Sow True Seeds Garden Project

A couple months ago, my blogging friend Tipper who writes the Blind Pig & The Acorn asked me if I would like to participate in a Sow True Seeds bean project.  She told me that Sow True Seed needs quality photos of their bean varieties and opinions about whether they should continue to sell the bean variety or not.  Of course, I said yes!

Tipper sent me two varieties...the heirloom Snap Bush Bean Strike and Margaret Best Greasy Cut Short Pole Beans...

 ...and I planted 24 seeds of each on June 3rd (which by the way, was not an optimal planting day according to the moon, but I was going out of town and wanted to get them in the ground...I figured this would be another good "test" of the importance of planting by the moon).  I planted both varieties in the same row, the Strike beans in the front and Greasy Cut in the back...

 By June 30th, this is what had begun to grow. 

The Strike beans were doing well, but the Greasy cut were still quite small and yellowish, which at this point I was thinking was because of all the rain...unfortunately, I forgot to take closeup pictures of the Greasy cut, so you have to use the photo above to see that they were not progressing as well as the Strike.  

Two weeks later, the Greasy Cut were still small and yellowish, while the Strike beans continued to grow (though they not very tall)...

 ...and every one of the plants were full of flower buds!

You can see the Greasy Cut beans better in this picture, comparing them to the Strike in the front, it is clear they are not prospering. 

A week later, on July 21st, the Strike beans were growing!  Unfortunately, no flower buds and still not much growth with the Greasy Cut variety.  

This photo shows the hole row of beans, again with the Strike growing taller, Greasy Cut struggling in the back of the row. 

 By July 24th the Strike beans were really looking good, with almost every bloom producing fruit...

 ...and climbing the the stringers we put up for them...

Today, only 2 days later, there are Strike beans to harvest!

 ...and the are climbing higher every day with many more beans still growing, too small to pick today.  You can see some yellowing of the leaves, but it doesn't seem to be hampering their ability to produce fruit. 

And what delicious Strike beans they are!  This is the first harvest (displayed on our primitive end table click on this link to read more about that)...beautiful, aren't they?  And so many more to harvest...

 ..and look at these Strike beans up close...

...they look as good as they taste!  The outside has a slightly velvety feel, just like they look, but have a crispy crunch when you bite into them and sweet, juicy inside with tiny beans.  I would definitely recommend that Sow True Seeds continue with Snap Bush Bean Strike variety.

I will continue to talk sweetly to each of them, but I'm afraid the Margaret Best Greasy Cut Short Pole Beans may not have what it takes to continue as one of Sow True Seeds varieties.  If planting by the moon is having any effect here, it would be on the Greasy Cut beans...unless the Strike beans should be much taller!  I am enjoying participating in this project and let you know any further developments.  By the way, we don't use any pesticides or fertilizer beyond the horse manure we treated the soil with. 

Quick update on the mushrooms we harvested yesterday...BLECH!!!  The giant polypore was tough like rubber and the Fish Milky was bitter and did not live up to Mountain Man's previous experience with it...even he didn't like them (it takes a pretty yucky tasting mushroom for that to happen).  We are planning on eating the lobster mushroom tonight (yes we went to collect more and yes I wore my jeans) and we are going to grill them...looking forward to trying that.

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's (that is family/friends/readers/subscribers/follower's to those of you new to my blog), see you tomorrow,
Lise (sounds like lease)

Getting Back To Normal

I know, normal is a relative term...

Our friend Wayne left early this morning, so our day was spent doing the usual things we do after a guest leaves to get ourselves back to normal...like cleaning the linens, putting things back where they belong (our place is small, and our guest room is also our office, so we tuck things away here and there to make room and inflate the awesome air mattress we have which then leaves little walking space) and doing other normal daily chores that were slightly neglected.  We also wanted a little time to unwind (you know, having guests and ensuring they completely enjoy their visit keeps you on your toes most of the time, even with the closest of friends or family) so we decided to take a long ride on Big Bear (ATV) up into the Nantahala National Forest behind our cabin on this gorgeous day...soaking in the beauty of the woods and hunting...yes, you got it...mushrooms...which ended up not being such a normal afternoon after all. 

     
We found several of our favorite fungi in the normal spots we hunt.  Our first unusual find was in this piney area...that's Johny in the bottom center of the picture...gives you the scale of how big this forest is...

