Beans and Soap a September Update
It’s mid September already, how can that be? The 2021 gardening season is quickly coming to an end. We’ve already had the night time temperatures drop to the 40’s! The tomatoes and pepper better finish ripening. Of course I can always ripen them in a windowsill inside, but it’s much easier if they just hustle it up.
This afternoon I spent listening to a few good podcasts and shelling dried beans. Shelling beans is one of those mindless activities that border the line between meditative and boring. At some point after the novelty wears off and your thumbs start to hurt from breaking open the pods you reach a point where it becomes meditative and you stop thinking about all the stuff and you just sort of shell beans and all of sudden you are done. Now some of you might say why do shell by hand, that’s so much extra work. Well, it’s because I prefer not to have to winnow the beans. It’s easy enough to crack open the pods and let the beans all fall it. It keeps everything cleaner even if it is slower.
This year I grew three different varieties of shelling beans, orcas, bingo (a borlotto type) and rattlesnake beans. The rattlesnake beans are a leftover from my Tucson days. I just could help but to continue to plant them. You can eat them young as green beans or let them dry and have them as dried beans.
The beans are done, winter squash is curing, carrots have been harvested and stored away, herbs are coming in daily for drying and the flowers are putting out their last blooms.
Around my neighborhood I’ve seen the change in the leaves start. A little yellow here and some red there. I’ve heard around that the fireweed bloomed early in the high mountains and that winter is coming sooner than normal. I’m still learning about plants and how they can predict the weather, so I’ll take that news with a grain of salt.
Finally, some very exciting news! There is a new herbal soap up in the shop right now! In honor of the season of cooking coming up I’ve called this one “The Cook”. It’s a delicious mix of sage and rosemary essential oils with a hint of black pepper. It’s honestly the perfect kitchen bar of soap. The scent is aromatic but mild, so it won’t leave a scent on your hands and the sage green color is just lucisous. Don’t wait to get your bar of soap, this was a small batch and there is limited quantities!
