Green Bean Glory

Gorgeous green bean plants early on, with not much spacing.

 

There’s nothing fresher than picking for dinner minutes before.

 

 

Two thick rows of green bean plants stretch across my garden, very close to the middle. Every year I vow to plant with keeping ample space in mind and then the idea gets lost….so once again there’s no room between plants, which is okay because they still will produce nice beans. Yet if you are an experienced gardener you’ll know that the space is vital for drying. If you plant too close together it takes much longer to do this. It rained two days ago and yesterday was kind of cloudy so when I ventured out to the patch to pick beans, I couldn’t. They are still wet and we all know that’s taboo to pick when the leaves are wet because it will rust the rest of the beans. Sometimes I’m impatient and end up with rusty beans anyway! Even though there is a lesson to be learned, the beans look healthy when I snap them off the plant.

 

 

 

 

Green rich fibrous beans, just the right size and grown in my backyard! Amazing and how gratifying! I love the fact that you can eat them raw or cooked a bit. At an early age my son Dylan would pick and eat them right from the plant. Just the other day I washed and sent some beauties home with him. They didn’t even last the trip and all Lexie found was an empty plastic bag!

 

 

Right now I’m thick in the green bean season and I share with my son and his girlfriend, friends and family and incorporate them in my menus a few times a week.Tasting them at dinner as a fresh side dish, I’ve learned over the years to hardly cook them so they snap with every bite.  Some ways I use green beans:

The other night I diced potatoes and fried them with onion and garlic. Once the potatoes were cooked, I threw the beans in just to cook for a minute or two. It was delicious!

Who doesn’t love a nice colorful healthy stirfry with fresh garden veggies? In summer I make one with green beans, squash, basil, green pepper, onion,mushrooms and broccoli. I serve it with rice pilaf or spaghetti noodles. It’s delicious!

Throw fresh green beans into a  tossed salad, with beef instead of broccoli or sautéed with olive oil and slivered almonds.

Fresh garden green beans are delicious however you prepare them. If you don’t have a garden, visit your local farmer’s market and support local growers.Now is the time to frequent these markets and veggie stands while fresh organic grown food awaits! It’s important we all do that instead of buying all our produce at a chain supermarket.

 

 

All My Best,

Heart and Soul