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Friday, September 4, 2015

Heirloom beans Anticipating Fall September 4, 2015

 Today I am linking with-

Good Fences hosted by Theresa

Orange You Glad It's Friday hosted by Maria

Floral Friday Fotos hosted by Nick V.

Today's Flowers hosted by Denise

Saturday's Critters hosted by Eileen

Macro Monday 2 hosted by Gemma and Mystical Magical Teacher

I Heart Macro hosted by Laura

In a Vase on Monday hosted by Cathy

The weather cooled down markedly here and we have had some rain.  A feeling of the approach of fall is in the air.   One daily activity is picking beans and checking for brown pods, since once the bean pod loses its waxy green waterproof covering it can mold in the rain.   My Bean Fence-

Here are some of my heirloom beans, they were handed down by farming families in the E USA for more than 100 years, or by Native American tribes, and perpetuated by enthusiasts.  These are regular beans, Phaseolus vulgaris, a few heirloom varieties are Grandma Robert's Purple Pole, Tennessee Cutshort, Zelma Zesta, and Yer Fasulyasi-

And here are some picked when the pods are still green but the beans are fat, known as "Shellies" which cook fast not having been dried-

The pink and purple ones are runner beans, Phaseolus coccineus.  They can be perennial in tropical climates, or come back from the roots in spring in some warmer zones.  They differ from regular beans in needing insect pollination, and they leave the seed leaves in the ground when they sprout.  The beans shown have red flowers as well, which hummingbirds love.   Runner beans have been developed for  many varieties in England, but not many are available in the USA.  I obtained some heirloom ones, named Insuk's Wang Kong, from a Gardenweb friend, beans from Korea named after his wife.  They excel in ability to set beans in hot weather.  I also have some English varieties that make much longer beans.  The pods can get rather fibrous unless picked before the beans have fattened, or I leave them to fatten and make shellies, or let the pods dry and and they make wonderful very large meaty soup beans.  There are also several white-seeded (and flowered) varieties that seem a little milder in soup, once you have tasted them you may become addicted, rather like large fat Lima beans I ate in the South USA.

Another current harvesting chore is Aronia berries.  Aronia is a dream to harvest, the berries all ripen at the same time, and hang from a single stem easily snapped off, so much easier than blueberries, where ripe berries must be picked carefully so the green ones are not disturbed.  While blueberries are touted as a healthy berry, they have an ORAC value (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity), derived from the oxidative properties of their pigments, of 4633 units, here.  But Aronia has the highest value of any native North American fruit, (listed as Chokecherries in that website) 15,820 units, and while seemingly lower than Acai on some charts, raw fruit is being compared with powdered (concentrated) Acai.  There are numerous websites about the extensive health benefits of Aronia.  They are super easy to grow, and bushes range from dwarf to tall.  Mine are Viking, 9' / 3m tall.   I have to protect them from the deer with a welded wire fence, and try to pick them in fall before the birds come and strip the branches.

Aronia berries-

The double Gaillardias are still blooming, though the plants are small and weak-


Another Alstroemeria from the fair-


 My entry for In a Vase on Monday this week uses another of the pinched vases I made during my pottery phase, from slab, and the seam is decorated with a piecrust ripple.  For flowers I used the irrepressible Betty Boop rose, which usually blooms continually, and a sprig of tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica.  To go with the hot colors I used foliage with mostly yellow variegation- bamboo Sasa Masa, Sasa masamuneana albostriata; Zebra grass, Miscanthus sinensis 'Zebrinus'; Variegated Jasmine, Jasminum officinale 'Aureovariegatum'; Elaeagnus x ebbingei 'Gilt Edge'; and Vinca major 'Wojo's Gem'.

Close-up of the flowers-

Edges-

Back of vase, with flowers rotated to back-


and decked up in a pendant made from a Mt. St. Helens glass ball fragment-

Pendant made from broken piece of Mt St. Helen's ash glass ball, I smoothed the edges and used a stained glass technique called copper foiling.

Critter of the week is this moth, perhaps Noctua pronuba, the Large Yellow Underwing, whose caterpillar would feed on various wild and cultivated plants and could be a pest caterpillar.


