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17 Jan 2012: Days to Harvest – 14

Two weeks to go. I harvested a big basket of beans yesterday from the first borlotti patch and today I set about shelling them.

I don’t know if you realise but Michael and I also farm lots of stone fruit. And this time of year, life is busy with stone fruit picking crews, a packhouse full of people packing our stone fruit and lots of details to be attended too. While I love my beans, I realised, who has time to shell the little rascals!

This is one of the reasons why Michael and I wanted to try our hand at our Edible Gems Freshly Shelled borlotti beans. It is the beauty and bounty of beans, but without the time required to shell them.

I know many of you who might read this blog post will also be busy. You are who we had in mind when we created Edible Gems. Fresh, delicious beans without the hassle and time required to shell.

Only two weeks to go…

Jina

16 Jan 2012: Days to Harvest – 15

Okay, okay I admit it. Today, I harvested my own first basket of beans from the bean patch. I know there is still just a fortnight to harvest, but I couldn’t help myself!

Like any crop (even people for that matter), there are early bloomers and late bloomers. The beans really aren’t that different. I looked for some of the larger pods, those just starting to dry and shrivel a wee bit, knowing full well they are the pods that hide the beautiful, ready to pick borlotti inside. I found enough for a basketful.

Seriously, are these not the most glorious things you’ve ever seen?

I can’t believe harvest is only 2 weeks away.

12 Jan 2012 – Days to Harvest: 19

At dusk, the leaves on the borlotti plants start to droop. It is as if they are going to sleep…or protecting the beans from the cool of the night.

Shhh – beans sleeping!

Jina

Shhh - Borlotti Plants Sleeping

9 January – Days to Harvest: 22

With only three weeks to go, Michael and I are already snacking on the beans in the pods. They are definitely developing that nutty, creamy borlotti taste and I can’t wait to cook with them.

Given we’ve had such hot temps in our region, I thought I would write about something new today and share one of my favourite, hot weather bean recipes.

Borlotti Bean, Cherry Tomato & Basil Salad

3 tablespoons of olive oil

1 large onion diced

2 clove garlic sliced

½ tsp fresh or dried chilli (optional)

1 potato diced small

2 litre chicken stock or water

300 gm fresh borlotti beans

Salt and pepper to taste

Handful of chopped parsley

1 punnet cherry tomatoes quartered

Handful of fresh basil leaves

Fry onion in olive oil till translucent, add 1 garlic clove, chilli , and stir through. Add potato, chicken stock, borlotti beans and pepper to taste. Make sure beans are covered with stock or water. Bring to boil, turn down heat to medium and cook for 20 to 30 minutes until tender. Add salt and stir through. Drain in colander, place in bowl with tomatoes, sliced garlic, fresh sliced chilli (optional), sliced fresh basil, salt & pepper to taste and dress with olive oil.

While I know our beans aren’t in store yet…it won’t be long and this is a simple, easy and delicious first recipe to try.

4 January – Days to Harvest: 27

With only about four weeks to go until harvest, the baby borlotti beans are finally starting to colour up. Look at how gorgeous they look!

Interesting to see that on the 30th, the beans had no colour and within the week, they are starting to colour up. I can’t help but wonder what the trigger is for the colour development? How do the beans/plants know when to develop colour? Just some of the mystery of producing a beautiful, natural food.

30 December – Days to Harvest: 32

With not much time to go, we are all waiting to find out when the baby beans inside the pod are going to start colouring up! The beans on the plants are all now coloured, but we are waiting for the beans to get their beautiful colours too. Michael thinks it will be in the next 7 to 10 days, so we will keep taking photos.

24 December – Days to Harvest: 38

Unfortunately, Michael didn’t get the camera out quick enough, but on Christmas Eve, we had eight kangaroos in the borlotti bean patch drinking water from the sprinkler drippers!The dust you can see in the background is the kangaroos hopping away.

I bet most borlotti bean growers don’t have to contend with kangaroos! Fortunately, they don’t like eat the bean plants!

Kangaroos in the Borlotti Bean Patch

17 December – Days to Harvest: 45

Michael took this photo just a few days ago when he was out walking Patch 1. The beautiful borlotti pods have increased in size so much over the past week and look at how they are colouring up. The colour starts out very subtle on the smaller beans, then as they grow, the colour keeps getting deeper and deeper burgundy. I just think they are so beautiful.

The heat is really starting to bring the plants on. Michael will be planting Patch 3 soon and Patch 2 plants are not far away from flowering. So it is all go on the farm!

Jina

15 December 2011 – Days to Harvest: 47

The big news this week is the baby borlotti beans have started to form within the pods. Look at these little beauties! Aren’t they amazing?

Each little bean has its own small cord attached to the main pod so it can abosrb nutrients and moisture. It makes me feel almost maternal.

With just a little under seven weeks to go, this is the exciting part. The beautiful cream and magenta pods will continue to grow, the little baby beans that we are just starting to see will continue to grow and in about seven weeks, we will be harvesting beautiful little borlotti beans.

Can’t wait!

Jina