Beautiful corns!
Beautiful corn! We have too many corn fields around = too many pests, but looking at yours I want to grow it again.
I have a picture of Chinese beans. This is my first year of growing them. I planted them very late so they just started to produce. The flowers are big and purple, unfortunately today there was not any of them. Also there were many ants. It appeared that they were very busy collecting something at the base of the pods (no aphids). Does anybody knows what?
1 Like
I think it is called yard long bean. A friend of mine grow this, I think his is green color. Your red colored bean looks very pretty.
Shishitos
Orange Strawberry tomatoes just hanging out
1 Like
I’m doing something wrong with my camera…the hubbard squash vines are about 40’ long and have a 15-20# fruit on them. The corn that blew down ended up shoe pegged so that was a waste. Second is starting now and better pollinated, sweet but little great corn taste like Incredible.
Update on my beans…
Blue lake s7 continues lights out, very tasty even when large, productive.
Flat podded heirloom pole with shiny brown n cream seeds… Excellent w/ a lot of Butter!, productive.
Fortex…Long, curly, pithy, weak bean flavor
Eureka wax… my fave
JadeII…too big, strong flavor and cooks well,great color.
Contender…Poor compared to newer beans, weak flavor
Giolli…Very tough, loads of fiber and strings, cooks well, dk green
Bronco…Very dk green, unnatural, doesn’t freeze.
Nickel…weak flavor, mushy when frozen
I’m missing some.
Nice beans Antmary. I’m growing a green version of those. Are yours the variety they call Red Noodle?
I’ve also noticed ants collect on the beans at the base of the pods. I always have to make sure to get them all off before bringing them in the house, but they don’t seem to be doing anything destructive so no real issue.
Taste and texture wise, I’m picking them at about 18-24 inches at the most, since I don’t really like the texture when they get much bigger. They get a little puffy and not as dense, then they get baggy and turn lighter when they seeds are puffing up.
Overall, they are pretty good and very productive since 1 bean equals about 4 or more regular beans. A little sweet with less bean flavor than some of the others I’m growing. Let us know what you think about them for eating.
By the way, I’ve read that they are better sauteed than boiled, but I’ve found them pretty good steamed.
Zendog and Annie,
Those beans are called Chinese Red Noodle beans from Baker Creek seeds. They are very robust, the other variety which I planted at the same time did not grow that much. The pods grow very fast, it looked like they doubled their length during 24 h.
I picked just a few first ones. I liked the first impression. They are thin and round and they cook really fast, so better for frying then boiling. No strings as in my other beans. So I do not need to clean them and this saves time and makes cooking easier. They are tender, do not have strong bean taste or texture. For me this is good, because my kids will like them better. I think, they’ll keep their red color when cooked.
Antmary, I had the green one, I really like the flavor. Just sauteed it with a little garlic. Friend of mine dry them too to store over the winter. The dried bean can last for few years on the shelf. Not sure the red color will stay though, it would be great if it does. These bean should picked young, not let beans inside grow too fat. If inside the bean grow too fat, pod will develop the strings.
Visiting my garden this morning, I spotted this insect. I thought it’s a vine borer but looking up bunch of pictures and still can’t get that figure out. What’s that?
I would call that a stink bug
I would prefer not to see that growing in my garden because as it grew, my garden would be diminished. I prefer the smell of veggies to the scent of stink bugs. 
You are not supposed to make me so hungry this time of night!
Mrsg, could that involtini be made with chicken or pork cutlets? That looks fantastic!
A quick update on JadeII fall green beans. Picked 80# on a short row, very slender, crisp, dark green and dense, not a word I would normally use for GBs. The beans freeze well, cook fresh and still stay crunchy in the time most GBs turn to mush, the dense comment. Too bad they have weak gb flavor.
My latest harvest!
More 20th Century A. pears, some Kentucky Wonder beans, bitter melon and cherry tomatoes! The 20th Century pears has thin skin, quite watery but sweet. I slowly liked and appreciated it better. 
1 Like
Yes. Veal, chick or pounded steak all works. This is just the vegetable version. Boy was it ever good. The recipe is from Mario Battali. What a chef. Sorry about the green beans. They sound great, but taste is everything.
What a chef is right! Mario Battali is the best, ever eaten at one of his restaurants? Wish I could say I have.
Sometimes I think veggies are just a way to get my daily dose of the 2 B vitamins, Butter! and Bacon! Those beans will surely benefit from liberal doses of the B vitamins 
Yes I have been to his rest. a couple of times in the East Village in NYC. Fabulous.
I like to prep green chili peppers for green enchiladas, and various other dishes. I have been testing various varieties the last 2 years, and will test even more next year. This year I trialed Big Jim Heritage and Big Jim Legacy. Big Jim’s can be used for red or green sauce. Heritage grows better here.
Also I trialed Todo Dia Mira El Sol Chili Pepper. This one is the best chili pepper I have grown so far. It has produced 10 fruits, which is a lot for the Midwest. I may get about 5 more too. plus 8 of them ripened at the same time so made processing easy! A winner and keeper for me. They grow better in hotter environments, like New Mexico where most originate. This seems to be a great one that grows decent here.
For green chili’s or green sauce first you roast them
I like them just lightly roasted, a little harder to remove skin.
I bag them to help promote loosening of the skin.
I’m going to make this week chicken enchiladas in green sauce.
Todo Dia Mira El Sol Chili Peppers are best used for green sauce. The Big Jim’s make a better red sauce. For the red sauce you let them mature to red, and dehydrate and powder the peppers. The red sauce is based on red chili powder.
If you have not tried green chili’s you should they are fantastic and unique tasting. Very mild tasting, although hot green chili’s are available. I prefer the milds. I have to try the hot ones some time. These are fairly mild.
I decided to make green chili stew instead! I can use potatoes, onions, and tomatoes from the garden.
2 Likes
Update, I just finished making the stew. I used all the peppers, wow! It is fantastic! It took 2 hours, but was easier than enchiladas! I used Yukon Gold potatoes from the garden, I used shallots instead of onions from my garden, and hard neck garlic from the garden.I opted for Ro Tel diced tomatoes, with mild green chili’s instead of my own tomatoes. My chili’s have a little heat, so i didn’t want to over do it. Ro Tel original has very hot green chili’s, it’s excellent too! It makes a great dip with Velveeta cheese.
Man this is a keeper recipe!
Now I’ll let the flavors meld for a couple hours till dinner time and heat it back up. I didn’t have pork shoulder, so used loin (boneless pork chops). The green chili flavor is awesome, and it has some heat too! Glad I opted for the mild chili’s in the Ro Tel, as my chili’s are packing some heat!
A note too, my chili’s were not roasted enough so i put them back on the grill for a few minutes and the skins practically fell off.
1 Like