garden news-christmas lima beans

GARDEN NEWS-CHRISTMAS LIMA BEANS

these are my most favorite beans to eat
they are christmas lima beans
they are called christmas lima beans since you plant them in april and you harvest them near christmas
i have noticed here in santa barbara that they are usually ready for harvest in october or november
i guess that would make them halloween lima beans or thanksgiving lima beans

when we lived in texas it was usually late november or december when we harvested them depending on when it got cold

i had never heard of christmas lima beans until a former arkansas friend living in austin told me about them
i ordered some and planted them and also cooked them 
i have planted them every year since then probably around 15 years

the place i ordered the original seeds is linked below

rancho gordo heirloom beans

i ordered a pound of them and ate them cooking them similar to the recipe on the link above
the flavor to me is like it has a hammy flavor
i have cooked them with just water and nothing else and the flavor is still good

the beans in the picture above are from the original purchase from rancho gordo years ago
well the beans would be their great great great .... grandkids

i have planted them here in my garden in santa barbara for the last 7 years so they are getting acclimated to our community gardens environment

it was interesting during the pandemic that most of the beans including the christmas lima beans were all sold out on the rancho gordo website

we use these christmas lima beans along with other beans to sort out in our seed session of our fall harvest program
the kids say this is their favorite seed

here is how i cook them
you can cook them like you would any other bean like pintos

i soak them overnight in water
i place them the next morning in a crockpot with just enough water to cover them
later when the beans soften up i will add chicken broth or vegetable broth or chicken bone broth
i use whatever i have

then
i add things from the garden like kale malabar spinach purslane amaranth garlic onion leek tomatoes collards and herbs like oregano thyme rosemary
i seasoned it with salt pepper smoked paprika cumin and hickory or mesquite liquid smoke
i add either olive oil and or butter

i then let it slow cook until the beans are soft but not mushy

the christmas lima beans will lose that calico color and will puff up and turn brown or tan
the beans soup is also brown and it has a ham flavor to it

we i mean my wife she will cook a pan of iron skillet cornbread to go with this 

1 nice bowl of christmas lima beans with a piece of cornbread well maybe 2 or 3 pieces makes a fine meal

its well worth the 6-7 months it takes to grow them

heirloom christmas lima beans heirloom is definitely my favorite bean

the organicgreen doctor