Being a gardener, my way of celebrating fall is heavily involved in harvesting vegetables and fruits.  Rain and cold weather also give me a break from gardening and I can get involved in sewing projects, perhaps this year I will even try some quilting I have been putting off.   What do you do to celebrate Fall?     -Hannah


©Weeding on the Wild Side, all rights reserved.   I enjoy reading your comments, and will visit your blog and leave comments there if possible, but I am not able to do so if google + is the only option.


I had a comment about problems with leaving a comment here.  If you are having trouble commenting on my blog, you can send me an email at  z8hannah8z@gmail.com to comment and let me know of your difficulties.  Thanks!  I looked up solutions on Blogger and apparently Wordpress has not updated their Open ID servers, so to comment on Blogspot blogs, you must select OpenID then enter your address, changing it to plain http://address  instead of https://address.

59 comments:

  1. Wonderful photos, Hannah. And a whole education on beans.

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  2. Thanks, Linda. Beans are a fun thing to collect and grow for me. I decided to use my outer deer fence for beans then had to protect the vines on the outside when the deer decided to eat them. But I did succeed in getting more beans than ever this year.

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  3. that vase is neat! those berries look wonderful! so do the beans. thanks for sharing your fencing! :)

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    1. Thanks, Theresa, I use a lot of fencing here. I just went through a bag of Aronia berries, pulling them off the stems to put in freezer bags.

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  4. Hi Hannah,
    wonderful photos of the fruits anf flowers in the late summer days.
    Best regards, Synnöve

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    1. Thanks, Synnove, I enjoyed your nasturtium macros.

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  5. Wonderful images. Your photography, as usual, is exceptional.

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    1. Thanks, Dorothy, beans are near and dear to my heart.

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  6. Dearest Hannah; Oh, SO surprised to see such colorful beans♪ I reminisce my late mother cook (sweetly) black beans before new year ;-) It is one of the traditional food to welcome new year. I LOVED the word 'harvesting chore', Aronia berries must be tasty after all the care you need (like the fence for the deer and so on).
    I LOVE the way you arranged,color of the rose and greens are so matching with your handmade pinched vases♡♡♡
    ps; Thank you SO much for your kind comment, Dear Hannah. I sent your information about 'toxic milky sap' Mexican Fire Plant has to my husband friend through sns. Hasn't had the return mail but she must be surprised to know.
    My new finding of weakness for the sunshine prevent me from weeding p:-) I'll try coming cloudy autumn weather♪ I understand the rain gives you rest once in a while.
    Sending Lots of Love and Hugs from Japan to my Dear friend, xoxo Miyako*

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  7. Dearest Miyako, Thanks for you comments, I'm having knee problems that make it hard for me to do all the work I usually do, but I'm learning to compensate so I get some work done. The rain is nice since then I don't have to walk around attaching hoses and watering. I'm slowly improving and when the gardening season is over I will be able to rest more so that will help. I don't know if it happens much that dogs or cats would eat the plants, after all they probably taste terrible. They are pretty, though, they are related to the Poinsettias that people have in their houses at Christmas here. I looked at google and petmd says the poisoning is mild and doesn't happen much because the sap is irritating so they are not likely to eat much. The Mexican Fire Plant is rather pretty. I don't know if it is really a cause for alarm or not. Hugs, Hannah

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    1. Dearest Hannah; Oh, thank you SO much for checking♪ I'll send mail to her again explaining what you kindly checked for me. Nature is a wonder, isn't it; the sap is irritating to the mouth tissues so that avoid severe effect☆☆☆
      My husband is out today, need lots of visiting friends I missed (^^;) 
      Love, xoxo Miyako*

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  8. Fascinating information about beans. You certainly know your stuff. I'm a great fan of broad beans and kidney beans. Your Aronia look to me a layman, like blueberries.


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  9. Fascinating information about beans. You certainly know your stuff. I'm a great fan of broad beans and kidney beans. Your Aronia look to me a layman, like blueberries.


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    1. Phil, I like broad beans but don't always get around to growing them. I do grow greens, radishes, and turnips in the fall and winter. Aronias are round and dark, but notice the whole cluster is ripe at the same time. Blueberries will have a range on a single stem from green to ripe, and slowly mature a few at a time, which complicates the harvest.

