Black Bean Recipe Roundup

I have talked before about Meat Free Mondays

and about substituting vegetarian meals into your weekly diet.

Not only are beans a healthy choice but they are packed with proteins and vitamins.

Did I also mention, canned or dried, beans are SUPER CHEAP!!!

(PS.  They even sell the Mr Goudas brand at  the Dollartree now...WIN!)

Just to help you out...

I have a black bean roundup for you!

I usually make a fried black bean dish that totally reminds Ches and I of being in Costa Rica.

Original black bean recipe,

Burritos and Southwest Soup:

Here

My newest recipe was adding the black bean recipe and serving it quesadilla-style.

Plain Greek yoghurt for the sour cream.

Chopped fresh tomatoes, grated local cheese, our home made salsa and some of last year's pickled jalapenos between two flour tortillas.  Place on side down in a frying pan with a bit of oil.

Fry one side and then flip to grill the other side.

Slice and serve while piping hot.

****************

Below is the roundup of more recipes I've already posted on the blog:

Burritos and Vegetarian Nachos

Here

A Creamy Black Bean Dip:

Here

Other Bean Recipes:

Here

A couple of Mean Bean Soup Recipes:

Here

Trellis Action...

So...a few weeks ago I was struggling with how to trellis my plants.

In my garden update post, I lamented that I had a short amount of time to

think about it...before it became a necessity.

I was able to come up with some completely free solutions!

Let's check them out...

PEAS

We planted two beds of peas...multiple rows in each bed.

One day, as I walked on the shores of Desert Lake, I came upon a driftwood log!

I used other sticks to support the driftwood and 

then laced craft wire to that it formed a teepee like trellis on both sides.

The craft wire was free because I had bought it many many many years ago.

It was for a rock jewelry business that I tried.

In the end it was a trellis for some old windows we got from the dump.

I carefully unhooked all of the wire...and repurposed it!

The second bed of peas had the same treatment...for I was shocked to time a second driftwood tree!

This tree was shorter...so I made up the difference with some broken old wire tomato cages.

The shot above is probably the best to see the wire...can you see it?

I got creative by the second trellis...attaching the log to a piece of firewood set in a mix of daisies and asters.

SQUASH

 

The squash trellis solution was actually Handsome Husband's idea!

I had already removed the wire from the dump-scavenged windows...

Ches said "Why don't we put them on pieces of wood?"

Works for me!

Above you can see how much the enjoy the partial shade on their roots...

and all of the climbing room on the windows!

The windows aren't actually that far off of the ground...only a few inches.

BEANS

The beans don't necessarily need a trellis...

but sometimes they fall over and you're scraping the dirt for your beans.

Not my idea of fun veggies...

So we built a cage of sorts!

The t-bars came from a family friend.

The wire was repurposed invisible fencing!!!

Can you believe we have dug up the equivalent of a whole spool on 

our property compliments of previous owners?

True story.

CUCUMBERS

Above is our trusty machine.

Its made of old t-bar and metal chain-link fence found at a former house we rented in Verona!

You pound the t-bars in on an angle and plant the seeds "under" the angle.

The plants grow up the chain link and voila!

Dirt free veggies!

It has been so successful in the past...beans, cukes...whatever trails!

PUMPKINS

I still haven't figured out what to do with the pumpkins...but they are filling in too quickly now

so I think I'll just leave them this year.

They seem to like the saddle-shaped lattice!

If you want more (way more!) trellis ideas...

you can now follow me on Pinterest!

(Psst I have a whole folder of trellis ideas!!!)

Once there, you can find all of my recipes and food photos in handy dandy folders too.

UPDATE: Garden 2014

So here is our garden for this year....

It's bigger!

It's badder!!

It's all ours!!!

Above is the plan we created while planting.

We used the "Carrots Love Tomatoes" plan and adjusted it where necessary.

Some plants we already had planted in other areas of the yard, so we

weren't able to adhere to it very strictly.

The above shots are of our red and white potatoes.

The metal bin at the back is actually filled with spare soil.

Potatoes need to be mounded as the get taller...so we save

some dirt for that purpose.

Red and white onions in the above shot.

Many jalapeno plants as some other hot peppers at the front.

Our field of tomatoes!

There are 24 plants in this area, some romas and some hertiage varieties.

While I am loving not hauling water, the tomatoes are not loving all the rain we've been having.

