Quote:
Originally Posted by feldon30
My beans are all up now. I planted 3 varieties and staggered them a bit. I'm thinking that if someone played their cards right, it should be possible to have non-stop legumes from February through June in Houston with staggered planting of shelling peas, snow peas (bush or pole), sugar snaps (bush or pole), then bush beans, and finally pole beans. And that's not to mention shelling beans like Rattlesnake, Dragon's Tongue (great as a fresh or dried bean) which can go through July.  |
Well, if you can believe it, not only are the snow peas continuing to crank out (I picked 2 handfuls yesterday), but Dragon Tongue is already giving me a crop!
Yesterday I was looking at my Dragon Tongue beans from a distance and noticed a few little beans and said to myself "Won't be long now." When I inspected the plants more closely today, I found 2 handfuls of beans ready to pick. They weren't all what I consider full sized, but going on the premise that early picking will encourage the plant to set more beans, I picked them from medium (pencil thick and 3-5" long) to large (1/2" thick and 5-7" long). I won't dare let them get to XL (1" thick and 7-9" long) until later in the season.
Anyway, I promptly steamed them (to go with my baby back ribs that I did on the smoker today). It just reminded me that these are a superior, productive bean. It has a distinctive texture going down and tastes like it's already been buttered. It will always have a place in my garden. Yes, it loses its color when steamed, fading from yellow with purple streaks to a yellowish-tan, but that doesn't take away the flavor one bit!
Will post pictures soon. I have to run in and out between the torrential downpours to get decent photos.