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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Jan 21, 2018 9:58:48 GMT -5
brownrexx, My dried bean cooking has been pretty limited. I'm not sure why as I love beans. Down here, they have those packages of mixed beans, but I've never tried them. We pretty much just buy Pinto and Butterbeans now. We used to buy Navy, but it's getting harder to find the tiny navy beans I grew up eating. The bean everyone calls Navy now days is great northern beans. I call them baby butterbeans. There's nothing wrong with them, it's just not the Navy bean I grew up eating. Have you ever grown Jacob's Cattle? It's a pretty, bean. Ying Yang and Calypso beana are pretty too. The bean I grew last year, Steuben's Yellow Eye was very pretty. Do you remember me showing that one?
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Post by brownrexx on Jan 21, 2018 11:51:40 GMT -5
Have you ever grown Jacob's Cattle? It's a pretty, bean. Ying Yang and Calypso beana are pretty too. The bean I grew last year, Steuben's Yellow Eye was very pretty. Do you remember me showing that one?
We might need to start a dry bean thread since this is a cabbage thread. I love growing dry beans and there are so many varieties!
I grew Jacob's Cattle but don't like it as well as some others. I also grew Calypso because I loved the color but thought that it looked kind of gray when cooked and I didn't like that.
I am planning on growing Yellow Eye this coming year. I bought some from Rancho Gordo to try making Senate Bean soup a few months ago and we really liked them so I saved a few to try growing.
One of our favorites is Bolita. It is dark yellow and very creamy. I originally got it from an iDig member and have grown it every year since. It is a fairly prolific pole bean and I would be glad to share a few seeds with you if you want to try it.
We don't like the larger beans that you call butter beans. They are too starchy for our tastes.
Here's a pic of my 2017 harvest. Jacob's Cattle Gold is on the right but the lighting makes it look orange. It is really more of a dark golden color.
DSC02073 by Brownrexx, on Flickr
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Jan 21, 2018 12:33:26 GMT -5
brownrexx, Yes, we can start a bean thread cause I'd like to talk to you more about them. We got to go to town, be back in a little bit
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jan 21, 2018 15:41:57 GMT -5
ok, that helped- green bean, Shelly bean, dry bean. I guess I grew up eating green beans, meaning a string bean/pole bean that was green, and had to be "strung" then snapped and cooked. These were tender pods with a full bean inside. The Shelly beans- like limas- I have never had fresh. I do love lima beans, though- I get them frozen. I tried to grow them twice but it was a fail. (probably a location issue) And dried beans- I also grew up eating black-eyed peas which I could shell all day long, happily. But there were no true dry beans growing around here. I think I could happily and peacefully shell beans for hours, given the time and opportunity. Any dry beans around here would probably be store-bought, sadly. Thank you for the explanations, and the links which I did read. If you grew up in North Florida you may not have eaten many dry beans because they are tricky to grow here in quantity. From a spring planting, the beans may not dry on the vine before the summer rainy season starts, which means they rot instead of drying on the vine. You can't plant them earlier because most are extremely frost tender. Many beans perform poorly here in the hottest months due to the rain and humidity. They can be fall planted, but frost may come before they are fully dry. Of course beans can be harvested mature but not fully dry and dried off the plant (that's how I save bean seeds), but the need for covered space to hang or spread them, plus fans for ventilation, makes drying off the plant too expensive to do on a farm scale. Since dried beans keep and ship well, and can be shipped in cheaply from regions with a climate that is more friendly for dried beans, it makes little sense to farm dried beans here. As I was growing up, dry beans came from the store. My Granny grew fresh green beans in the spring, and cowpeas and limas for shelly beans all summer. (Cowpeas and some limas produce all summer here, unlike most beans.) Instead of trying to get cowpeas dry for storage, she'd freeze them. I'd guess that when she was young and they didn't have electricity, she pressure-canned green beans, limas, and cowpeas for winter use.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Jan 29, 2018 9:16:12 GMT -5
pepperhead212, Hey Bud, Wife planted the semposai and komatsuna in peat pellets yesterday. We did 6 of each and I think she used a couple seeds in each pellets. I've always used pellets to get stuff going. Some people don't like them, but I have had good luck. it will be a fun experience. The wait begins.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Jan 31, 2018 21:32:25 GMT -5
pepperhead212 , Hey Bud, it looks like we may get close to 100% germination. We checked them this morning and 4 of 6 Semposai and 6 of 6 Komatsuma were up. I took them and put them in a plastic dish and set them on the dash in the pick up so they could get sunshine. Wife says they are looking great!
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Feb 1, 2018 10:32:01 GMT -5
Most of the Asian greens I've planted sprout really fast like that. They grow fast, too. I think you'll be impressed with how quickly they get big. They won't be in those peat pellets for long!
