Quick pickles...or what to do with all those beans.

Veggies cut up to make Achar Segar - and Indonesian quick pickle

So....I love beans, and I harvest a lot of them - especially the purple-spotted dragon beans I love.   I also have a bean teepee that's in full effect right now.   But the problem with beans is that you need to pick them almost every day - they are best when they are just a few inches long - in just a few days they can grow to 7" monsters that while still might be crunchy and sweet, can also be a little tough.

So what to do with all these beans?   Well...rinse them, cut off the tips and tails, and throw them out for hungry dinner guests while waiting for the rest of the food to finish.   Or steam them for 3-4 minutes and cover them with a little salt and butter.

Preserving beans?   Well, I've tried just throwing them into a plastic freezer bag and into the chest freezer - and the result is ok - defrost, saute and serve - but still a little squishy.

Harvest Season

Harvest, 8/26

So....I haven't posted in a little while - BECAUSE I'VE BEEN GARDENING MY TAIL OFF!    And I've even got some other people involved in my capers (ie, fermenting...the final (?) frontier).   More on that later....

So....what happens in the garden (even a postcard-sized urban garden) in August to keep a girl too busy to blog?   Everything. 

Crudite season

It has been so ridiculously hot the last couple of days that even though some veggies are ready, I have been on strike from any recipe containing the words fry, boil, steam, grill or even cook.

Plus, with helping take care of Dawn (who broke her collarbone) I'm too lazy to even prepare a salad (and the lettuce is mostly done anyway).

Instead, I'm just eating raw veggies.  So far we've got tender new dragon beans (purple and yellow beans above), fresh-pulled purple carrots and a farmer's market cucumber.   Just add  Spicy Trader Joe's Hummus, tabouli, a loaf of olive bread from the Brookline farmer's market to make the meal seem more, well, meal-like.    There is plenty of time for slaving over the stove in September and October...now I'm going hunter-gatherer style until the thermometer goes back down below 90.