 tsp little less of salt

375 degree oven, 10 minutes or less

this recipe should fill 2 madeleine pans, each well about 1/2 full or so 

 

 

 

navy beans cooking method and soup

 Esme saw navy beans in the store the other day and asked me what made them so different - and I said honestly that I thought they cooked up a bit easier than some of the others.  Bought a bag to try - and yes, I can say that they do.  Not as easily as split peas or black eyed peas, but close.  Years ago I had bought something very similar to them, but a bit bigger from the Amish store but I haven't been back there in several years.  I've had a lot of trouble cooking my adzuki beans from scratch - and might have to try this same method on them next.

 The method : rinse and place in a glass jar with water that has been brought to boiling - seal jar, let sit for an hour.  Remove to a pan (do not drain water) and add another quantity of water - bring back to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and let cook for at least another hour - should have gotten to mashable state by then.

Did add some olive oil to the water when putting into the pan - did NOT add salt, as it says not to on several cookbook sites.  Did add a pinch of rosemary and cut up a piece of ham to boil with it. 

Now that it has boiled to mashable*, added zucchini and onion and a bit more spice, and will bring that up to heat and then make into soup with my stick blender. 

 *able to mash one on a plate under a spoon - not mashing the whole amount 

bits

Made madeleines with Esme today - and chocolate chip cookies, yesterday.

 

 

went out in the front garden and did some more of the clearing out - the dandelions are doing very well there, and the bean I planted last week is also getting third leaves on.  I need to also plant some mustard, komatsuna and have ordered another big pack of beet green seeds (the types of dual purpose beets that are good for both) and some Mississippi Silver cowpeas.  I had resisted purchasing any more seeds since the ones I ordered from the preservation center, but I planted almost all the beets I have and if they do not germinate, I wanted some back up.

 This is two Alice Whiting bean plants, germinated about a month ago and finally put out a week ago.

I think this is a sweet pea in the windowsill germinating  I started another tray of beans to germinate, as well, some of the ones from below, kenearly and the dark red ones that I'm not sure what variety they were

 languages : Working on Turkish and French

neurodivergent cooking : wheat flour and acorn squash edition

 I bought a bag of whole wheat flour last August - and have finally used it up and bought another.  I scored some pad thai sauce and another acorn type squash at the same time.  I've been eating a lot of acorn squash, as well.  I cook with what I have - and the leftovers of cans that I opened for one thing in the fridge get used to make the next recipe etc.  We've saved some bacon grease recently and I've used a bit of it here and there instead of butter or oil.

 

 Neurodivergent cooking : wheat flour and acorn squash edition

 

Simple Whole Wheat pancake / flatbread

1 cup whole wheat flour 

some salt and garlic parmesan seasoning mixed through the flour 

2 large eggs (we have chickens, so I use all the eggs I can)

a splash of milk to make the right consistency of pancake batter

 

butter and heat a small pan

cook in two to four portions to make flatbread pancakes.

simple - easy, when they begin to bubble up and the edges are firm, flip them over, and store them in a glass container for a few days to eat with soup and sauces.

 

The excellent encuacadora sauce : (full of peanuts) 

1 large guajillo chile, with seeds, stem discarded, torn up 

five spice powder (cinnamon, garlic, cloves, ginger, black pepper) 

bit balsamic vinegar

bit of brown sugar (optional)

bit plus a bit of olive oil 

honey roasted peanuts, a few tablespoons or so, ground up

frozen chopped onion, to equal peanuts, ground up 

1/2 small can of tomato paste

1/2 small can of tomato sauce

heat that all up together and mix through blender well at end

 

 black bean 'meatloaf'  I've been thinking about doing this for a good while, but I didn't want to fry it in oil - so I finally got my thoughts together today with the rest of my cooked carrot in the fridge and put it together - it was really good, and both of my dogs wanted me to give them the entire second half (which I didn't - I put it away for later) :) 

1/2 can of black beans - put in the grinder

a few tablespoons, 3 to 4, of cooked canned carrot

1/2 a stack of saltine crackers, crushed up

spices (I used al pastor seasoning and brown mustard and some orange/beef seasoning)

extra black pepper

1 large egg

whole wheat flour to make the proper consistency

1 tablespoon of bacon grease mixed throughout

spoon into a greased ceramic pan and make a smooth top  

cook uncovered at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes (I used our toaster oven) 

 

 

use a small brush to put olive oil on the orange parts of the squash

acorn squash and rice congee (this was SO good I couldn't believe it was easy)

roast, mash and store acorn squash (cut open, scrape out seeds, cut into pieces, brush them with olive oil and roast at 350 to 400 degrees until a fork goes in nicely, let cool a bit, scrape squash from rind with a spoon and store in a glass container)

add cooked rice to acorn squash in 1 to .5 quantities, add a raw egg, cook over medium heat or in a microwave stirring often until egg is completely cooked, add a bit of soy sauce and mayonnaise on either side of the dish to eat if you wish 

 

rutabaga and carrot soup with kielbasa, fresh garlic and onion

chopped and cut up a rutabaga  boiled with kielbasa and onions and some bland summer squash for body - blended that and it was still a bit thin and watery - then I read that carrots are an excellent addition to 'swede' rutabaga soup, so I used the second half of the batch with 2 cloves of fresh garlic and 1/2 a can of cooked carrot - brought that to a boil and then blended that together - and that was so much better!  Still not as good as the turnip soup the other day - but still pretty good.

