This Week’s Harvest: Tomatoes (2 lbs), Basil, Chard, Kale, Parsley (Italian Flat Leaf), Cucumbers, Dill, Zucchini, Serrano Peppers, Carrots, Turnips, Onions… And, Green beans, in my opinion a most delicious vegetable!

This is Werner, the one and only non-Dixon Adobe House farmer! I am writing this message because I like green beans. Green beans are the unripe fruit of various cultivars of the common bean and a tender vegetable. Beans, when grown to ripeness and dried, are the hard seeds requiring hours of cooking to soften them. These hard beans, because of their long storage life and high protein content, are a staple in many societies. Adobe House Farm only grows pole and bush beans. Also known as string and snap beans, they come in many different shapes, colors and sizes. In my opinion, they are undervalued as a veggie and are best and most tender when grown in a home garden or when provided fresh from a CSA.

Because I like pole beans, we grow a limited amount of them. Pole beans want to climb up poles, strings or up a trellis. The variety I like best is Fortex, similar to Kentucky Wonder. Pole beans, in difference to bush beans, grow longer and bigger, are slower to produce, yet keep on providing until frost – assuming they are being picked regularly. Know that even a long one is still tender when cooked. Bush beans, on the other hand, are faster producing, yet stop having new flower buds and peter out. The “bushes” are about a foot tall. We grow green and yellow varieties, with the later much easier to find, which makes the time consuming process of picking them a little easier.

Pole or bush beans can be eaten raw, yet are most often cooked in water or steamed and best when still firm with butter and herbs added last. It’s a shame to overcook this delicious vegetable so that it ends up soft and, in my opinion, yucky. Yet, they can also be cooked in a frying pan with some water (most or all of it boiled off), a little butter or oil and garlic, yet one has to watch to make sure they do not get burned. When still hot I like to add some vinegar and herbs giving them the flavor of a bean salad without all the oil and vinegar, while extending their shelf life in the refrigerator.

Enjoy the treat of fresh and tender beans!!! – Werner

Spanish Green Beans

• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 cayenne pepper
• 1 lb fresh green beans
• 1 lb red tomatoes, chopped fine

Stir fry onions and green beans. Add garlic and peppers (don’t let garlic burn), add tomatoes and cook until green beans are tender. (Peter and I have also added a tablespoon of peanut butter and a dash of soy sauce instead of tomatoes, garnishing with peanuts at the end).

A few other ideas to use your produce

1. hang the dill bunch upside down in your kitchen and let it dry. Use as needed (or let it be a decoration all winter)
2. parsley and cous-cous salad with your tomatoes and cucumbers
3. preserve your zucchinis by canning – there are lots of recipes online
4. refrigerator pickles will use up your cucumbers, dill, serrano, and garlic and no need to pressure can.