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Feb 1, 2018 10:38:50 GMT -5
Laura_in_FL, I'm pretty sure you're correct. I'm hoping they are cold hardy you they can go in the bed pretty quick. This is all new territory for me. It's very exciting to grow something new!
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Feb 1, 2018 11:03:49 GMT -5
Komatsuma p Semposia
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Feb 1, 2018 11:21:08 GMT -5
They are indeed cold hardy! Komatsuna should be able to take quick dips down to 15F and senposai about 12F.
In Texas 8a, you probably don't get that cold very often, and it probably warms up well above those temperatures after the sun comes up, right? So, by the time they are big enough, it should be safe to plant them.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Feb 1, 2018 11:25:25 GMT -5
Laura_in_FL, Oh yes, we should be good. I mean I have seen it that cold, but it's few and far between.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Feb 15, 2018 10:08:40 GMT -5
I believe they're ready to be set out. All these seeds came from pepperhead212 I kinda wish I had planted about twice this much, but I wasn't sure about how many I might need. Thanks Buddy!
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Feb 15, 2018 11:18:36 GMT -5
They'll be huge before you know it.
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Komatsuna
Feb 15, 2018 14:01:37 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by pepperhead212 on Feb 15, 2018 14:01:37 GMT -5
That's about the size my greens are when I put them out. Lookin' good!
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Mar 18, 2018 20:12:26 GMT -5
Ok. I guess it's time for update. The first harvest was a success! We sautéed them with olive oil and a sweet red onion. Had roast beef and gravy, greens, Pinto beans and cornbread.
They are very mild tasting! In fact, they are closer to spinach than they are to mustard greens.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Mar 18, 2018 20:45:36 GMT -5
Great to hear, hairymooseknuckles! BTW, due to that mild flavor, another name for komatsuna is mustard spinach.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Mar 18, 2018 20:53:24 GMT -5
Great to hear, hairymooseknuckles ! BTW, due to that mild flavor, another name for komatsuna is mustard spinach. That's a perfect name! We fell in love with them. Will grow them from now on. I'd like to do a mixed bed full of Semposai, Komatsuma, Collard, and Turnip. Just to see how they compliment each other's taste.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Apr 14, 2018 12:51:05 GMT -5
I was sitting around wanting something different for breakfast this morning. A light bulb went off. I asked Mom to put a pan of cornbread on to bake. In the meantime, I went out to the raised bed to pick some greens. I had a slice of fried ham, cornbread, and Komatsuma sautéed in olive oil.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Apr 14, 2018 15:15:15 GMT -5
Glad those did so well for you, and that you like them so much hairymooseknuckles! Another green you would probably like is Misome, which is a hybrid of komatsuna and tatsoi. I first got this from Cook's Garden, before Burpee bought them out, and it was labeled as "Zen Hybrid". Another delicious green, and Burpee might still sell it. I got it from evergreenseeds.com.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Apr 14, 2018 21:12:58 GMT -5
pepperhead212, I'll certainly give them a try. I realize not many people would eat them for breakfast, but I've always eaten a wide range of food for breakfast.
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Komatsuna
Apr 14, 2018 21:24:04 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by pepperhead212 on Apr 14, 2018 21:24:04 GMT -5
I've always eaten unusual things for breakfast, too, usually leftovers. A hot, spicy breakfast is a good waker-upper!
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Komatsuna
Apr 14, 2018 21:40:04 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by pepperhead212 on Apr 14, 2018 21:40:04 GMT -5
I just googled greens Zen hybrid, and the link to burpee went to senposai, so they don't carry it. That was well over 10 years ago that I used to get it at Cook's Garden. And over 5 for the other pack, from evergreenseeds.com.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Apr 15, 2018 12:23:55 GMT -5
hairymooseknuckles, I eat whatever appeals for breakfast, too! I have had greens and ham for breakfast more than once.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Apr 19, 2018 10:48:11 GMT -5
I have come to the conclusion it's impossible to stay ahead of these greens. I finished up my last bowl of greens last night. Look at these things! It's time to pick again. I'm not complaining at all, I'm just freaking amazed!
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Apr 19, 2018 13:07:42 GMT -5
Time to start freezing some greens?
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Post by Hensaplenty on Apr 19, 2018 13:09:13 GMT -5
Those greens are beautiful!
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Post by brownrexx on Apr 19, 2018 14:51:15 GMT -5
They are really pretty. I have had good luck with freezing greens so you might want to try that because it will be too hot for them before you know it.
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Komatsuna
Apr 19, 2018 14:51:23 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by pepperhead212 on Apr 19, 2018 14:51:23 GMT -5
LOL! This is what happens to me all the time! I always say that I should plant less next time, but I never do.
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