We picked the last of the beans this week. While we were gone to the beach friends came and picked from them and the bean bugs got their share too.

This year we planted what has become my favorite bean Mother Stallard, along with a green bean shared with us several years ago from a gentleman who said his grandmother planted them as long as he could remember. He called them Grammy beans in her honor. They are similar to the white half runners Granny and Pap grew when I was a girl.

We planted a short row of Ed beans. They didn’t do very good this year. I wonder if it’s where we planted them.

In the back of the house we planted a short row of a bean called May Flower that was sent to us. It didn’t do very well either because the bean bugs started on the vines early in the summer.

All the beans in the gardens around our house are pole beans which means you need something for them to climb up.

In the big garden we planted several different bush beans. The ones that did the best were peanut beans which Matt really loves.

Most of the beans we picked this week will be saved for seed. We’ve canned all summer and have plenty of jars for winter eating.

We saved out a big mess of Mother Stallard beans to cook for supper last night. They were so good! Paul ate with us and he bragged on them too.

They have a large bean so that’s part of the reason I like them so much. The pods have a velvety texture to them when cooked and they have a really good flavor. They can well and another plus is they don’t really have strings.

Most folks who grow Mother Stallard use them as a dried bean. We’ve eaten them like that too, but to me they are best cooked like green beans in the traditional Appalachian way.

Last night’s video: I Ain’t Complaining I’ve Beds & Bread on the Table – From My Highest Hill 5.

Tipper

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