Disappointing good news? Has the heat addled my brain? Possibly. But I do have good news, and it is laced with disappointment. So, here it is: I picked the first of the Dragon Tongue beans this week! These are my favorite bush beans, a stringless yellow wax type with purple streaks, crisp texture, and excellent flavor. I love them raw, steamed, sautéed, and pickled.
Okay, but what’s so disappointing about harvesting my favorite beans? Well, there should be green beans mixed in with the Dragon Tongues, but instead there are empty gaps in the first bean bed where the green beans should be. Inexplicably, the green beans never sprouted, while the Dragon Tongues appear to have had near 100 percent germination rates. The second planting of beans has yet to set pods but also looks patchy, so we’ll have to wait and see if there are green beans in that bed.
Speaking of waiting, the cucamelons are taunting us, taking their sweet time ripening. Part of this, undoubtedly, has to do with the drought, as cucumbers love water, and irrigation can only achieve so much. There’s nothing quite like a good soaking rain to set the garden on a sudden growth spurt.
And yet, I do have a good pile of slicing cucumbers to bring to the Broadway Community Market Saturday morning, as well as zucchini, yellow squash, and the first tomatoes! You can also find garlic salt made with my own homegrown garlic, aloe plants, and crocheted flower bookmarks, fish scrubbies, dish cloths, skillet handle covers, and fishbowl stuff-and-spill toys at my booth.
See you at the market!