The garden on April 9th during the COVID-19 lockdown

It is my garden philosophy that I don't have to pull every single weed.  I don't use mulch, and I tend to let the garden lead me where it may... which some years means harvesting the fruits of the greenhouse plants, and the first flush of seeds from the heirloom beans to save - then letting the rest go by the wayside...  Other years I'm out there every other day making soup from every little bit I can scrounge.  Every year is different. I'm thinking this will probably be one of the latter years, with everything going on.

This year I have changed up the infrastructure a little.  That circle of bricks to the right in the bottom picture was there maybe seven years ago?  But the raised bed was not there until three years ago.  The time felt right to put it back, and I even put up a bean fence and put the Mayflower beans next to it.

The pictures do not show the last bit of what I did before sundown.  I was out in the garden at sunrise this morning -- and in the afternoon -- and at sundown, but not a lot of the time in between.  I sat for a while and knitted in the sunshine before noon :)

Before sundown I planted seven hills in the front of the long section.  Each hill has about five Kenearly Yellow Eye beans (bush) and a Zephyr hybrid squash seed or two on the right hand edge.  This is flying by the seat of my pants here.  It was about 6 pm and I looked over at the seed box and said 'ok, this is what is going down right now.'  Up until that very moment I was saying 'yes I will put the Zephyr somewhere' and 'yes I will put some sort of bush bean there, but I don't know what or how, yet.'

I took sixteen of the cement blocks and made Irene the start of a raised garden.

But, we are in the year of COVID-19, and the plan I had made to go back and get dirt at that garden center was upended by a new city ordinance pertaining to 'quarantine lockdown' someone posted about that is 'food, fuel and work only or be arrested'.. I'm sure that is a bit more than the actual law intends - they conveniently did not link to it - but I don't want to be subject to bad interpretations.. so now I'm avoiding that city like they must have wanted everyone to do.. right?  So that business I support doesn't get one of the few orders I might have done this year because of this? And it will probably all change again next week.  Last week they were still saying that garden plants were okay, but don't linger and don't browse.  This week, they've gone Machiavellian... but probably only according to people posting on Facebook who are a bit bored?  I'm not sure.  I'll remember this in a few years.

There is another store in the other town that not only has internet ordering (which the other one didn't - 'in store buy only'), but has curbside pickup without getting out of your car.  So I guess they get the money and we still get an extra vegetable bed for Grandma.

Who knows how 'essential' that is going to be this year, but in almost any year I would call it essential if someone wants to put the work into the soil for fresh food.

((climb down off the soapbox))

I guess I get a little worked up about gardens, and especially because without them, gardens that is, we are stuck buying everything out of a box that may or may not be there when we go to pick it up again.  We found that out a month ago - with all the empty shelves.  It's warm enough now (it wasn't then) so let's grow.

I have seeds

 

  

I have lots of seeds.  It is a bit of a problem in that I know many of them are old and I will never use them all.  But it feels like having envelopes full of potential.. and sometimes boxes full.  I don't have the time now to be out in the garden - or maybe I just don't have the ambition I did when Esme was younger.  Maybe I'm not as hopeful and plant less each year.  But I dug through my boxes today (signs that it is finally getting warmer again) and made my 'this year' list (in my head) and decided what things I need to go acquire and what things are ready to be thrown out.  

I planted two tiny flats of tomatoes and peppers - six each, in the greenhouse corner and we'll just see if they make a go of it at all.  I'm showing restraint at the moment but I know I'll end up with the four or five flats of each and begin weeding them down to survivors.  The seeds I planted today were the last dregs from packages I just didn't want to throw away wholesale.

I'm setting my priorities.   I will be planting some beans this year,  several varieties.  I love having the sunflowers.  And there is so much corn still in the packages - but I won't plant the corn with as much hope of eating it but only for 'scientific' purposes.

So I want this year:

pole beans and Provider bush beans

peas

Sunflowers

some sort of corn?

cucumbers (I eat these)

a tomato and a pepper that produce (have to plant a few of each to make sure)

dill and basil

morning glories

nasturtiums

marigolds

zinnias

And I might take a chance against the bugs again this year and plant a summer squash

I made a bag of 'free for all' bean varieties (and a few gourd seeds and peas in there) that I will just toss out around the garden and see what if anything they do.  They don't have any identification and are old.. so .. let nature do what it wants with them.

I remember that one year I planted butternut squashes down in the valley and they actually produced tiny little squashes but not really big enough to eat.  That was hope and optimism!  It was interesting seeing them clinging to life trying to grow amid the jungle of other plants.  There was this one that I planted partially in a hollow under the end of dead log and it was the best of them all - it had some shelter away from the mass of sun-loving weeds and lots of fertilizer from the decaying wood and I would go fill up the hollow with some water when I could from my watering can.