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  10. Hello Hannah, your beans look so colorful and awesome. I have never heard of the Aronia berries, I love all the berries. Your flowers are beautiful. The moth is a new one for me too. Great post and images. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Have a happy weekend!

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    1. Eileen, many people probably consume Aronia and don't even know it. The frozen Old Orchard 100% Blueberry Pomegranate juice I buy, no sugar, has first ingredient Apple juice, water, next ingredient Aronia juice, ahead of Grape, Pomegranate, and Blueberry juices. I mainly make gelatin desserts with it but my grandkids and my son even eat it raw, alone or with yogurt. I've eaten it that way too, it's slightly puckery but OK with something else.

      I hadn't seen the moth before either, but I may have seen the caterpillar and considered it a cutworm, which it resembles. I actually saw two of them. That family has the reniform (kidney-shaped) design on the wings, so I've seen other related moths too.

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  11. Aronia berries are new to me. I'm glad to get info on them. Very interesting.
    Beautiful flowers in vase and outside, too!
    Lovely beans! I was busy last week-end shelling Purple-Hull Peas I bought at the Farmer's Market. $30.00 for a huge mesh bagful that shelled out 13 quarts. Oh, they will be so good this winter!
    I hope next year I will be able to have a garden again.
    Have a wonderful week-end!
    Lea

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    1. Many people probably consume Aronia without knowing it, in juice blends. The purple-hull peas sound wonderful, they probably need too much heat to grow here. I love big meaty Lima beans. I hope you get to garden next year, too.

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  12. Hannah, that's a great collection of beans. Good to see people preserving heirloom varieties so they aren't prisoner to Monsanto (and such as) patented crops.
    ~

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    1. Thanks, Thunder, it's a lot of fun for me to grow them every year. Some are a little stringier than my husband would like, if I don't pick them soon enough. I'm sad about the diversity that has already disappeared from growing seeds around the world.

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  13. An extremely interesting post Hannah. I love how pretty your beans looked, and the berries. Your vase of flowers is so pretty, including the vase itself. Enjoyed looking at your critters and the glass pendant from Mount Saint Helens. Thank you and have a great day.

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    1. Thanks Denise, I love shelling beans. It was sad when the ball broke so I saved the pretty pieces and made pendants out of them.

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  14. Hannah, this is beautiful, I love the beads, superb.

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    1. Thanks, Bob, I enjoyed your lovely duck photos.

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  15. Wow...such an impressive, informative, beautiful post today. I am in total awe of your Mt. St. Helen's pendant!! You made this? That is INCREDIBLE.

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  16. Thanks, Anni, yes, back in my stained glass phase, I took evening adult classes in stained glass. I made a large lamp at one point, regular leaded glass, but the little pendant uses copper foiling, a thin copper strip with adhesive is applied to the edge, then I soldered it and soldered the wire loop on at the top for a hanger. I used a grinding stone first to rub the edge of the glass on until it was smooth. I made a number of these, all different.

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  17. The vase is gorgeous and the arrangement is very pretty. I usually start knitting again in fall and I read more than during summer. Take care!

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    1. I knit, crochet, and sew in winter too. I also start my winter gardening under lights. I may start some perennials even earlier this fall in hopes of getting flowers next year, it worked for some this last summer, such as the Gaillardia, Scabiosa, and Dianthus.

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  18. Elegant vase and floral arrangement and wonderful abundance from your garden!

    Happy Week to you,
    artmusedog and carol

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    1. Thanks, Carol, I'm enjoying the In a Vase on Monday challenge.

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  19. The beans are so pretty to see in a bowl. It's nice to still have a bit of color in the fall.

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  20. Thanks, Betty, I have to wait all year to be able to pick beans, have a fun spring!

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  21. I so admire anyone who has made pottery, I should find out if there are classes here as it would be a great thing to learn. Love the way the flowers and vase itself work together to create a lovely design.

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    1. Thanks, Christine, I took wheel-throwing classes at the pottery guild in Balboa Park when I lived in San Diego, and then bought a kiln, but mainly did slab building and used molds. Some pottery shops may fire pieces for people too.

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  22. a very dramatic vase, Hannah! I am loving hot colours as well at the moment. (By the way, we grew Aronia berries for the first time this year and have enjoyed them very much on our morning bowl of cereal).

