First Vegetable Harvest: Beans from Bush to Plate

I was so excited today to walk in my garden after a long weekend away and find the bush beans had gone from blooming to bearing. I have some photos to show the "processing" of the beans from garden picking to preparing for lunch.

My beans are growing in a "three sisters" mound. You can read more about this in my post about planting the three sisters.

Planting the Three Sisters

In the Americas long ago, and even modern day in some cultures, people relied on the Three Sisters to feed themselves. The sisters are corn, squash, and beans. This combination has proven to be a secret to balancing a diet when consumed together. The good news, is they thrive when they are planted together.

I have read about this often as I taught Native American History to elementary students. I was always fascinated by the knowledge that cultures had so long ago. I remember reading about how Squanto had helped the Europeans farm successfully, teaching them to plant fish under the corn seeds in a mound. Now, we buy special fertilizers made from fish emulsions to avoid chemical fertilizers. Listening to the past can be so valuable.

It's a Potato 4th of July

Today marked 94 days from the root planting date in our garden. I noticed that most of the potato vines had died off and the cantaloupe has been trying to climb the dead broccoli and invade. I spied some mounding in the dirt and went for a garden fork. Sure enough! Potatoes!

I carefully dug my way from one end of the potato patch to the other and pulled out the best harvest I've ever had in my life! Now, I don't have a scale in my house...which I have just realized might be a little strange...but my husband and I both independently guessed about 20-25 pounds. That is just slightly above the average US yield for potatoes for the square footage we planted. This is a result of the Biointensive planting techniques we are trying out. (Any book by John Jeavons is a great guide!)

Also, I did leave one potato plant in the corner. Although it is past the 90 day period, the plant is still mostly green. Potatoes should only be harvested after 90% of the above-ground growth has died off. Potatoes don't like the heat, and I'm kind of glad about that. I couldn't imagine harvesting these spuds in the heat of late July or August! It was a dirty, sweaty job on a cool day like today.

I do want to mention the reasoning behind planting potatoes. After some research regarding health and diet I have concluded that potatoes are fairly evil for women's bodies (as is white rice and white bread). That being said, one of the major steps toward be self-sustaining is to grow your calories. Growing vegetables is great, and organic fruits and vegetables are vital to your health. But, the truth is, your body needs a lot more calories to survive than fruits and vegetables can provide. Ideally, I would also grow some beans and grains, but I wanted to be cautious this year and plant things I knew I could handle. Also, my husband refuses to eat beans of any kind, so I tried to grow things we would both enjoy, or at least consume. I am aware of the dangers of simple carbs, but I'm not quite ready to mark potatoes off my list of edibles.

That was all the good news, now for some gardening sorrows. The broccoli is dead. There, I said it. I failed at broccoli after being so successful with my completely random crop of last year. Everything was great, the crowns were just showing up, then BOOM! My husband came home and checked the garden and asked what happened to the broccoli. I proudly lit up and stated that it looked great, it is so big because I'm awesome. Then he informed me that they were gone! In one day, between morning watering and evening, the entire crop had been devoured by caterpillars. I saw the signs, and ignored them at a price. I was thinking that a few butterflies would be lovely, I would let them eat a little. Nope, they ate it all, and in less than 12 hours!

Another possible sorrow occurred with the carrots. They look great above ground, but I dug a few up hoping they would be ready, and they were scarcely the size of my pinky. I think I did not thin them out enough. I have transplanted a few to see if that helps.

In the meantime, we continue to harvest a few green beans and tomatoes each day. I have been watering for about 30-40 minutes every other day. This may have to increase as the heat goes up this month. I must keep motivated for the melons' sake.