 Top : Bosnian beans which I have grown out every other year or so since I was sent nine of them in a package.  Middle Left: Good Mother Stallard beans.  They have never produced for me, but I've been stingy with them and only planted ten or so at a time..  I might just have to put the whole package in the ground and try to see what happens.  Middle Right : Hyacinth beans (with the white stripes) are the progeny of a plant a friend at work gave me years ago.  Bottom: 'Turkey Craw?' beans I've often just called white climbers.  They appeared out of nowhere (probably a stray bean in a package I was given) and have been prolific enough I have this many left over from several years.

bits of January (dry beans)

 This is my produce of dry beans from 2014.

I'm still keeping some of the varieties alive..still surprised by others.

We used all the string beans we needed out of the Shackamaxons and Providers while they grew, and I saved the rest of them for dry seed.

The ones I know for certain:

Kenearly Yellow Eye (Steuben yellow Eye) --bush - supposed good for soup beans, still working on growing out enough that survives our land.

Ireland Creek Annie --bush -- new grow out last year, got a half-pint jar grown out from a short row.. very nice.  Will grow them again if we have room.

Jackson Wonder Lima Bean --bush  Mainly grow these for pretty.. didn't eat any.

Provider bush beans - our best provider for green beans.. we always have too many!

Blue Black Shackamaxon beans -- backup longer provider for beans, didn't eat as many last year as usually, made less soups because of less zucchini to go with it.. but they did not fail to produce lots of dry beans.

Tongues of Fire (Lingua de Fuoco beans or Taylor Dwarf Horticultural?) --bush -- these look like a cranberry bean to me, will continue to grow out.

Florida Speckled Butter Peas --climber -- decorative, grew out very well, will continue

Rattlesnake beans --climber -- didn't eat many, they grew okay, didn't save many dry

Bosnian beans -- climber  Nice string bean, green pod with white flowers.   Even as a dry bean the shape, color and the white spot that stays white as the rest of the bean gets orange and black is a telling sign of which is this breed and which are not among the other 'speckles'.

Hyacinth beans (decorative climber) in the cup below, not edible, but pretty purple flowers

Brown speckled Whipporwill cowpeas  climber : I did cook some of the older beans last year, not bad.. very unlike the canned 'field peas' in taste.. very much like them in look, though.  I would prefer the from dry to the canned ones anyday. 

Cherokee wax beans --bush

and three I'm not so sure of:

White climbers - they stay pure white long after they dry...I didn't plant any last year and I still got some...not sure.  They tend to be small and flat, and very confusing which thing they are popping up out of.

White speckled climbers :  These are roundish beans -and have been consistent to form when I plant them (except see above).  They develop a golden yellow to dull brown 'coat' around the back opposite the helium.  I need to plant these again in a place by themselves so I can really see the differences and if there is anything else popping up when I plant these.

Tennessee greasy variant - black and white speckled large beans similar to the Bosnian, but without the white spot or the same shape..they are more flat like the Rattlesnake beans.  They turn dark orange the longer they dry..keeping their speckles under the orange.  They are purple and mottled as string beans - very waxy, with a thick string.  They are fairly good as small string beans, but they are very very late to produce and get thick quickly.  I did not like them as shelly beans (but maybe didn't cook them long enough) and have not tried the dried beans in anything.

I tried to keep the Providers, the black-seeded waxes and the decorative one separate just to make sure...

Jewels from the Garden - beans and corn drying for the year

 Esme helping sort the corn and break out dry pods of beans onto a plate.  She was so bouncey, and wiggly, and overexcited - she wanted to wash everything and dance and jump and splash water everywhere... finally calmed down some.  I told her a joke because she was scowling at me - and said I had tricked her into looking happy... well.. after that she continued to smile, because she actually was having a little bit of fun.

 Breaking out the whipporwill cowpea pods - which are very long, narrow and crispy. 

A lot of the corn seen here was 'volunteer.'  It came up without my knowing what was there or how... we had ornamental corn there last year but grew all of our other corn elsewhere in the garden this year.  I planted a few seeds of Smoke Signals and Peaches and Cream corn in between each of the volunteers to make a full row that we would not step on - as they were naturally scattered a bit here and there and not quite in a straight line.

Upon examining the outcome - I think it was a cob of Hopi Pink and one of Glass Gems that got mixed in, or some cache of seeds some animal had buried from last year we hit with the tiller.    I have them drying out to shell into containers and label for the year.  The pictures don't do any justice to the blues and greens that are present in real life.. .a whole range of color - which is where I say they are our jewels from the garden.

 

And this is the bean crop so far.

The large buff colored beans are Ireland Creek Annie - which did very well.  I started with nine of those seeds and have 30+ and have more to break out in the coming weeks.  The Black Shackamaxon has a showing already and there are gallons of that coming later.  The red and white speckled ones are Taylor Dwarf Horticultural - something I didn't have room for last year.  

