drthor - here a photos of the beans growing on the bushes. Some of the plants are about thigh-high, others a little higher. They do need some support but don't have tendrils. Some of the beans are vining around the trellis that I put up as a support for sweet peppers that are growing next to the beans.
HoneybeeNC thanks for taking the time to make me understand.
That's what I need to see.
I will try to grow them next year too.
My harvest today ... NOW WHAT ?
So much food !!!
AAHHHHH
My harvest today ... NOW WHAT ?
So much food !!!
AAHHHHH
drthor - here a photos of the beans growing on the bushes. Some of the plants are about thigh-high, others a little higher. They do need some support but don't have tendrils. Some of the beans are vining around the trellis that I put up as a support for sweet peppers that are growing next to the beans.
No way, my first melon is mineeeeeee
I just cannot believe it ! This season is amazing.
Definitely I planted everything at the perfect time this year !
I think that's the secret of success in my area ! Summer crop must be planted before the real heat starts !! So the plants have deep roots and can stand any weather abuse.
By the way, all of this bounty without NO PESTICIDES or CHEMICALS ... nature is just rewarding me ...
Tomorrow I will attend a cooking class at Le Cordon Blue about Creole cousine.
So I can use all of this peppers and okra in Gumbo and Etoufee ... yummy !!
You could always donate to the food bank
drthor - that's a great looking harvest. I cut my melons up and freeze them (after removing the rind.) They don't taste quite as good as fresh, but it's fun eating one's own grown in the middle of winter.
I don't spray my garden with anything either.
Found a few mealy bugs on the beans this morning, squished them and went right on picking! I'm getting about 2lbs per day. I sowed a 24ft row, but am only picking 20ft as I'm hoping to save seed for next year.
I also garden organically. I like that I can eat my produce straight from the vine/plant without washing first.
Today's harvest. My first tomato!! Woohoo!
That's fantastic !!
My harvest today: a basket of Swiss Chard, a basket of Parsley seeds and a basket with : Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Plums, Cow Peas (self seeded), Okra and Long Beans.
I will let the Parsley seeds dry and use them in garnish in my cooking. Lots more seed heads in the garden, which I will live them for birds and self-re-seed.
drthor - regarding "Cow Peas" - I've seen mention of them before. What are they and how does one find seed?
We used the term cow pea to refer to black-eyed peas when I lived in TX. We used to eat them on new years day for good luck through the year. As far as where to get seed I haven't looked since I moved to NC 12 years ago
-Vaughn
Cow Peas are like green beans. Look at the picture above (the second one), they are the smallest green beans (8" long)
I planted them last year to climb around an "A" frame swing I have.
They grew like monster ... lots of green leaves. I never grew beans so I couldn't find any pods ... so I kept cutting them and feed my DH pets ... in September I started to see pods and OMG ... millions of pods. I just steamed them for 10 minutes and they are ready ...
I ordered these climbing varieties:
http://rareseeds.com/vegetablesa-c/cowpeas/monkey-tail-cowpea.html
http://rareseeds.com/vegetablesa-c/cowpeas/california-blackeye-pea.html
Bake Creek has a the biggest collection of cow peas.
Last summer we had a record 70 days over 100Fdegrees here in Dallas (normally we have 4 days over 100F only)
While some other vegetables went into a shock, those cow peas kept growing and growing ...
This year they just came up by themselves ... and they are producing already. LOVE IT !
Thanks for the links, drthor. I'm particularly interested in these peas because last summer, we too, had days when the temperature was in the triple digits.
I've always considered cow peas and black-eyed peas the same, but I don't think they are. They are in the same family, though.
Black eyed peas are one variety of cowpea. There are many in the same species.
Dthor is right - check out http://rareseeds.com/vegetablesa-c/cowpeas.html
-Rich
P.S.: For some reason you may have to cut and paste the link - I got an error message even though I used the pasted link.
This message was edited Jun 18, 2012 1:21 AM
This message was edited Jun 18, 2012 1:22 AM
Thanks for the link, Rich - it worked for me.
I've saved all this info for 2013 garden reference.
The Royal Burgundy bush bean seeds I sowed last Thursday came up overnight. That's just four days!
My harvest today:
Melon, plums, tomatoes, cukes, long beans and cow peas and a few okra.
HoneybeeNC, here is a picture of the cow peas growing on the side of my swing
I hope you can grow cow peas Honeybee, they are a favorite here! I sowed Texas Cream 40's this year and they are tasty.
This year is so odd, everything seems to be maturing all at once, makes the harvesting a real chore.
I have pumpkins and winter squash already?? Tomatoes are in full swing, and this my second wagon load of cream peas.
cocoa_lulu
amazing harvest !
drthor- thanks for the cow pea photos. They look strange to me, but then I've never seen, grown or eaten cow peas. LOL
cocoa_lulu - I will definitely grow some cow peas next summer. It's going to the in the 90's here over the next few days, and it's only JUNE!
Does one have to shell cow peas, or can one cook them like green beans?
Wow..........beautiful harvest by everyone, and so beautifully displayed. I am almost embarrassed to show my harvest in our messy kitchen. This is a video of a weeks tomato harvest.
http://s706.photobucket.com/albums/ww66/hornstrider22/?action=view¤t=MaterCrop.mp4
Honeybee, cowpeas are the same as southern peas. You'll also see them called by their self describing name, cream, zippers, crowders, black eyed, and so on. They are all (including the Asian, long and asparagus bean) Vigna unguiculata.
You can eat the pods on all of them, but usually it's the Asian longs beans that are grown for that purpose. When shelled, southern peas varieties have distinctly different flavors from one another, in other words they do not all taste like black eyed peas :0)
Hornstrider, I don't know, your kitchen looks clean to me! It's such a mess here, as soon as I clean up one canning project, it's time to do another. I really enjoyed the garden tour, your garden is wonderful, thanks for the link! I'm not sure where Hutto is, but it looks gorgeous.
hornstrider
your video made my day .. I almost fell down my chair ...
just for one second ... do you think we might have planted too many tomato plants this year?
I will say yes ... but just for one second !! I am so proud of all of those tomatoes !
Great job and great video, keep posting !
HoneybeeNC
I did try to eat those little cow peas ... but they are soooo little ... too much work for me.
I like to eat the tender pods !
Today's harvest includes some okra! Not sure if the Hill Country Red okra should be picked so young, but we're gonna try it anyway. Hubby used some pods yesterday and made okra and tomatoes. He said the okra was really good.
I also took 4 of the cantaloupes we've harvested recently and cut them up. I sure hope the work folks like cantaloupe because this container is going in the fridge at work for their enjoyment and snacking!
"do you think we might have planted too many tomato plants this year?"
My wife might think so. I give a lot of tomato's away every year to my customers. They always seem to enjoy the harvest. It beats giving pens, and key chains away. They seem to remember me when it comes to re-orders..
harvested a whole lot of green beans yay! but something got ahold of my zuke :
Vaughn
Squash vine borer got your zuke. Evil, evil things!
This is my final SPRING harvest picture.
This spring 2012 has been fantastic.
Also a picture of the ripen Virginia Sweet like I promised.
Good luck to your SUMMER harvest !
drthor; And Big THANK YOU!!!!! to you also
