Monday, August 24, 2009

Christmas Lima Beans


It's garden clean up time again. Now all the hard work of putting in the garden has to be reversed. While the tomatoes and peppers are still going strong and the occasional melon ripens things like beans, corn and squash need to be removed and composted. The fall plants of broccoli and cabbage are all sprouted and will be ready to go out in a few weeks but first a place needs to made for them. While things are winding down we are still pretty much eating every dinner with things from the garden. Last night eggplant, tomatoes, peppers and beans for dinner and yesterday's lunch was cantaloupe just picked. This is the first time I have really been successful with melons as they usually succumb to wilt or mildew plus our clay soil is not ideal for such things.

The picture is of the last of the Christmas limas which were harvested yesterday as I pulled up all the vines. Only a double handful but enough for dinner last night. They are much prettier raw than cooked BTW as they sort of turn a purplish gray after a little simmer and all of the bright red disappears. Lima beans aren't my favorite but Madam loves them so I grow them. If I have to eat them I prefer the small baby limas or butter peas we grow down here in the South. These are a pretty good size bean as you can tell from the dime in the pic.

I'm in the garden again today but should wrap up the biggest part of the chores. Another month or two of tomatoes and peppers along with late season cucumbers and the second planting of beans(French climbing and Cherokee Trail of Tears). The sweet potatoes are just about ready as well and they will be coming out of the ground in September. Off to the garden...everyone have a great Monday.

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