"tongue of fire" beans

These beans are called Tongue Of Fire (Phaseolus vulgaris). I planted a package of seeds in late July. Here are descriptions from some seed catalogs:

Johnny's:
The best flavored horticultural bean. The fresh, shelled beans are large, round and have superior flavor and texture, whether fresh, frozen, or canned. 6-7", stringless, red-streaked pods can be eaten and marketed young as snap beans. Original stock seeds collected in Tierra del Fuego, at the southern tip of South America. Avg. 875 seeds/lb. Packet: 95 seeds. Days to Maturity or Bloom: 70 Cold Tolerant Variety does well at lower temperatures and may even be frost hardy.

Victory Seed Company:
Italian heirloom (Borlotto Lingua di Fuoco). A cranberry-type horticultural bean variety originally collected from Tierra del Fuego on the tip of South America. The pods are ivory tan with red streaks and spots as they mature. The seeds are large and roundish. They have an excellent flavor and texture and are good fresh, canned, frozen or dried. About 55 seeds per ounce.

I hoping to try Leslie's recipe for Kale and Cranberry Bean Soup.

Fabaceae

overgrown garden

Arrrggghh!

I went over to the other side of the fence and looked at my garden today. This is how it looks to my neighbor. I have to admit I have seriously neglected my garden in the past month. My professional work has gotten the better of me.

Oh well.

I am afraid to stand under my tomato tepees too long as I know they are about to fall over. The vines are out of control this year. The tepees are leaning under the weight and I can't get them stabilized.

The squashes are all done for the year and need to be pulled. The mildew won. (I do have one tiny, but cute, little pumpkin thats almost ripe.) Many chiles need to be picked and roasted and stored. I've missed picking many beans and lettuce heads, so I'm going to see if I can use these for seed.

Tomorrow is the start of a long (Columbus Day) weekend. Maybe it'll be a good weekend for recovering the garden. Or at least hanging out and enjoying it.

This fall is very warm, yet again (a trend maybe?). It seems more like August than October. Yesterday Boston set a record for warmth. And our overnight lows have been unusually high most of the past month. My garden runs even warmer than our zone in the fall, and cooler in the spring. Something to do with its location, which is shaded and sheltered between tall houses in the suburbs. In any case, it does seem like a good weekend for overdue gardening.

beets

I have a few good sized beets now from a spring planting. Still a lot of small ones. The seeds were called Rainbow Beet Mix from The Cook's Garden. Its described as a mix of all of their beet varieties that will mature at different times over a long season.

An added comment on the weather: I thought this was fall. Its as hot as mid-summer today! Good thing I planted a lot of fall crops. If this keeps up, my garden will grow until Christmas! And my nice fall sweaters will stay in my closet.

beets (Beta vulgaris)

garden wildlife

Here's who's in my garden these days. Lots of birds - mostly sparrows, cardinals, chickadees and titmice. I was surprised to spot a downy woodpecker on my big old pumpkin vine. These guys are great helpers with the insect control.

The problem critter is that cute squirrel. He's increased his digging now that its fall. He rearranges my lettuce seedlings and digs up the larger seeds and bulbs. Sometimes I cover newly planted areas (especially crocus bulbs) with chicken wire to keep him away.

gardenbirds

an eggplant that was

My Mom saw this eggplant in my garden this evening and asked if she could pick it for our dinner. Sometimes I think things look too nice to pick. But what can you say to your mother? It was very nice grilled.

topic: eggplant

lettuce and radish are growing

I haven't picked lettuce from my garden in months. But finally its growing. Our nights have cooled off. Days too. I planted 6 or 8 varieties a week or so ago. My garden looks like spring with all the little lettuce sprouts. Even my radish have sprouted. I also have a few rows of greens (escarole and arugula) that I planted mid summer and never really grew, until now. My garden will be filling the lettuce bowl soon - I hope.

just another pretty weed

A little daisy fleabane (Erigeron annuus) has volunteered in my garden between the broccolis and kale. Its a pretty wildflower that's native to our area.

wildflowers, weeds, invasives and natives

fall broccoli

This is my fall crop of broccoli. Since we haven't really seen much fall weather yet, with summer-like record-setting warm temperatures still, I think it is on track to make heads before it freezes.


Brassicaceae

first kale harvest

I'm so pleased to get a good harvest of kale. Midsummer, my kale leaves were filled with holes from the green caterpillars of the white cabbage butterfly. To holey for me to eat. I've had the plants covered with garden fabric since them. Now the leaves are very nice. I sauteed them with garlic, then added water and blanched about 5 minutes. Very tasty. I've read they are sweeter after a frost so I'm looking forward to eating the rest of the leaves this winter.

The variety is called Dinosaur Kale. Seeds were from Seeds of Change.

Brassicaceae
harvests from my vegetable gardens
Kale (Brassica oleracea, Acephala Group)

full harvest moon

Tonight is the Harvest Moon. It will rise at 1848EST (7:48 pm EDT) in Belmont MA. It should be bright enough to harvest tomatoes and eggplants late into the night (if that's what I was planning to do).

dahlia

This is my favorite dahlia. A big soft orange one that my Dad started many years ago. The flowers are about 6 inches in diameter. Its a large vigorous plant that overwinters well. I have a clump taller than me next to my vegetable garden. The flower here is one of my Dad's.

first day of autumn

A sad good-bye to summer...

Something about the fall garden isn't the same as the spring and summer one. I notice I'm not heading out there as much. I have fewer vegetable garden pictures to show. Instead I'm playing with my photos today.

oxheart carrots

Oxheart is an old heirloom variety that grows enormous - short, fat roots up to 1 lb or more. I harvested a nice bunch of these last night for dinner. They tasted great.

Daucus carota

fall sowing

My fall seeds are all in the ground now. I guess these are the last seeds I'll plant this year (except for the garlic). Sad.

I planted Sparkler and Round Black Spanish radish seeds. Also, shell peas and snap peas (probably too late for these). And lettuce (Bibb, Black-Seeded Simpson, Merveille de Four Seasons, Quattro Stagione, and Prizehead) and escarole (Natacha, Blonda, and Full Heart Batavian).

S&P

autumnal equinox

I thought fall would begin on September 21 this year, but I was wrong. I've corrected my sidebar count down meter. The equinox is at about 9:30 am on September 23. That means an extra 2 days of summer that I didn't know about. Three cheers!