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Ducks, why are you disappointed that the peas aren't smooth?

I made some bruschetta breads tonight with the Irish Liqueur tomatoes, Katya and Supergonets, a really nice Russian tomato. Oh my gosh - they were soooo delicious. Just perfect meatiness and sweetness in there with the garlic and basil and olive oil. Might be one of my favorite ways to eat...

The delicate 'Marie-Louise' bean. I love the name, and I love the color of the pods, reminds me a little of peaches. Portuguese bean 'Bragançano', sizing up to be a very nice variety! It's in a spot that gets some afternoon shade, which I think is slowing it a little. But the pods go from...

Tomato season is here in full swing. 💃 My 'earlies' this year didn't turn out as early as my 'earlies' last year, but then again, many of this years trials turned out to be larger tomatoes. 2024 was lots of cocktail sized varieties, so it makes sense they were quicker to mature. Lots of...

'Mazeppa' was one of the first network beans I ever grew. 🤎 I'm regrowing it this year because I've always wanted to increase the amount of seed I have in storage, having only grown a small number of plants back in 2021. It really is such a lovely bean, so delicate and pretty. Found the first...

Oooh! That actually sounds really good! 😋

Yes, so true. This species has a lot of advantages, the only catch I think is that the berries seem to be missing the sourness that Aunt Molly's have when slightly underripe. There is just sweetness and not a lot of tang, so I admittedly prefer slightly more the Aunt Molly's flavor. Dead ripe...

Another new to me bean, 'Largo Verde A Cornetto'. It was sent to me from Germany, and I never did get to researching what the name means. The pods are really large, and so far I quite like it. It's Italian I believe.

No, you can tell by the husk color how mature it is. And I'd say these tend to mature really fast, way faster than the other species. Probably 85% - 90% of what is out there is dead ripe right now, just because they tend to ripen en masse it seems.

Thanks @flowerbug , yes I see that daily in spring on the bush trails we walk, the torn apart stumps and rotting trees when they're after bugs. They don't seem to do that as much mid summer and fall, not here anyway. The blueberry crop this year was huge so I'm sure was a help to them. Ever...

Physalis minima. 🕺 My goodness the plants produce by the hundreds! Smaller than the average ground cherry, a bit sweeter with purple speckles. A nice perk is the fruits don't fall. It's a wonder that this type of ground cherry is so uncommon. Prettier, sweeter, more productive. I do miss the...

This is a bean that has turned out to be quite special - 'Kärntner Butter'. Not only has the yield been really good, but it's a very early variety. The pods are top to bottom on the vines. I was really shocked today to find, by accident really, some fully dried pods. So dry they may have...

OK good to know @Blue-Jay, I will double check with you when the time comes. Off the top of my head I know that the Olga's Yugoslavian, Slavonski Zeleni, Blue & White of Bernardo, Kruger's Speckled, Dule, Lambada, Volga German Siberian, Botosani Cyclops, Fagiola Ruviotti are all 2024 network...

Yes, after that huge row got raided I went and picked the rest of the pea varieties that were far enough along. Tricky to tell but I think I got them late enough in maturity, and the really green ones I had to leave behind and wait. There was only a little chipmunk raiding after that and now...

'Corlis Bolton Haynes' sunchokes are flowering! And WOW are the plants huge at maturity! For planting next year they need to be spaced better. The row turned out to be 5 feet wide. The bottom leaves don't get all ratty either, like so many perennial plants do, but stay deep green and...

'Black Snake' is looking like it's getting in the 'safe' zone. I see bumps and feel like I've almost made it to home base! This is another bean that - for a bad year such as it's been for me - has done well against the odds. I thought these pods were just the cutest, the seed bumps look...

Thank you @Decoy1 @P Suckling for the info! Appreciate it! 🩶 I just got the best email from a grower in Germany, who I'll be doing a swap with in the fall. He sent me a list of accidental errors on my website related to the spelling of certain beans, mostly due to them being in another...

The weather has been beautiful all summer, nearly perfect for the flowers and vegetables. The last few weeks got a bit dry, but a deep soaking rain finally came. The pest pressure however has been the worst I've ever seen; between cutworms, voles, a rabbit, squirrels, chipmunks and sparrows I...

The first dry pods are starting, and I harvested some seeds of 'Cranberry Onondaga. It's quite an early bean really, and to my surprise is a bush not a pole variety. So, the seed harvest will be smaller given that I usually plant 3 or 4 beans around a pole. The bushes have a good number of...

Thanks for letting me know @Triffid! This week I noticed that there are green pods mixed in with the purple ones, so it looks like at least one plant is coming true. I had no idea what color it was supposed to be, mostly because I grow way too many beans, lol. Can't keep track of it all...