Dr. Martin Lima Beans

      A few years ago, some of the gardeners at the park introduced me to Dr. Martins Lima Beans.  The vines grow huge, and although the beans are very large, they are delicious.  The only problem I had was getting the dried beans to sprout.  A lot of the literature suggests to soak the dried beans overnight.  All that did was to result in planting mushy beans in flats that resulted in a rotting mess. With some years of experimentation, I have come upon a simple method.

Dr. Martin starts, April 25, 2016

      Five days ago I filled these four cell packs with soil, and soaked the trays in water.  Poured off the excess water and planted one dried bean per cell.  Actually one FROZEN dried bean per cell, as these beans are from my dried crop from November 2015 that has been stored in the freezer.  Who would think that frozen beans would germinate?  Not only do they germinate, I think I will get all 16 seeds to sprout. How about them beans?