The Ireland Creek Annie and the Taylor are both my first 'major' expeditions into full rows of "reserved to dry" bush beans - as most of my harvests have come from pole beans up until now.  There are also some tiny white climber beans, whipporwill cowpeas and black eyed peas.  I planted some unlabelled Pinto beans (which I thought the white climbers were when I gathered them...odd...always have some odd ones out, right?)   Kenearly Yellow Eye (a semi-climber that says it is a bush), black seeded wax (one of those seeds is one, but I've lost it in the mix!), Bosnian and Provider seeds all drying out in the cabinet.

I've also got a decent collection of Mammoth Striped and Lemon Sunflower seeds this year... partly for the chickens, partly for next year.

bits orange daylillies and nasturtium petals

 lunch today - cucumbers in mayonnaise sauce with nasturtium petals, mint, black pepper and a toasted flour tortilla.  The mint was the big win. I can't say I actually tasted the nasturtium petals at all, but it was the first one of the season, so ... maybe not enough of it.

Recipe: cucumbers in mayonnaise sauce.
It is so easy sometimes I don't remember I had to read it somewhere the first time - cut up the cucumbers as small as you want them... I go pretty small squares.  Then put them in a container with a lid - and sprinkle a little salt over them.  You could wait five minutes or so at this point, if you want to, especially if the cucumbers are kind of dry.    Put about a tablespoon or so of mayonnaise (Miracle whip is okay for this one -- it isn't for a lot of things I like, but it is for this) and put the lid on and shake it.    Some people put other things in this... vinegar, or etc... none of that in this.  I really did like the dried mint, though - it added a lot to this.

garden notes : Ireland creek Annie's are making beans now - they are between the cucumbers and are dry beans, so we will not pick them, even though they will look like they 'need' it... same with several other ones in the garden, like the Kenearly that is starting to vine up a small trellis, and the non Shackamaxon beans on the vertical fence.  I am waiting to see if the 'wax' beans turn waxy... they are not, yet.  The Providers continue to fill up the colander daily :)  I tried to convince some of the tomatoes and beans not to fight - we will have tomatoes soon, I think.

Our orange daylillies are blooming.  A dead armadillo incident happened to our yellow ones this year.. but the orange ones were saved specifically because they were surrounded by weeds and baby mimosa trees etc etc..

My father and stepmother left for home last night - hope they are doing well on the road back to Iowa.  We really enjoyed their visit and need to get pictures of them with Esme next time.. somehow we just kept talking and never did that this time.   They went out of their way to find me a lemon birthday cake and bring it to me on my birthday, which was extremely sweet (them, not the cake).   I admitted by geeky obsession with beans to them and sent them home with one of the more rare ones to plant in the colder climate... and a few other of our Tennessee treasures.  I'd like to order an extra batch of Japonica corn to send them that as an oddity - the striped leaves and purple silks...not sure if they would get any chance to plant that.

Esme and I went to town this morning before it go very very hot.. and took her to the park, and for a hash brown, and for to spend her allowance at the dollar store.  On the way there we talked about lots of things - and she really participated.  We talked about history, and what people did without stores to buy food at, and how they lived through the winter (lots of firewood) - and they need to be warm in the winter (with furnaces and they get wool from sheep and make it into things and clothes and boots to stay warm), and cool in the summer (she thought about shade and umbrellas), and how they do that.. and about droughts, and floods - how the corn needs water but not too much water, and the animals do, too...and many other topics.

She really not only has the information now, but can talk about it, relate things to each other and really understand how to find out what she doesn't know and why it is important.   I told her it was all like science, too - and when I said 'history' she said she knows that one - it was in school.  I related it to the past - when Grandpa's father was a child how things were, and that now was like the Jetsons for him - the future (and outer space)...  The one that really cracked me up was when we were talking about corn - which she saw in the field - and she knew it by the pointy things on top (tassels) and the strings (silks) that made the ears.  We talked about how the tassels and silks work together to make the seeds.. and she made a cross-reference to acorns and how they both grow the same.. she told me about the acorn seed being hard and needing water to break out a tiny vine that gets more water from the earth.  Then we talked about what leaves were for, besides being pretty.. and how the plant makes food from the sunlight on the leaves and the water down below and grows and stores that food in the seeds to grow many many more plants..   I told her that each single kernel on the corn and each single acorn on the tree can make a new plant, and that plant can have lots of new seeds (like a hundred, yes?) and on and on.  She said 'Wait Mom, I know this one - this is math, too.'  I really laughed at that one. 

At the park I read her a little bit of Harry Potter (trying to get out of completely running around in the heat) while pushing her on the swing, and watching her climb the ladders etc etc... then we went for a short walk around the walking path, and climbed a tree and saw the water which was almost dry in the ditch etc etc.. she read signs and we talked about them.  'No Motorized Vehicles' she saw on a sign - and when I asked her what that meant, she said 'You can't drive air-o-planes down here.'... Well, that is technically true *heh*.  She was trying to encourage some children in their Sunday clothes to get dirty in the trees - 'There's syrup up here - you want to see?'  and then we went for a drink and a hash brown.  She is picking up her change amounts a bit better, now.. and was able to slowly make the right change to the cashier at the dollar store - and look at her receipt to see written down exactly what the cost was, what we paid, and what the change was.

