Go Green! or Yellow, or Purple or Striped!

I'm talking about beans. No need to restrict yourself to only green beans any more! Here are a few of the varieties I've been picking from my garden. I cook them all together. The colors make for a lively side dish.

Left to right - Rattlesnake pole beans, yellow pole beans, Roma II bush beans, Dragon Tongue bush beans, Flat Italian pole beans, Brittle Wax bush beans, and Contender bush beans. The purple color cooks away, leaving a pretty green or yellow bean when served.

These are my Vermont Cranberry bush beans, a new variety for me. The flat pods have pink streaks and can be picked when tender and steamed fresh. I let these dry on the vine to use as soup beans. The first ones I picked were so pretty that I planted a couple more rows late in the season. They'll make a nice Fall treat.

I'm sure Melissa at Gluten Free for Good can tell you all about the nutritional value of beans. I'll settle for knowing they're good for me because I love eating fresh beans every day!

I picked my first ripe tomatoes a couple of weeks ago. They were running late this year. Since then, I've had to pick the cherry tomatoes every day. The yellow cluster tomatoes are called Yellow Perfection - and they live up to their name! I'll save seed for next year. Definitely a keeper! My favorite red tomato is called Red Star. They are small, flat, funny-looking and delicious. I ate them all before this photo was taken. Oops!

Although we made it through all of July without hitting 90 degrees, the okra decided to bear fruit anyway. They thrive in really hot weather. We'll hit the 90s this weekend for the opening of the Indiana State Fair, so I expect a lot more okra.

No post would be complete without a photo of my girls. These Buff Orpingtons decided to test drive their new roost, made from a branch from the honey locust tree. Seems to work just fine. My little chicks are getting so big! I expect the new flock of 24 to start laying any day now.

Construction is underway on 2 new chicken coops and runs. That's why I've been away from my blog for so long. I've been gathering materials, digging out stumps and clearing brush. Today I dug my first five (okay, 4 and a half) post holes. When it got too dark to work, I could barely lift a New Grist beer to my lips. I struggled through a whole one, though. Hope I can raise my arms tomorrow. Ten more post holes to dig.

My totally neglected flower gardens have done just fine while I've been busy with chickens and vegetables. Here's a pretty black-eyed Susan, one of MANY. They've spread like crazy.

Dog Days?

Thanks for all the zucchini bread recipes! If you, too, are overstocked on zucchini, check the comments in my previous post. I've tested the first recipe, and it was wonderful! I was a little skeptical at first. The batter looked different than my former glutenized zucchini bread batter. But it baked up just fine. I still fear raisins, so I added some diced fresh apple instead.

The weather is unbelieveably comfortable in Indiana just now. Now is August. We don't do comfort in August. We do sweltering days of 90+ degrees, nights that never cool us off, and serious storms. Yesterday's high was 78 degrees. My thermometer read 58 degrees when I woke up this morning. Ahhhhhh.

I took advantage of the comfortable temps to do some yard work. I was at it for 12 hours. I still had an hour of daylight, but was too tuckered to continue. I cut brush. I pulled weeds. I used my push mower like a weed whacker and cleared out some big overgrown areas. I carefully pulled up miles of poison ivy vines. I wore shoe and socks all day long. That's a departure for me.

I'm a little stiff this morning. I expect the kinks will work themselves out when I begin "Operation Mulch" after CBS Sunday Morning is over.

To take a break from the heavy work, I picked some vegetables.

Jack: I have your beanstalk. You are welcome to climb it any time.

I have steamed beans. I have sauteed beans. I have pickled beans. I have canned beans. I have frozen beans. I have made bean salad. I like beans a lot. Good thing!

These are the tomatoes I've picked in the last two days. I hope this photo helps my cousin, Kathy, remember her Indiana roots. She and her mom introduced me to tomato pie. The two of us can polish off a whole pie by ourselves. Kathy lives in Florida now. Indiana tomatoes are much better than Florida tomatoes. And the tomatoes in my back yard are better than any other tomatoes in Indiana. No, I'm not biased!

My cherry tomatoes make the tastiest sundried tomatoes. When dried, Sungold tomatoes (the orange ones) are sweet like a dried apricot. But I like red and yellow ones, too. I think they are all pretty together. I put them on pizza and use them for a GREAT layered dip with goat cheese. When these tomatoes are done, I'll make some and post the recipe.

Here is my technique for drying tomatoes: I wash my tomatoes and get out my dehydrator when the 11:00 news starts. You don't need fancy equipment. I bought this dehydrator for $20, over 20 years ago.

I leave an empty tray as the bottom layer of the stack. I slice my cherry tomatoes in half and place them cut-side-up on the tray. I hold the filled tray over the sink and generously sprinkle the tomatoes with sea salt. When my trays are full, I put the lid on top and go to bed.

In the morning the bottom layer is done, or nearly done. I check all the trays, and put the done ones in a bowl. I move the least done tray to the bottom layer and put the lid back on. During the day, I check the trays several times. I take out the done ones, and leave the rest. When they are all done, I put them in a zip lock bag and store them in the freezer. They keep for years in the freezer!


Don't agonize over perfectly matching dried tomatoes. After I put them all together in a bag, they seem to even out in texture.

This is a Baby Bubba okra. It's a new variety, for me. It's more bush-like than stalk-like. And so far, it's a good producer. Good flavor, too! I pick okra every day because they ripen fast. I've used my okra in gumbo, and I've pickled some. It's also nice, steamed and cooled, on a veggie tray with some dip.

I'm going to dry some of these. They thicken soup. And the water I cook them in is positively gummy. I'm going to grind some dried okra and add a little to my bread dough. I can't use xanthan gum, and I hope this will be a good substitute. I'll let you know if it works. The weather is too good to come indoors for baking just now.


I've got chiles! Salsa soon!

Here's a visitor to my garden. The cool temps let the bumble bees relax. They slowed down enough for photo ops.

And here's the Lily of the Day: Surprise! They're Suprise Lilies!