bean farmers

i planted somewhere near a dozen (i've lost track) different varieties of beans this year.  i started some early, some late, and some in between.  the earwigs kept the earliest plantings pretty well mowed off for quite a while but most of them were able to keep growing and are doing very well now---some others (all of the yard longs) couldn't handle being chewed on repeatedly at such an early stage of growth.  i've got pole beans and bush beans and they're all getting happy right now---really pushing out pods. 

'roc d'or' (the yellow pods) and nickel french

'purple podded pole'

i did the early plantings in the kitchen garden---pole beans on the bamboo trellises.  later i sowed bush beans, semi-bush beans and a couple climbing varieties out in the orchard garden.

four, 4'x8' beds of beans

i'm trying out some native american varieties---some limas and three varieties of tepary beans.  most of the beans i'm growing are for use as green beans but the teparies and a few others are for dry beans.  the teparies come from the southwest and mexico, they're quite drought and heat tolerant and seem to be liking it here. 

the two beds in the foreground are planted in tepary beans

jack, camped out under the tepary beans

i've got a 4'x4' plot of 'roc d'or' bush beans on the west side of the orchard garden.  their bright yellow pods are easy to spot when it's time to pick.

'roc d'or'

and they look really pretty mixed with the purples and greens of the other beans.

today's haul...tonight's dinner

the bees are enjoying the bean blossoms.

and the cats are enjoying the shade during the hot afternoons.

billy, snoozing under a bean trellis

and this was just way too good to pass up...

staal, plowing his pinto bean plot, 1975