We brought a piece of cake and some pork, and one of the orange daylillies, to Grandma Irene, with Esme staying there for a few hours.   I need to go collect her in a few minutes, bring some garden produce to Irene, do chickens, pick beans, start laundry,  feed supper, give her a bath for her speech appointment tomorrow.. and go to bed as I have 6 am work.

It was a very nice birthday, and having today to semi-rest (with a little Minecraft) was a nice way to wind it down.  I have enough canned beans from Mark to last another six months until Christmas again *heh*.. and a few cans of pumpkin, as well.

Heirloom beans at KnitOwl

We just got back from the flea market and talking to lots of people about our seeds.  You can find out more about the seeds we have available this year by going to the KnitOwl shop  I hope we will have a few more days this summer we can take the seeds out and about without rain!  I've posted about seven varieties of beans and some of our corn experiments as well.

I'll be out in the garden checking on things later and might post a few pictures of how things are coming along. 

Went out and planted all but the reserved seeds on the Mayflower beans - in among the corn as I was planning to.  Saw that the Ireland Creek Annies and the Cherokee Wax beans are both getting tiny beans on them - ready to start producing soon.  The Taylor Horticultural are just about there, as well  as the Kenearly Yellow Eye.  I did go and look up the Ireland Creek Annies again and they are dry beans only - but the Cherokee and Pencil Pod wax (in two separate areas) are both useful for fresh beans and for dry beans afterwards.  I noticed the purple Shackamaxons are starting to flower on the fence, as are the 'random' Pintos I put in by the sweet peas.  A few of the black shackamxon 'star' sports are coming up in the corn but not many - that was just not a great time after the rain to plant those?

I looked at the Mandan corn and it is putting on ears and the ears are filling up and putting out brown silks.  It is going to come in long before the sweet corn.  I pulled a yellow summer squash and saw that the Zephyr squash, the pattypan squashes and the yellow cucumbers are all starting to put on fruit, as well.

garden produce

We got a load of beans out of the garden yesterday - well.. compared to any of the days before that.  There were also two cucumbers we hadn't expected yet, some sweet peas, a squash and a radish... it is getting hot for the radishes, so they are worth mentioning that they are still trying.  There are lots of flowers on the wax beans - they may start producing soon, and a few of the Shackamaxons are starting to flower.  The beans we are currently getting for eating purposes are Provider green bush beans - I try to plant those every year specifically for eating - and do have some seeds saved up, usually from the end of the year I let the last bit grow out for seed while the other beans catch up and start providing for the table. 

There are flowers on the Ireland's Creek Annies, as well.. need to read up more on those if they are string or just dry beans.  The Kenearly (I thought it was) is producing flowers and has put out a runner, and I gave it a trellis to go up if it so chooses.  They are supposed to be 'eighteen inch tall bush habit'... we'll see what we get there.  I planted a good handful of those and have one plant!  The Taylor Dwarf horticultural - which is for dry beans - is starting to just put on flower buds...

In the corn, the Mandan bride is putting on ears - and that is very early... I hope we actually get something out of that, but we'll see.

We are out to the Huntingdon Flea Market this morning - with seven kinds of heirloom beans to sell as well as some Indian corn seed... and miscellaneous household items and computer equipment.

Garden walk and bean journal

  

I'll  post the  pictures of the entire garden - and after that it is mostly just pictures of bean cultivars that we are growing - for me, for later.  As you can see our tomato plants (Grown from seed) are really taking off.  There are some tiny tomatoes growing already - but we're not sure if they are 'good fruit' yet.. we have yet to see. There is one in the middle that is a yellow Banana Legs tomato, and the rest are either Principe Borghese or Black Krim.

 

Over to the right of those square pavers are a few more yellow tomato seedlings that may or may not make it.  I need to find somewhere to put the eggplant seedlings as they are just about ready - but I probably need to dust those as in recent years they get eaten up so quickly.

Corn and sunflowers from the back of the garden. 

Black Eyed Peas (just one set of many) growing out by the ends of the corn rows.

A little 'sweat bee' pollinator having great fun on the corn tassels on the Mandan Bride corn.

I'm uncertain, but the purple tassels and the fact they are tasseling so early (just this back row) might mean there wasn't enough nutrients in the soil for them there... this is the row of Indian Corn I had planted, and all of the rest are Peaches and Creme sweet corn.

The feral carrot from last year I left among the perennials to capture what a 'common carrot' looked like in bloom.  As they are biennials this is not something that is normally seen - but they are just like the Queen Anne's Lace flowers taht grow all over the woods - only, culinary type (ie: not poison)

I think Jackson Wonder bush lima beans are very pretty when they begin to grow.

The Hyacinth bean (ornamental) is also quite pretty - it is growing up in a place near the sweet peas.

 Shackamaxon beans climbing up very high - and Rattlesnake beans to the right of them.

These are the strange white climber I got out of the tree last year and couldn't identify.  They are climbing up the front side of the fence and seem well ready to grab on and go up.  The pods were streaked yellowish with purple stripes.

