The year of the bean
I’m still not done with those darn “dry” beans! Sunny days are a precious commodity this time of year. And as usual 10 things need doing right now – but everyone including me has been getting tired of skirting this hill of beans. It rained so much that the pods on these plants that were dry, were starting to draw dampness with all the rain we have been having. So I had to move them to a sunnier spot and then cover the pile each night. I did manage to get them dry again. And bad thoughts of throwing the whole mess in the shed for bedding were starting to cross my mind. So yesterday, when the weatherman was wrong, and it did not look like rain to me, I set about the chore of consolidating this pile into something more manageable.
Having the right attitude about a large, tedious job helps it go a little better…but that wheel barrow looked pretty empty and the pile of beans looked huge. It gave me the same feeling of pulling into the hayfield and looking at all the hay that needs raking or all the hay bales that need picking up. Getting started is the hardest part, and after that it seems to just go along at a good pace.
My plan was to strip the pods into the food wheelbarrow and put the stems in the manure wheelbarrow to make cleanup easier.
Starting to make some headway.
Finally. One wheelbarrow of pods, and 5 wheelbarrow loads of stems for bedding. The bean pods still need more drying before I can thresh them. To do this I have to bring them in the house, so this all fit in three 50 lb. mesh onion bags (the beans don’t weigh that much though) that I can hang until the pods are fully dry. The mesh bags will allow for good ventilation so I can finally finish this job. I am curious to see what my total yield will be.
These were in the bottom of the wheelbarrow – chili is on the menu!
Food Renegade
Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op
can you just beat the heck out of the pots and stems and so on and count on the smaller, heavier beans to just collect at the bottom? Not sure why you have to seperate the pods out at all.
Never husked beans but it’s the same concept as threshing hay.
Bruce, the problem is that these are the beans that did not dry like the ones in a previous post, and they still need a little drying before I can thresh them. I don’t have a heated shop or barn so they have to come to the house, and be in smaller, manageable quantities.
Who threshs hay anyway?
I have never tried dry beans before!
Lisa, I can’t say they are a very productive crop here, but are fun to play around with. Here’s a look at dry beans where they actually do well on a larger scale.
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/2009/08/20/it%e2%80%99s-time/
WOW…that looks like a HUGE job! I probably would have given up on it…lol
Kristen, it looked worse than it was, and was a good excuse to take a break from making applesauce and enjoy the sun
As we start to rely on our gardens for calories more and more, I think there will be a place for itinerant threshers again. It’s ridiculous to have to thresh this many beans by hand – you have so many other things to do! My first thought is a leaf shredder (aka weed whip in a can). Feed the stalks and pods through and knock the beans from the chaff. Then winnow, perhaps in a fan mill. Two hours, and you’re done – and then loan the rig to your neighbor to do her beans. Check out this post…they’ve got a nice home setup: http://grainsandpulses.blogspot.com/2009/10/dry-bean-trial.html
Emily, I linked to that post in the last two bean posts I did. Josh and I still need to compare yield details, but we’re coming in pretty close with some varieties and he’s farming in the same foodshed but with a few differences.
I actually think as gardeners/homesteaders become more reliant on their gardens they will need to know how to do these things by human power instead of relying on gas powered tools to do the work. Josh is raising those beans in a market garden so they need to save labor and have to get on with it, but I am trying to show that in the same time I can do this by hand. Custom rigs are great, but someone always gets their crop done too early, and some too late, you can only drag that equipment around so fast, and it is hard to please people, that’s why we don’t do custom hay anymore. I am not against machines, but sometimes it is easier to just do things by hand or hoe and I actually enjoyed my time outside doing the beans – much more than if I had put it off one more day and kept processing apples in the kitchen.
I have taken the large sacks that the bean seed comes in and stuffed it half full with the pods, hung the sacks on hooks on the porch (or clothes line or fence if the weather held) and then every time we went by we gave the sack really good rubs and shakings. Took time, but I got the beans and the consistant work wasn’t overwhelming.
Just an idea.
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
Linda, that’s a good idea! I only have 3 sacks now and they are hanging by the furnace. If I give them a whack everytime I go by, half the work will be done. Maybe that’s a good way to work out my frustrations
Chili simmering ask I speak …
Gorgeous beans…that’s some well-earned chili
Robbyn
almost too pretty to eat!
That pile would have been overwhelming to me too! lol But the finished full wheelbarrow must have been so rewarding!
Wish I could get my husband to eat more beans ….
Sarah, be careful what you wish for…;) It’s funny how big the pile looked and now it doesn’t amount to a hill of beans – definitely not a high producing crop in our area. But pretty tasty!
I am new to your blog and am very inspired by what you’re sharing here.
We’re just working out the kinks in our green bean growing, and I look forward to figuring out how to grow some dried beans here near Portland.