holiday beans

HOLIDAY BEANS

these beans are called christmas lima beans
they are the best beans ive ever eaten
i discovered them from an organic seed company that
featured them in their catalog last year

in this picture from my recent crop they were picked early
so some were immature and dont have the color
that the mature bean does

in fact last year when we were at the farmers market
in san francisco at the ferry building the company
that i bought the beans from off the internet was there
and i bought a package of them
here is their website

we brought them home and cooked them
but they sure are better when you pull them
fresh off the vines and eat them that day

those vines are huge
they grow over ten foot high and are real thick
and look good in the garden
i actually use them to shade out the peppers from the
hot summer sun

last year i planted them but the freeze wiped them out
before they produced their large bean inside its pod
they are really made for a warmer climate

so when i plant them i know its a gamble because if
we get an early freeze they will get wiped out
even if i cover them with a thick row cover

its kinda sad because you plant them in april and
you nourish them all summer and fall just hoping
that the weather will cooperate until they all
mature

this weekend we got down to 29 degrees here since we
are in a low spot near the river and the vines
were all frozen as were the basil tomatoes peppers
and squash
luckily we had picked everything anticipating the freeze

these beans are large like the big butter beans we use to eat
when i was a kid

these are different because of the purple striations throughout
the bean and are different
because the flavor is so good

i have cooked them just in enough water to cover them good
until they were tender
no seasoning no salt no pepper no salt meat no bacon no pig feet
just plain ole beans

they taste like they are well seasoned and were cooked in ham

yes they are worth the gamble every year to see if they will beat
that first freeze

my contribution to the early christmas season celebration
move over black friday

the organicgreen doctor