Ireland creek Annie bush beans by the cucumbers

Bosnian beans by the peas

I planted black calypso beans in front of the Cherokee wax beans... and one Polestar ornamental runner bean by the hyacinth beans.

Heirloom beans for sale at KnitOwl shop

I have put two varieties up for the public sale, again.  KnitOwl farm and craft shop

The first one is speckled whipporwill peas.  I am weighing out an ounce of these at a time.

 These are a semi-vining cowpea that improves the soil and produces lots of tasty peas!

 Tennessee Greasy beans - 25 seeds each, these are huge and prolific - but they start a bit late compared to others planted at the same time.  Well worth waiting for.  The pods are purple and the beans dry out white and black speckles at first, then darken to this color over the winter.

And an Esme flower - she says she grew from seeds, too *ha*

bit

It was a very early work day today.  After that I was out and weeding more between the corn - it needed it, and with all the grass that was pulled out, it needed hilling up around the stalks, as well.  I am hoping I haven't killed any/too many with pulling so much grass next to their roots.  The grass needed to go, though.

I plan to plant some cornfield beans in there among a few of them.  Did some research on what beans in my collection have been used as cornfield beans in the past - and have chosen the Mayflower / Red Nightfall beans to do that.  They have a history with the Amish and are listed under many names.  In the past I've only planted them on back fences and have been disappointed with how delicate to full sun and how late yielding they are.  This might be the better use for them... we'll see, I went through my jars and actually found a good quantity.  It is nice they are not so rare, too - so if they fail badly I will be able to find more if I want them.  They will appreciate some shade between the stalks as well as be light bodied enough not to pull the corn down with them.  I spent a little over two hours out there today and that was more than enough on top of the early freight day ... without it actually being done to my liking yet.  I had a nice raspberry, eucalyptus and tea tree oil bath afterwards :)

In the house I have eggplant seedlings that still need to go out.  The tomato seedlings from the other day are a little sunburnt but seem to be holding up.  There are little peppers on the banana pepper plant, and the very fringe beginnings of green beans on the Providers, which has a strange black edge leaf thing going on.  I should thin out the salad rose radishes again, as well... 

I did a few more rows on the big gypsy moth colors blanket, as I couldn't think of anything else I had energy for.  The dress I was making for Esme really needs to be tackled again - but I know the gathers will take a bit more thought power than I had tonight.  Esme was really wanting a friend, and playing with her on games she had made up... but there was only so much we wanted to take on there - she ended up disappointed I didn't play her picnic and balloon games to her liking... but then, I was a bit disappointed she didn't help me at all in the garden.  She just kept 'talking to the corn', asking it questions and saying 'uh huh, hmm, sorry to hear that Mama Corn, Daddy corn, kid corns - how are you, are you alright?'  silly... a bit strange, ha.  She did feed the chickens some of the grass and did not step on anything.

Also, halfway through 'Mrs.Lincoln's Dressmaker' book... taking that to work with me daily, and read a little of it at Esme's 'reading pirate party - you can do anything you want' party in our truck bed.  It was getting dark and buggy, though... could not actually interest her in reading her own books at first, then she brought out her Make and Do book which she loves, and went through reading bits in that..  I am planning to take her to the library again on Friday to return her books.  I think I have the second already checked out for after this one, there might be something else in between them, though.  I don't want to put much else on Friday, though... want mostly to stay at home and get things done.

Garden, farm visit and wool roving for yarn spinning

 The floral area of the garden, along with squash and radishes and some beans out there behind the marigolds.  Right at the corner of the 'L' there is a giant carrot plant from last year - it is about to blossom and go to seed.

 I will have to think about which beans we have planted this year... quite a few.
Ireland Creek Annies, -- bush
Kenearly Yellow Eye, -- bush
Blue Black Shackamaxon, -- pole
Rattlesnake, -- pole
Florida speckled Lima beans, -- pole
Christmas lima beans -- pole (but I'm not sure they made it)
Jackson Wonder Lima beans, -- bush
Whipporwill cowpeas, -- semi-vining
black eyed peas -- semi-vining
Purple hulled quick pick peas, -- bush
Cherokee black wax, -- bush
Pencil pod black wax, -- bush
Taylor Dwarf Horticultural, -- bush
Provider, -- bush
a pinto bean that was unidentified in a container, -- pole
a white seeded climber that confused me last year by not knowing where it came from, -- pole
Hyacinth ornamental (climbing)
Bosnian beans.-- pole

I tried a Goldrush (bush) wax bean twice and it failed both times.  I have a Hopi purple string bean (pole) and the Tennessee Greasy bean variant (pole) I have yet to plant.  I'm not sure - do I count the french green lentils as beans?  *ha*

The corn is growing quite tall, the provider beans and the tomatoes we planted from seed are both starting to flower.  The sweet peas (not shown) are really producing a little each day, now.  If we can just keep the grass from taking over we will have plenty of food, soon.  The chickens really like the weeds thrown to them, as well.