Can you see the leaves that are yellowing at the back?

Heritage white corn...we grew it last year and saved the seeds

for this year!  Looks like it worked!!!

(we found the wood under our pile of logs for the campfire...

nicely repurposed to keep the weeds down)

Directly to the left of the corn are our two sweet potato plants!

We tried growing sweet potatoes once in 2011...

it didn't turn out then...so we thought we'd try again!

The last time the plants spent the whole growing season just trying to grow leaves!

The bunnies thought the leaves were mighty tasty...so the plants never got a chance to grow tubers.

Our yellow zucchinis are starting out great!

The green zucchinis...not so much...

We dismantled a black composter...and filled them with dirt.

The sides have slots...so you don't have to worry about the plants drowning

in rain water!  Score!

Our pumpkins...with one sad trellis...

I have to get me some T bars and do these

trellis thingies right!

The radishes are coming along...

The beets are shy.

We planted dill with them (as per the book)

and the dill likes the bed...

NOW WAKE UP BEETS!!!

Our cucumber machine makes its triumphant return.

We had such a great year with cukes last year.

We're taking a small break and only planted about a dozen of them this year.

Our kale seems to love it here!

The swiss chard on the left hand side of the bed...not so much.

I want to make kale chips so badly...

mainly so I can see what all the hype is all about...

\

Above shows our salad bar!

We have 5 different packs of lettuce and salad greens sprinkled

in this bed.  We forgot almost instantly what kinds we planted...but does it really matter?

SALADS!

Our spinach bed is pretty pathetic right now...

Hopefully it will make a come back...

or a decent fall crop from a second planting...

We have 2 rows of peas this year...cuz why not?

No seriously...we love peas.  

Especially sitting in the garden eating them straight out of the pod.

Each year we plan to store some in the freezer...and sometimes we actually do!

This year I am determined to get a whole large freezer bag full!

We also have to get to work on trellises (or is it trelli!?) for these peas.

Pea plants have a tendency to fall over and grow in the dirt.

We saved beans from last years crop.

We have no idea which beans are which...

but in this bed are green, yellow and purple wax beans.

Finally we have our acorn squash.

Again with the sad trellis...

So I've been pinning a TON of trellis ideas.

I will be posting soon with the results of my adventures into trellising.

(Trellising?  I have no idea...but you'll see some cool stuff for sure!)

I have to admit...last year we didn't plan much.
In fact, I made the mistake of having a few libations while planting seeds.
The result was that I had no idea what I planted and where.
(Laugh all you like)
It was a surprise when everything started growing...which was funny for about a week.
(oh who are we kidding...I'm still getting ribbed for that!!!)


Don't forget to send me your garden love!
I want you to post photos of YOUR gardens on my facebook group and page.
Lets celebrate our accomplishments together!!!

Seed Saving...a first for Us!

Let me just start off by saying we are

an experimental family.

We dabble, we attempt.

Occasionally we have a success!

Normally that's just the result of trial and error.

Often a lot of error.

I like the idea of saving seeds.

I really had no idea where to begin.

To be honest, the whole concept seemed too big to grasp.

It was intimidating.

Husband and I started researching on the web...

in newspaper articles and books.

We took it one seed at a time.

Each plant requires a different plan.

Some plans are as easy as separating seed pod from plant 

and then drying the seeds.

Other plants require a much more thought out process.

Ches was much more ambitious than I was this past year.

He decided to try tomato seeds.

Tomatoes keep their seeds in a gooey substance that actually inhibits the seeds from growing!

You have to force the seeds to germinate by making them start to mold.

Separate seeds from fruit and place in a mason jar.

Fill partially with water and place a porous cloth (or in this case coffee filter)

and secure with elastic band.

Let seeds stand in liquid for a week and then a mold will form on the surface of the water.

When ready to dry the seeds, remove from scummy water and discard the mold.

Dry seeds as per normal.

I'll be sure to let you know if this well researched method pays off in the spring...

All in all we did a great job last year in seed saving.

Peas, jalapenos, broccoli seeds, white corn kernels, purple, yellow and green beans.

Other jars in the above image show dried herbs (not seeds) like lavender, thyme and oregano.

Very important spices in our household!

The lavender is used for tea and respiratory ailments.

The thyme and oregano are staples in our cooking.