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  23. a very dramatic vase, Hannah! I am loving hot colours as well at the moment. (By the way, we grew Aronia berries for the first time this year and have enjoyed them very much on our morning bowl of cereal).

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    1. Thanks, Ann, your Dahlias are such wonderful colors! Congratulations on growing the Aronia!

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  24. Hannah, your flowers and foliage in your Monday vase suit each other perfectly. I really like your slab vase too.

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    1. Thanks, Susie, I didn't have a lot of flowers so concentrated on foliage. They were a nice height to go with the tall vase.

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  25. Neat shots!
    I love the varied colors and markings on the heirloom beans. God's artistry at work.
    Please come link up at http://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2015/09/allium-glorious.html

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  27. Keeping the birds away from the Aronia berries must be a chore! I really like the different shapes and sizes of the beans.

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    1. The birds bothered the blueberries some, but I still picked a lot, but they haven't started on the Aronia yet. If I wait too long in fall to pick them though, they will suddenly disappear practically overnight, though. I'm trying to get out and pick a bag full often, then I pull the berries off the stems and put them in freezer bags at night.

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  28. Wow you grow so many beans Hannah. Right now we are being overtaken by pole beans...yummy! And those berries look amazing. I love your homemade vases...this looks like foliage itself and the plant material you used is beautiful...all the variegated foliage works well together....it has been hot and dry here but I expect it will turn to rain and cooler temps soon.

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    1. Thanks, Donna, it's great being overrun with pole beans. The storm winds blew my trellis over so now I can reach some that grew up the bamboo poles, others I'm leaving to develop seeds to store. In a Vase on Monday causes me to look at all my neglected vases and see what I can put in them. We are having cooler wet weather but more 80's coming.

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  29. I love this vase, Hannah - both the container and the contents! I looked up Aronia but found that, unfortunately, it won't grow here.

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    1. Thanks, Kris, it was inspiring to find the right foliage for it. That's too bad about the Aronia, but I so miss all my citrus trees I had iin San Diego, a glorious blood orange with super sweet, fragrant fruit, tangerines, and lemons. And they ripen in the winter.;-P I had a marvelous standard Ein Sheimer apple tree, grapevines until the Grape Skeletonizer caterpillars hit, wonderful figs, mulberries, boysenberries, and even Loquat fruit, up here I have a tree but no flowers or fruit. Sigh.

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  30. Interesting post Hannah. The harvesting, cleaning and processing of home-grown produce is as time-consuming as the growing I often find. I love your pinched together vase and contents. A. Nemerosa and A. Japonica are both favourite garden plants for me. The A. Coronaria at the allotment has been a continuing and very welcome surprise.

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  31. I will have to try some A. coronaria, they are such pretty flowers. The bean harvesting does take some time every day but it is fun hunting for beans and shelling them too.

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  32. There are some lovely details on the vase, and great that you have shown it off with nice foliage and your star rose. Nice beans, I used to collect a variety when I had a veg garden..they look so beautiful.

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  33. Thanks, Noelle, Betty Boop has not been her usual blooming self this year in the drought, I hope things are back to normal next year. In a Vase on Monday has inspired me to look around for vases I've been neglecting.

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  34. It is such a zig-zag display, isn't it, with the pointed leaves and that curious Betty Boop rose - really effective, so thanks for sharing. And what amazing beans you have!

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    1. Definitely pointy, I was concentrating mainly on the 5 variegated kinds of plant leaves, for sure. Betty Boop is a fantastic roses that deserves showcasing.

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  35. What a great post! The vase with the flowers is perfect.
    Thank you for taking part in Floral Friday Fotos, I look forward to your next contribution.

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    1. Thanks, Nick, the flowers are perking back up with a little rain, so hopefully we will have a nice fall.

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  36. How wonderful your harvest! I love 'Betty Boop rose'!!!!! Love the arrangement.

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  37. Thanks, Jennifer, I just wish Betty Boop looked this year like she did last year with more rainfall.

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  38. Quite a productive garden! Our neighbor brought over his pickings last night-- they were purple string beans. Will try them tonight. I fear they may be very stringy but I don't mind snapping and stringing them if they taste good in the end.

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  39. Hi! Nice garden. Many flowers are in bloom. I enjoyed them very much. I caught cold. Sorry not to visit your post soon.

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