The other adventure of the day - besides the hours I spent out here, was going to Dry Hollow Farm, which is not very far away from us and we found on Etsy.  We bought some Jacob's sheep wool roving which I am trying my hand at making into yarn, and got to see the wonderful animals she takes care of.  Her gardens were inspiring, too -- although I have no idea how I could ever upkeep that much space!  That is why I 'microgarden' in comparison - a small space but everything packed as densely as possible.  But, it would be nice to learn how to do the terracing and make even more use of space.

I took the wool to a mock-up spindle when I got home and started an attempt at a twisted single ply.. it was a lovely long staple, so it wasn't hard to get something that appeared to act like yarn... I am thinking if I ply it together with a second ply or with some lace yarn I have not used it will become something I can knit with and make something beautiful.

//Other beans not planted this year but we have for consideration :
Mayflower beans (pole)
Marvel of Venice (pole) ? is this the white seeded one I couldn't identify?
Polestar runner beans (red flowered)
Country Gentleman beans - can't find any info on this one, so I should grow it out to find more
 Beurre de Rocquencourt (wax, bush)
Tiger Eye 
Jeminez (pole)
Coco Bianco (there are bush and pole varieties, mine are not marked)
Dapple grey (bush?)
Good Mother Stallard (pole), did poorly last year
Snowcap (bush)
Soldier (bush)
White Half Runner
Kentucky Wonder Pole beans
'pink' beans (supposed to be semi-vining)
Appaloosa (bush)
Painted Pony (bush)
Dixie butterpea lima beans (bush)
Hutterite (bush) - I only have a few seeds left of this, they did not do well here
McCaslan (pole)
several labelled 'Borlotto' bush types?
Lina Sisco's birds egg beans (bush)
Calypso red and black varieties (bush)
Nightfall red and black varieties (bush)
Colorado river (which look just like Mayflower) (pole?)
Trout beans
Mississippi silver cowpeas
Cream lady cowpeas (grew last year - so very small.. pretty, but not sure will grow out again)

---and more.. of course... I have become quite the collector thanks to the benefactor seed swap from a few years ago, and am always on the lookout for others even though I can't grow them all every year.

White bean soup with kale, mustard and red peppers

There was kale and 'spinach mustard' to be had in the garden today, as well as herbs.  I combined them into this recipe.

A small handful of young kale leaves, with as much stem as possible removed.
A small handful of spinach mustard leaves, same
a lemon balm leaf - partially dried
peppermint leaf - partially dried
cut red peppers from my freezer
a can of Great Northern or Cannellini beans, well rinsed
a little olive oil
some black pepper
a dash of red wine vinegar (go easy)
some oregano (used dried)
a tiny bit of garlic powder at the end.


I added this together in a medium saucepan with enough water to cover and simmered on medium with the lid on (steam holes open) for about a half hour - added some more water, simmered again until the kale and mustard did its classic look (see above) and the beans began to make some broth.  Served with buttered toast.

alterations that could be made:  Could run it all through a food processor and make a creamy type soup.  I've seen that in a lot of recipes.  Or, my instincts at the point I puled it was that I could make a butter and flour rue and thicken it up a little and maybe add a bit more garlic powder to it after that.  Instead I opted for the toast and a thin broth.  It would be really nice with some cottage cheese on the side, too.

Pretty good .. but I'd go much easier on the vinegar next time - I think I used a splash and a half when I needed only a splash.

In the Garden:  I put up the bean fence, weeded, planted a lot more things (I know... there is already so much there...but we are looking for useful jungle not grass jungle...)..

planted today:
more sunflowers
marigolds,cauliflower, rutabaga and radishes as weed management solutions
arugula
 nasturtiums
pansies (as a what the hey maybe they'll do something)
basil underneath the peppermint because something has finally took hold there
lots more pattypan squash (as I had killed one weeding)
dark star zucchini
cushaw (old package -put them behind the tomatoes by the gourds)
birdhouse gourds (dropped the package and had to pick up seeds... decided to spend it)
black eyed peas (Second round, first had failed)
Christmas lima beans in a pack from a friend last year
rattlesnake beans (treated.. yuck.. hate treated)
a cheap package of green arrow peas..
Ireland Creek Annie beans

Sweet pea and Mother's Day and garden bits

garden on May 12th, 2014

 Sweet pea (food plant)

The sweet peas were blooming - Mark pointed them out to me yesterday.  I did the math, it has been about 54 days since I planted them - which was March 18th.. although they seemed to take forever to come up.  We have bits of okra, squash, cucumbers, sunflowers, green beans, radishes, mustard (for the chickens, mostly), kale, marigolds, corn and gourds coming up.  There was a lone nasturtium.. I might need to buy another package of those.

It was a sweet Mother's Day mostly - although I had to work in the morning until five pm..  Mark and Esme met me at work, which always makes me smile - and we bought a plant for Grandma (and one for our garden, too).  Mark presented me with a new pancake turner and some cucumbers to make my cucumber salad with.  We had bought some last week and they had gotten lost in the car from the grocery store .. the chickens enjoyed those.  Then we went for ice cream sundaes and home to plant our plant and work in the garden a bit.  Then it was time for our usual battle of the bedtime with Esme.  She was particularily sad and upset because I had let her take a long time bathing and then hurried her to bed.  She hates to be hurried.. but sometimes it has to happen in life.

