Field of Beans

Rip Van Maren, here. It seems like just yesterday it was May 1 and now it's July 18! Yikes! This is what happens when you try to live a double life in a single lifetime. My work in summer is like being shot out of a cannon. Add in the garden and chickens and suddenly two months have passed before I've had a chance to update this page!

First - beans. If you plant them, they will come! I usually plant lots of beans - mostly because I love to eat them. But also because you never know if the woodchuck will show up or if they will get rust or some other disease. Better to have too many than too few. Well, I had too many, so I pulled some up. But this also means I have enough to sell. Let me know. In addition to the green beans, I have dragon tongue wax beans (an heirloom breed from the Netherlands). Together they make a super fantastic three (or four or five) bean salad:

Cook a quarter of green beans and a quart of wax beans until just cooked (still a bit crisp), then plunge into cold water. Drain and put in a big bowl. Thinly slice a red (or white or yellow) onion into the bowl. Empty a can of black beans or garbanzos or red beans, drained, into the bowl. In a small bowl, whisk 3/4 c. cider vinegar, 1/3 c. olive oil and 1/2 c. sugar (or as much as you want) until well blended. Pour over salad and mix well. Refrigerate at least overnight. Gets better the longer you can wait.

Chickens - we've started processing chickens. So far we have 2.5# up to almost 5#. By the end of next week, we'll have some up to 6#. They've done very well this year and enjoy afternoons lounging in the long grass or among the corn.

Eggs - They are still laying! What more can I say.

The woodchuck ate most of the broccoli and cauliflower. I may try a fall planting if I can improve the fencing. Strawberries came and went in the wink of an eye. I am still waiting for our blueberry bushes to bear fruit. And waiting. And waiting!

More soon.