Bush Beans and Cucumbers

In a very short span of time alot of different veggies are beginning to make a dash to full bloom, of those the bush bean plants may currently be the most prolific of the group. Over the course of 3 years or so we have mainly grown the Danish heirloom, dragon tongue, and the beautiful royalty purple pod bean and the yellow wax or pencil pod bean. All three of these are now a solid part of our own private seed stock. I have found the yellow wax bean to be the easiest to grow and harvest, plus it taste delicious. It has an onyx black seed that just falls right out of the dried shell when it is ready for storage. The other two beans are a bit of a different story. They tend to have a very fleshy case which makes for a delicious bean but in our region of the world it is difficult not to loose a substantial portion of your seed stock to mold and rot if you do not pay close attention to your patch. These particular beans need a lot of help out of their casing if you are to have a successful year in regards to replenishing your seed base.




We also are having a boom of cucumbers right now too. Last year we lost our heirloom lemon cucumbers to a hungry groundhog and the year before to the neighborhood rabbits and cats, so needless to say we are very excited to have some cucumbers of our own. We are no longer growing the lemon cucs but are excited none the less. I can only compare the garden fresh cucs to the garden fresh strawberries in that it is difficult to explain to someone who has never had them exactly how much more delicious they taste than their store bought cousins.

Tobias Whitaker blogs for Mother Earth News and Grit Magazine. Click on the Mother Earth News logo at the bottom of the page for all of his post. You can also find him on Facebook at Seed To Harvest: Bossy Hen Homestead  https://www.facebook.com/seedtoharvestbossyhenhomestead/ which is a central location for his homesteading blogs and his homeschooling blog, A Mile In Her Shoes: Tales Of A Stay-At Home Dad found here https://amileinhershoestalesofastayathomedad.wordpress.com/