She got up early and mostly happy to have slept, and got off to the school bus.  Her cough and Mark's have gotten a bit better - but it is going back and forth kind of. 

Mark told me a story about her yesterday.  She came in with only one of her shoes - and said she couldn't find the other one.  She had taken them off to play and then came back and there was only one.  He told her to go look for it - and not to 'take shoes off to play' anymore without putting them up somewhere she can find them.  She came back and said that Minerva had her shoe - she didn't have it, and then she turned around and she did have it and was chewing on it.  I wonder if that was the end of the black shoes - as I saw her in the pink ones when they came to get me at work.

 Lemon balm and peppermint

I've set out to learn more about lemon balm and how to use it - it is so bushy!

 The petunia Esme and Mark gave me for Mother's Day

Going out to the garden to get a picture of the sweet pea - and plant a few extra seeds.  Still planning where and how to put up some more bean fences.  I was sorting my miscellaneous jar of grown beans (ones that came out of our garden at one time or another these past few years) and that was why Esme was in the bath for so long.. I was in the kitchen using the good light to sort one brown oval bean from another oval brown bean with stripes etc etc... silly I know - I do these things. 

 I'm going to spread the love today - bringing a bag of the blue black shackamaxon beans to a friend at work.  She had come into work and I had helped her with her PVC plan for bean fences, which was inch and a quarter pvc pipe, cut to 8 foot lengths, and the extra end pieces put on elbows with couplings between them.  She pounds these upside-down U shapes into the ground and puts welded wire fence on them for the beans to grow up.  I was thinking more traditional tipi styles...but not sure what to make it with yet.

Fairy butterfly then seed geekery

 Our fairy butterfly ready to grant wishes last night going to the Halloween movie event.

We have a Halloween school party tomorrow - I'm not sure if she is wearing the same general outfit or if she wants to change it up... she gets home in an hour or so, will talk to her about it.  She was in quite the surly mood last night and an 'interesting' mood this morning... we'll see.

And now, the seed geekery.  Beans and corn.  If you've had enough of this in past years - turn your eyes away now, or just glance at the pictures for the eye candy effect, and run away from the type ;)  I won't subject you to all the measurements and notebook scrawls - but they happened, this morning, while Esme was at school and I was finally feeling in the right frame of brain to 'obsess' in a constructive way.

Not counting what I documented in August  - this is the corn crop for the entire year.  It's not much, volume wise.. yes?  But the genetics are what I'm after, and the eventual hardiness for our soil and climate.  I also would like to choose for the easiest shelling type that has dried under our 'natural' conditions well.  Eventually, it will be excellent for animal feed, although I ended up with mainly popcorn types coming through in the end.

Types represented and mixed this year:
White Cherokee Eagle corn (dent type)
Mandan Bride (I don't see it - know it was there.. but it didn't dominate anything)
Smoke Signals popcorn
Japonica popcorn
Hopi Pink popcorn
Glass Gem popcorn
Peaches and Cream sweet corn (it mixed with one of the popcorns and is represented)

The dried beans from the year, not counting the small white ones - don't know what they are!  They were climbing another tree by the other fence where I had only planted Good Mother Stallards, and are obviously not those!

Blue Black Shackamaxon : planted in Location A and B, in location A it was easy to see that they all came out exactly as expected.  Ate a lot of these as string beans with the Providers.

Tennessee Greasy beans : white beans with black spots that were planted in Location B, climbed eight foot tree opposite of the beans mentioned above.   Some came out like the Hopi with c-shaped streaks (these may be Rattlesnake beans actually...I 'lost them' in the same location), some came out black like shackamaxon mixed with them in same location, a few variants between.  So really, this one is a tossup again like last year.. I should just be tracking what I planted instead of trying to give it a name!

Hopi String Beans : planted in Location A all came out white with black streaks

Bosnian : separate tin of seed elsewhere, might have been one planted here

others planted but not representing above:
Good Mother Stallard - did not produce or are mixed in and I can't tell
Kenearly bush yellow-eyes : did not produce, bush bean so it can't be the progenitor of above...
Mayflower : grew just a few then died
Provider :ate almost all that we got...maybe one or two seeds got saved a while back
Yellow Golden Wax :ate what we got, then it died....

 Two odd but distinct variations in the pile

Where did they come from - what are they?  Are they just oddball genetics in the original set?

 The ones on the left were grown last year as 'Tennessee Greasy Beans' but had come out white with black spots and streaks.  Now after being stored in glass for the year dry.. they are orange with black spots.  The Bosnian, on the right, which I expected to turn orange with age, are nowhere near that color.

A look at the whipporwill cowpea crop alongside the other beans
Mark didn't want me to plant them this next year - there were SO many of them, and there were ants on them when he went to pick them at the end.. but so productive, how can I not plant them?  I ate several bowls worth this summer and there was just always some there if it was needed, or dried to seed if I didn't get to them.  As a 'survival' food, this one really takes the cake as a no-brainer to plant.