Today I took some time to put my feet up and finish up some vegetable preserving from the old garden. I shelled all of my Cherokee Trail of Tears beans. In total, I got 2lbs. and 9 ounces when all was said and done. Not bad for just throwing some seeds in the ground and literally doing nothing else!I love growing dry beans as they are pretty much a set-and-forget crop with the exception of starting them up the trellis. I trellis mine on a cattle panel between t-posts and it allows me to use the space in the beds beneath the beans for another crop. I typically plant a root vegetable of some kind so that the soil in the bed isn’t getting all of one nutrient extracted from it. I grow pole beans (green beans) in this same way.
Fun Fact:
Did you know that you can eat a dry bean (black beans, pinto beans, kidney beans, and etc.) as a green bean when they are in the early stages of growth?
Do you grow dry beans? If so, what is your favorite variety? Do you trellis them, or let them sprawl on the ground?
Next year we will be planting a larger amount for sure!
Happy Gardening!
Stephanie
