Vermont Cranberry Beans—I Didn’t Plant Enough
I’m coming up on the end of July here, and haven’t manged to get many of my late crops planted. I did get beets, kale and collards in, and they’re in need of some thinning. I’m hoping I can transplant a bunch of the seedlings into my greens boxes for winter. My favorite shell beans, Vermont Cranberry, are ripening to perfection now, and I plan to pick more this evening. My first little harvest two nights ago just yielded a small hand full, but there are at least fifty more pods that are just about ready to pluck from the plants.
I had intended to plant enough to get a good five pounds for winter, but that never happened. Yet. I have enough seed to do it, I just need to take the time. Maybe tonight if it’s not raining. But I’m certainly not wishing for clear skies, not when we need the moisture so much. Monday night, a massive, thick, humid cloud cover moved in over Northeast Ohio, totally unpredicted. Even the weather guys were stumped, “Where did that come from? We called for clear, sunny skies until Wednesday!” I just love it when the weather dudes are stumped and outraged by Mother Nature. “Hey! That wasn’t on my radar!”
I checked the forecast against the sky out my window and decided to go ahead and water the garden anyway, because I tend towards the superstitious idea that spending an extra $5 on my water bill will surely cause the skies to open up. Hey, you know what? It worked. It rained all through the early hours of the morning, and then the sun came out for a few hours and got it good and hot yesterday afternoon, and then several lightning-thick thunderstorms came through with heavy rains. My plants had a head start and were able to really drink deep. Now we’re looking at the possibility of rain straight through till Saturday night!
But I would like to run out between the rain drops to get some more seed in the ground. I’m hoping it’s not too late to plant a fat patch of basil so I can get at least a few small containers of Sunflower Pesto in the freezer. So here’s the list of what I want to get in the ground yet:
Basil
Vermont Cranberry Beans
Haricot Verts
Winter Hardy Endive
Summerhead Lettuce
Cilantro
Dill
If I get it all done by the end of this weekend, it should be okay. Maybe the greens won’t get so big, but they’ll be edible. Then I can focus my energies on building a few more lasagna beds in the yard (order another load of manure) and getting the greens boxes and maybe one row next door set up for row covers. I’m ready to have a 3-season garden. Next year…four.
Technorati Tags: fall planting, organic gardening, drought, rain, Vermont Cranberry Beans
"In summer we live out of doors, and have only impulses and feelings, which are all for action, and must wait commonly for the stillness and longer nights of autumn and winter before any thought will subside; we are sensible that behind the rustling leaves, and the stacks of grain, and the bare clusters of the grape, there is the field of a wholly new life, which no man has lived; that even this earth was made for more mysterious and nobler inhabitants than men and women. In the hues of October sunsets, we see the portals to other mansions than those which we occupy."
~Henry David Thoreau
July 25th, 2007 at 9:18 am
I need to do my fall planting this weekend. Every time I plant greens for fall,they don’t germinate because it’s so bloody hot, but maybe this weekend I’ll get a break…
July 25th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
I ADORE cranberry beans! In fact, I just canned a bunch that were (somehow) left over from last year. You’re right, though, Kelly: you can succession plant those puppies for a while yet. I leave the last plantings on the vine to dry-harvest at my leisure, but I really love the fresh shell beans, too, like you’re holding in your hand. Y-U-M.
July 25th, 2007 at 4:12 pm
I’m jealous, seriously jealous. I’ve lost all my cranberries to the deer. bastiges.
enjoy yours!
July 27th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
Those beans are so pretty! Do you shell and then dry them? Or do you eat them fresh?
July 27th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
Perhaps you can help me? I’ve just published a photo on my gardening blog with some beans I ‘liberated’ from Mount Vernon last fall. Someone has suggested that they might be Vermont Cranberry Beans. Could you have a look on the entry “saving seeds” and tell me what you think? I would love to have them identified.
July 27th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
Hi Matron,
I looked at your entry and yes, I think those definitely look like Vermont Cranberry. A truly delightful and delicious bean!!
August 3rd, 2007 at 10:54 pm
After a fairly successful spring planting, we wanted to try a fall crop of cranberry/October beans. Last Saturday on July 28, I planted a couple of short rows. Tomorrow will be day 8, and we have an almost perfect stand, many with 2-3 leaves already. Can’t wait to see how they do. We have mulched with pine straw and kept them watered. We didn’t order seed, we just planted from a package of dry beans bought at Wal-Mart, this spring and again now.