In the Bean Patch

You know I'm a beanaholic.  Since we were away for most of August, I timed the second planting of beans for mid-July with hopes they would be fruiting now, when we returned.  Bingo.

This patch includes a jumble of zinnias, falling into the paths but they give such cheer its worth climbing around them to get to the beans.  Grey-speckled cow peas in the foreground, an heirloom variety new to me that I'm hopeful about.  Haricot verts next- Taverna- reliable and a heavy producer of small, tender, sweet beans.  On the trellis at the back is Vortex, a new pole bean I'm trying, they are very long yet string-less and tender.  I think they would be the perfect bean for dilly beans with their long-straight habit making them easy to pack and pretty in jars.

 

Furthest out on the trellis, another heirloom bean, Garden of Eden, long, flat yet tender, cooks in 3 minutes!.  either side of the trellis I also planted lima beans, they are a bit shaded by everything else but coming along.

Bean flowers promising many more to come 

  While picking I almost grabbed this guy who was prowling around in the leaves looking a lot like a bean.

The end products; Vortex on left, Garden of Eden in center, haricot vert-Taverna on right.  And flowers to brighten the table.  Think there will be beans on the menu tonight- possibly with some home grown red potatoes and chanterelles picked in the woods this humid warm week.

It's hard to go wrong with zinnias

The only problem is that I didn't plant enough zinnias this year.  This beauty has been blooming for a solid week and seems to just get bigger, it's about 4 inches across.  And it's blooming just outside the kitchen window so I've been enjoying it every time I stand at the sink, how lucky.

Here is an autumn bouquet I made including zinny's, mums and asters which are putting on a big show right now all around our yard.  A basket of the winter squash we grew along with a braid of garlic that I made back in July after I harvested my crop, big and beautiful.  With birds migrating through right now, the bird book and binoculars have been a regular fixture on the kitchen table.  It must be fall.