We even dried chunks of jalapeno flesh (the red stuff on the right)

...still haven't used it for anything...

but you never know...

We have a couple of black walnut seeds from a past neighbour's yard.

We also have a couple of peach and plum pits (the wild plums I wrote about previously)...

I finally found some rose hips in Pres-Quile Provincial Park in Brighton.

I dried them for tea making purposes...they contain obscene amounts of vitamin C.

The above picture shows something we never did before...

Broccoli seeds!

They form a bizarre little pod with tons of small black seeds inside.

We dried the pods on the screens,

then removed the seeds by hand.

See how small the pods are???

The seeds are totally tiny!

We've never let a broccoli go to seed before..so this past year was a treat.

I'm sure as the seasons go on,

we'll learn more about seed saving.

This past year was more fluky than anything intentional.

I feel it is important to be able to save your own seeds.

Food self sufficiency becomes more and more important as our 

food supply continues to let us down in terms of safety.

Speaking of seeds!

I plan on bringing the some of my seeds to the seed swap on Mar 4th in Tamworth.

The Tamworth and Erinsville Grassroots Growers Assoc.

is holding a special event and expert talk

featuring local celebrities like 

Karen ten Cate of Bumblerock farm, 

John Wise of Wiseacres organic farm in Centreville 

and Brian Burt of Burt's Greenhouses!

Nothing gets me going more than gardening talk in the middle of winter!!!!

Plus we'll be planting our "tropical" seeds this week...like tomatoes and peppers.

UPDATE: Third Installment of the Garden progress

Although our bounty is a bit behind...it still looks luscious!!!

It only took my husband and I working for about 7 days straight to get the whole area weeded.

(The image below shows it only about halfway weeded)

Methinks if we are to expand the garden at any point - we will have to 

think about alternatives to manual weeding.

Can you spot the husband in the back?

Weed picking in the big garden one evening.

So far this season, I've only posted far back shots of the garden as a whole.

(like the image above)

Here comes the veggies!

(They're ready for their close ups...)

CORN:  Our white corn plants...waist high!

CUKES:  Our cucumber machine...nothing to it...just an old chain-link fence with 

steel rods driven into the ground on an angle.  They are starting to get the idea...

The lovely little cucumber flowers are teasing us!!!

We planted both pickling and English cukes.

BRUSSELS SPROUTS:  ...a first for us!

BEANS...green, yellow and purple...but the green ones outnumber the rest.

CARROTS...we planted the leftover purple carrots from 2 yrs ago...but apparently the purple fades away.  All of the purple carrots I thinned out of the row were definitely orange.

Maybe the purple colour comes later?  Stay tuned...I'll let you keep you posted...

BEETS...coming along just fine.  After I thinned them, I was left with more room for the beets to flesh out and some amazing baby beet leaves for salads.

PEAS:  First round of peas in tomato cages did alright, but I wasn't satisfied with the amount of plants. 

So we planted a second round of peas with hemp string supports...can't wait!

BROCCOLI:   transplanted from sister-in-law Sally's garden...doing well!

GARLIC:  we planted garlic and got loads of purslane as well!

ACORN SQUASH:  We wanted more squashes to store for the winter.  We've already experimented with butternut - now we roll the dice on acorn!

ZUCCHINI:  Green zucchinis taking off - finally.

A prized zuke!!!  I really can't wait...these are a favorite summer nosh

TOMATOES:  We planted tomatoes in different stages...the ones on the right hand are a few weeks ahead of the ones on the left.  That should mean we won't be drowning in "maters" all at once.

ROMAS!

As you can see, our haul this night is small but productive.

A rainbow of colours!

A few things we planted did not come up.

Like I said, we're working with seeds we kept from 2 yrs ago...so I'm just thankful

anything came up!  Parsnips and flying saucer squash did not take at all.

Not sure if the seeds just went "stale" or if our seed storage techniques are flawed.

More research will have to be done on this subject, I'm afraid.

There is a bonus this time of year.

As you work away in the garden, you are also able to grab extra stuff you wouldn't have expected!

Whether you use seeds or seed tape, when you plant carrots and beets...you will have to thin out the harvest before they start establishing themselves.

So while you are thinning out the crop (so the veggies don't crowd each other),

you can harvest some baby beet leaves and baby carrots!

I hate to waste anything and, even more importantly, there is valuable vitamins in them babies!

How does your garden grow this year?