I had planted three Dr. Martin lima bean plants on a sturdy six foot tall by eighteen foot long trellis. Brownie at the park had given me the plants, and he said they would need lots of room. So only the three plants in such a large space. All three survived transplanting, then were basically ignored. Never watered, seldom weeded. Never picked a bean because they never seemed full. There were lots of dry pods, some even split open. Before pulling out the three vines, I picked the dried pods.
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| Dry Lima Harvest |
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| Here are some beans still in the pods |
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This last shot shows the total harvest of good beans in the saucer, the not so appealing beans in the left corner, a handful of fresh green pods, and a huge mound of pods to go to the compost pile. All those beans from only the original three seeds. I will keep maybe twenty beans to start for next year's crop.
We have never cooked with dried lima beans before, but sure are going to try this winter. Anyone have a yummy recipe they would like to share?
Lima beans are my favorite, they are so creamy and delicious. I've never grown them, but I do love to eat them! Here's my recipe for my favorite lima bean soup:
ReplyDeleteAbout 3/4 pound smoked pork hock or knuckle, or ham if that's what you've got. 1-2 cups lima beans, washed. 2 tsp. fennel seeds, 1 big yellow onion, 2 stalks celery, 3 large carrots. salt and whole black peppercorns. Put the beans, pepper, fennel seed, and pork in a large kettle and bring to a slow boil. simmer for 2 hours, skimming as needed, until beans are close to done. Add chopped vegetables and cook until softened. Salt and pepper to taste.
Aimee, that sounds delicious and simple. How long do you think I would have to presoak the dried beans?
DeleteGeorge,
ReplyDeleteIf you own a pressure cooker you can make an awesome Lima Bean Soup in 30 minutes without having to soak the beans. It's one of my favorite meals. I have a blog post on it at my blog:
http://www.justtherightsize.blogspot.com/2009/11/how-to-use-pressure-cooker-lima-bean.html
Thanks for the recipe, looks yummy. Don't have a pressure cooker, but the recipe would probably work in a crock pot with the beans pre soaked.
DeleteThose limas are beautiful - quite the bounty from 3 seeds! I love growing beans and hope to have a few more varieties next year. I've never cooked with dried lima beans but normally, dried beans are soaked overnight so I would assume that limas would be the same.
ReplyDeleteMargaret - the weather just turned cold. Time to soak some of the beans to try some hearty recipe.
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