Hey Good Lookin’, Watcha got Cookin’?

In July, the rewards for our patience, love, and care are becoming visible! It’s devilishly hot out, but in the shady calm under the chlorophyll canopy, treasure is growing.

• 

• 

• 

My family LOVES peppers. This year I’m growing bell peppers, mini bell peppers, Anaheim peppers, Thai chiles, ancho poblano peppers, and jalapenos.

The best part of summer in the garden is the bounty! I love watching everything get bigger and more ripe until harvest. This summer seems to be cruising by, because so many of my peppers are at or near maturity! Here’s some eye candy:

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I also grow peas, and this year I tried out a new trellis that I really like. I ran this expandable trellis down one of my pepper boxes, knowing that the peas would be done and coming out of the ground by the time the peppers need the space.

• 

• 

• 

• 

I’m not a huge fan of peas, myself, but my children will eat them like candy. They’re a fun-to-eat side with dinner or an easy afternoon snack. My kids just get a big ole pile of pods, and enjoy popping the shells and picking out the treasure. No cooking required! Nom Nom.

---

My whole family enjoys green beans, especially fresh from the garden. For several years I’ve built a tipi frame out of six foot bamboo stakes, and grown the beans up as a cylindrical pyramid. But this year I tried a new set-up using two A-frame trellises and bamboo stakes.

I will probably have to go back to the tipi next year, because the beans are simply too tall to work on my new structure. They have grown all the way up the trellis and over the top, and how have branches hanging back down from the top.

Because we like beans so much, I have fun growing different varieties. This year and last, I’ve grown purple pole beans as well as green pole and bush beans. I like the bush beans because they grow faster and fit nicely in any raised bed with no trellis, but the pole beans are really a beautiful addition, and they are so, so, so, very prolific!

• 

• 

• 

• 

From July through September, we have to harvest pretty much every other day. Beans get tough and dry when they are too big, and they only take a few days to go from tiny to ready. We’ve had to find additional ways to prepare beans, because we end up eating loads and loads in the summer. I’ve read that you can freeze garden beans pretty easily, but I haven’t tried it yet. Jarring is definitely a well-known option, too, if you end up with too many to eat.

So far, my family has managed to eat them all! We like to sauté them up with bacon and onions, InstantPot or pressure cook with bacon or ham, or Florentine style with almonds, or batter dipped and baked into “fried green beans”, parmesan crusted…

• 

• 

•