Green beans, ahoy!



The first Maixbel bean harvest


Yippee!  Not only are the rest of the Sungold cherry tomatoes starting to show some color other than green, but the green beans are here!  They have been flowering for a few weeks but now they are turning into lovely long strings of yum.  Maxibel, a variety of haricot verts, are the first green beans to come in.  They really are long and lovely, kind of like the 90's waify supermodel of the bean family.  The other varieties of beans I planted aren't ready for eating, but judging by the explosion of flowers, they will be soon!

I always get a little intimidated by the season's first harvest of something; I want to be sure I do it justice and make it tasty.  I think these little dudes are destined for a quick blanch and a saute with butter and lemon juice.  Maybe I'll be a little crazy and throw in some garlic and thyme, too, but maybe I'll save that for the next round. 

Man I love eating from the garden.

As an aside, if you happen to go out into your garden in your bathrobe to pick vegetables as I do, you will find that green bean leaves have some sort of magnetic attraction to bathrobes.  They just grab at the sleeves and hang on.  Apparently no harm comes to them if you just gently peel the leaves back off your sleeve, but I must say one could get mighty tangled up in the beans when picking like that.  Note to self- wear a t-shirt next time you dig through the plants for hiding, camouflaged green beans.