What's Growing on Hen and Drake Farm - Week 20

This week I planted beans and corn.

Tiger's Eye Bean

This year I am growing 8 varieties of heirloom beans

Black Turtle - A black bush bean with rich flavor and meaty texture. 

Butterbean - A rich, buttery soybean that can be eaten shelled or dried

Fortex - French filet pole bean. Growing to over 10 inches, the round, string less pods have a rich, nutty flavor. Extremely productive. If kept picked plants will produce until frost

Henderson's Bush - Lima beam introduced in 1888. Dwarf plants are heavy bearers of small, tender limas

Hutterite Soup - Small cream beans with grey eyes. Revered for their rich, creamy texture and fine flavor. This variety was grown by the Hutterite Christians who emigrated to North America in the 1870's

Rattlesnake - Prolific pole bean. It produces nearly string less, tender green pods with purple stripes. The speckled seeds are also good in soup

Rio Zape - Description from Baker Creek - Nominated to the Slow Foods “Ark of Taste’” for its creamy texture and incredible, complex flavor-- described as having subtle notes of chocolate and coffee. Rio Zape also boasts a fascinating history. It is said that this bean was unearthed at a prominent archaeological site--a sealed cliff tomb of the Anasazi tribe in Durango, Mexico, where the beans, along with numerous other food offerings, left at the site-- were dated back to 600 AD. Immature pods can also be eaten as string beans. Bush bean that will sprawl more than other bush types, but is overall self supporting.

Tiger's Eye - Beautiful gold and maroon beans with a rich flavor and smooth texture. The tender skins nearly disappear when cooked and are excellent baked or in soup

Glass Gem Corn Photo Credit

This year I am growing 1 heirloom and 2 hybrid varieties of corn

Glass Gem - Description from Baker Creek - Indescribably beautiful flint or popcorn comes in an endless range of colors. Translucent kernels really do shine brilliantly like glass—on the cob they resemble strands of glass beads! The 3-8" ears are consummately decorative, but edible and delicious as well. Makes firm little morsels when popped; can also be parched, ground into meal, and more. Sturdy plants reach to 9' in height, throw numerous side shoots where the season is long enough. Bred from a number of Native varieties by Carl "White Eagle" Barnes, the famous Cherokee corn collector to whom we owe our gratitude for his life's work of collecting, preserving and sharing so many Native corn varieties.

Honey Select - A yellow "TripleSweet" variety that holds its flavor well after picking

Incredible - A yellow SE variety that produces large 9 1/2 inch ears with good, sweet flavor. Disease resistant with good husk coverage