Cardoon Update

Well we started harvesting the cardoon this week after all! Above is Jesus, the youngest of our field crew, harvesting away so that plenty of nice, tender cardoon hearts would be ready in time to pack the van for the market in the city. Additionally, these items are always obtainable at the farm stand, right at the farm where they are grown.

Many brave customers took on the cardoon challenge yesterday and I hope for a few more today. I personally prepared a few in my sautee pan last night and have concluded there is a little bit of bitter taste (but not bad!) and certainly an artichoke flavor, celery texture, and the strings are not bad or bothersome whatsoever. I think these stalks can be managed a variety of ways depending on the size and maturity and how you want them to end up on your plate. Gratins are the thing to do, I hear.

These got trimmed back a little more post harvest as the outer stalks were quite large a bulky to pack off to market. This is a great first of spring fresh vegetable to add to your mix right now. It is a little early for asparagus and artichokes, but cardoon, cauliflowers and large roots are still in ample supply.

Dry Bean Harvest 2009 Begins

Fresh shell beans have been harvesting the last couple of weeks and now it is already time to harvest some of the first dry shell beans this season, starting with the Montezuma Red, or Mexican Red bean. On the right are pile of red beans, harvested with shell, plant and all. It is easy to know when it is time because the entire plant dries back. Now that they have been removed from their place in the field, they are awaiting their turn through the thrasher where the beans will be separated from all the brown plant material as efficiently as possible.

This close up gives more of an idea of what we are working with here....the beans grow just like a bush green bean, but are allowed to mature fully and the harvest selected the mature hard seed bean inside the pod. It is surprising to me how many people don't really understand the stages of bean growth and harvest from fresh green beans that we are used to in the summer time, to the in between stage of fresh shelling bean, to the dry sell bean. These differences are mostly a matter of maturity and which use each bean is preferred or selected for is common use. You could save and use the seeds of your green beans for winter soups or next year's seeds if you wanted.

The Montezuma Red bean is just the first of many dry shell beans to come. All of these bean varieties make a diverse and colorful addition to the winter selection around Tierra Vegetables.

A great red bean, this is our field manager, Pablo's, favorite. Give it a try if you haven't already. We still have a few of these from the 2008 harvest that likely occurred this time last year. Just look inside the bean pots when you enter the farm stand to the right.