 ...and he shouts up to me (I was hunting along the roadside because I didn't follow my norm of wearing jeans and made the mistake of wearing shorts and I'm not walking through those woods with bare legs...my dad would say, "you know, the Papa in Berenstain Bears would say 'let this be a lesson to you' ") "you aren't going to believe this!  I think this is a Hen of the Woods!"  He comes to get my camera to take pictures and tries to get me to walk down there, but I was not chancing it...he, on the other hand, has no concerns about his legs, though of course he is the one whose gotten poison ivy more than once...

 ...ruffly looking and huge...

 ...he then harvested the huge fungi and carried it up to road.

Once home we determined it was a Meripilus sumstinei or giant polypore, often misidentified as Hen of the Woods...it must weigh a couple pounds!  The mushroom is edible when young, so he is going to try it (he is the tester, if all goes well, I'll try it next time around).

He also found these Lactarius volemus (or Fish Milky because they smell like fish, not a pleasant odor at all) that are said to be choice eating by several experts.  I've never tried them but Johny did last year and he said they were absolutely delicious.  He only took a few and left many more that we will go back for (yes, I will wear pants this time).

And then he shouts "wait 'til you see this" and holds up a huge Lobster mushroom...not the norm because they are usually 1/3 this size...and there were about four or five more exactly like it, which we will also collect when we go back.

There is something really exciting...and not the norm...about finding something new that is edible (we find lots of new non edible mushrooms).  We do, of course, use caution even though a mushroom is identified as edible, and eat only a bite or two the first time to be sure we don't have an adverse reaction to it...in a way, this ensures the normal enjoyable experience of eating fungi! 

I know my writing about mushrooms is becoming a bit of the norm, but this is the time of year they can be found, and we love mushrooms...I hope you are enjoying the discoveries...before we know it they will be gone!

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise

Building A Primitive Table

Yesterday I told you we decided to build a rustic end table to put by our swing, and we did.  Bringing a piece of basic, primitive furniture from a blueprint in our minds into reality was both fun and rewarding, especially when we (I say we, Wayne and Johny did the bulk of the work) used only natural supplies right out of the woods! 

This is the end result of our efforts...

We began with three branches about 1" in diameter and one half of a red oak log.

Johny and Wayne used a draw knife...

...and chisel to make the surface of the log smooth and flat...

...giving us beautiful curls of shaved wood.

This is a closeup of the texture of the log before they began...

...and after some shaving and sanding...

...the log looked like this.

Then they cut four 1 foot long legs out of the branches...

...and used the draw knife to create the skip/peel look.

We used a drill to make the holes for the legs (the only power tool used)...

...and inserted the first leg to determine the placement of the other three legs.

Then we brought the end table up to the swing to level it...

...banging the legs deeper into the holes until they measured the same distance from table top to floor.

Behold our little end table!

The boys then sat in the afternoon breeze relaxing and benefiting from the new table!

This morning, I used butcher block oil as a finish, which brought out the natural beauty of the wood.  We all really like our creation!

Have you ever built a piece of basic, primitive furniture, or does the thought leave you bewildered?

Visit ABCWednesday for more blogs highlighting the letter B.  Many thanks to the founder, Mrs. Denise Nesbitt, and to Roger for taking the helm.  And congratulations on the lucky 13th round!

Thanks for visiting my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise

A Walk Through The Woods

Today we took Wayne for a hike through the wilderness that surrounds us.  Here are a few of the beautiful things we came across....

One of our creeks...less of a gushing stream since the last time I went down there, but still melodious, flowing cascades!

A lovely Bellflower...

The delicate Indian Pipe...I love how this small flower brings a bright spot to the soggy leaved floor of the woods.

We found and collected many of the same types of edible mushrooms I've shared with you before, but these photos are of those we left behind, either because they are not edible, we don't know anything about them, or they are highly poisonous like this Amanita....

 ...this is after it has opened...

...these are interesting little fungi...

 ...a good rule of thumb for wild mushrooms is if they are red, don't eat them...I thought this one was interesting and only after uploading the picture did I see the small brown growth next to it...

 ...an interesting veiled mushroom...

 ...I thought these were neat looking....

 ...and then there was this, we have no idea what it is yet...still researching.

We then went to one of our favorite places to walk and hike, and I saw this amazing display of the adaptability of nature...

Now that we have returned to the cabin, Johny and Wayne are building a small end table to go next to my swing (Wayne had put his cooler next to the swing and we all realized how convenient it was to have a place to put drinks).  Pictures about that tomorrow!

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise