I had told myself I’d have my little calendar finished by November. And that I would have trained to run a rather steep half marathon by November. November is just around the corner and realising there were a lot of factors I didn’t take in to account when I made these plans. (I say factors, others might say excuses!)
Excuses aside, I’m still hoping to finish the gardening calendar this November, so it’s ready in time for 2021 testing, though it might not be pretty at this stage I’m hoping at least for useful and practical!
Meanwhile in my garden it’s broad bean time. I like to harvest them and eat them according to size. Smaller than my little finger, pick and chop up like a green bean. Bigger than my little finger but smaller than my hand; I shell the beans and cook without peeling. Bigger than my hand; pick them and shell them, then blanch the beans in hot water so it’s easy to squeeze them out of their skins. The skins are quite big at this size. If you want to get in to seed saving, broad beans are a great one to start with. Just wait till the plants dry out and die off in summer, the pods turn black and dry and crisp, then open them and collect your beans. The beans should be firm when dry, if they can be dented with a fingernail they need more drying time. Check carefully and discard any bugs or insects, or any bean seeds that show signs of disease. Once dry keep them in an envelope or jar, and plant out again in the following Autumn.
