Beans, Beans, Beans

Right now we're covered up in beans. Purple beans, flat Roma beans, rattlesnake beans and half runners are all in full swing. Of course this happens during one of the busiest weeks of my summer. This past weekend was a mad whirl of beans and travel, work and beans. I'll write about the other things that happened this weekend in another post; right now here's a look at some of the bean madness.

These are rattlesnake beans. You might be able to see the faint purple mottling on the beans in this photo. The beans are very long, some almost a foot, and have an excellent flavor. They do have strings though, like half-runners. This variety is a southern heirloom that can withstand hig temperatures and will keep producing if it gets enough water. Right now we've got the hig temps for sure, but it hasn't rained for a while so I'm not sure how my beans will manage in these conditions.

The first picking of rattlesnake beans. I canned seven quarts but we had the wrong gasket for the canner and it gae me fits. So I froze the rest of them, an additional 10 quarts. We gave away a couple bags from this basket; it was heaped and overflowing after Larry finished picking. These are a pole bean, first time we've really had any luck with them.

Next up: the purple beans. If I can get the canner gasket I need, then these will go in the canner tomorrow night. If not, they're freezer-bound too. This is about a half-bushel, and more to pick tomorrow, Larry says.

He'll also be picking half runners to sell tomorrow, so he'll be a busy man.

We got our first ripe tomatoes this weekend and had one for breakfast. Ah, the pure pleasure of a tomato from the garden! Pics tomorrow, I hope.