The End of The Harvest

With frost on the vine, the season has officially ended. For the most part, the garden has been put to rest but not to bed. There are rows of parsnips, the celeriac to be pulled and the chard is still bright.

Most everything else has been tended to, grown in my yard or not. A bit of concord grape pie filling, several rounds of plums, the peppers and green tomatoes have been pickled. I am hopeful nature has done most of the work on my shelling beans and the pods are dry. I am, however, not above hanging vines in the basement pre-hard frost if need be.

This was our first year growing shelling beans and is often the case with a small kitchen garden, we've probably gathered only a meals worth. Given my obsession with beans I'll take what I can get and hope to make at least one favorite dish with the black beans.

I planted some Christmas Limas, too. Though their numbers are few, they'll make a small but lovely addition to a cozy winter meal.

Come January, when you are putting your garden plans together think about shelling beans. If you have tons of space they can extend your garden far into the winter. If you are short of space, give them a go anyway.

They are satisfying on the vine, fun to shell (in a compulsive way) and tasty in the soup pot.