November 5th, 2011 Autumn in Niagara Falls, Ontario.  Looking over the Canadian Horseshoe Falls with a perfect double Rainbow.

November 6th, 2011 Rebecca does an impromptu dance under the peach trees at The Good Earth Food and Wine Company.

November 6th, 2011 We don’t buy much jam but how could I resist Pear & Ginger or Blue Plum & Raspberry?

 November 7th, 2011 the last of any real colour in the garden now.

November 8th, 2011 today we sorted beans. All day long.  It was pretty great especially since I can put her to work now.

November 9th, 2011 pulled the last of the bulls blood beets and roasted them with brussels sprouts.

November 10th, 2011 We spent the day at the Royal Winter Fair feeding goats.  Rebecca has developed a gentle ear rub and snack combination that was really working for everyone.  More photos to come once we recover from our adventures.

 September 18th, 2011 Golden Swiss Chard at the farm. (this print is also available for purchase).

 September 19th, 2011 Back in the city enjoying a drink in a bar.

 September 20th, 2011 Spent my birthday taking pictures of apples and pears.

 September 21st, 2011 Hydrangeas from the garden dried for Becca’s bedroom.

 September 22nd, 2011 Beans from the garden for dinner.

Since we’re growing so many beans we’re also building quite a few trelisises for them.  A few months back I was sent a copy of Kate Payne’s The Hip Girl’s Guide to Homemaking and have used the adorable instructions for guidance and inspiration while building my bean climbing structures. 

I’ll be giving away a copy of this fun, well illustrated book at the end of this post.

Here’s a photographic list of our beans so far.  Don’t worry, I know this is completely insane.

Stunning Poltschka Pole beans from the Populuxe seed bank.

Petaluma Goldrush from the Natural Gardening Company.  A gorgeous bush bean for drying that was originally brought to America from Peru in 1840.  These are the only bean I actually purchased, how could I resist?

Sunset Runner Beans from a trade with Julianna who I met years ago over on www.yougrowgirl.com.  These pole beans are jaw dropingly beautiful, light and dark purple markings on giant beans and the flowers will be salmon coloured setting it apart from the similar Scarlet runner bean.

Some Gold Rush snap beans I found in my seed stash.  Who knows where these came from. They’re ancient too so I’m thinking they’ll be a fairly low germination rate.

Mr Tung’s from Kelly at the Populuxe seed bank.  These pole beans are a heirloom from originally from China with 100 years of history in British Columbia Canada. Almost extinct, some beans were discovered in an old shed on the deserted family farm & germinated after 50 years! If you are interested in growing these please contact Kelly to be a grower fo r her seed bank.

Monk Peas.  Not actually a bean I know.  An excellent soup pea from Fox Fire Farm and the Sister’s of Providence Seed Sanctuary.

Rebecca found these Purple Peacocks in Almerida’s shack. Described as a beautiful pole bean with dark purple pods, twinning stems, light purple flowers, dark leaves and white beans I’m very excited for them and will be planting them in the backyard bathtub this evening.

Dragon Langerie were a gift from Almerinda, also from Fox Fire Farm and the Sister’s of Providence Seed Sanctuary.  These bush snap beans have purple striped pods, are Dutch in origin, have been documented since 1880, and are also known as Dragon Tongue beans.  They can be eaten right away or used for baked beans.

Slenderette Beans are a bush bean that make perfect 5′ green long french snap beans in a relatively short season (45-55 days).

Vermont Cranberry.  I think I am most excited for these New England Heirloom beans.  A bush bean that dates back to 1797 know for its reliability and hardiness.

Musica are a from the seedbank and produce 9 inch pods on 9 foot plants or something crazy like that. I am not planting these in my yard but have tucked some into my friend Sarah’s garden.  Surprise!

Mystery bean.  hmmmm, this is why you need to label things right away.

Black turtle make a dwarf bush plant so I’m trying these in a container.  These pre 1832 beans are well suited to Northern regions.

Mayflower beans from Julianna.  A prolific pole bean perfect from soup that was brought to North America on the Mayflower.

Cannellino beans are the quintessential milestone soup bean,  another bush bean from Julianna that is growing in Sarah’s yard.

Here’s a happy Sunset runner seedling with true leaves.

The Chickpeas from Gayla are really growing now.

To win your own copy of the book The Hip Girl’s Guide to Homemaking
just leave a comment telling us what you’re most excited to grow this year and a email or twitter address so I can contact you.  Rebecca will choose a winner at random one week from today on Wednesday June 8th and Harper Collins will send you a copy.

This week I will be sharing all our delicious vegetarian soup recipes from our soup swap.

Enjoy!

Catherine’s lemony-not-like-chilli Black Bean Soup (from Laurel’s Kitchen)

1 1/2 cups black turtle beans
1 1/2 quarts/litres vegetable stock
2 T oil
1 carrot
1 onion
1 potato
2 stalks celery
1 bay leaf
1 t oregano
1/4 t savoury
2 t salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 lemon, thinly sliced

Wash the turtle beans and put them in a saucepan along with the stock and 1 T oil.

Cover tightly, bring to a boil, and simmer for 2 1/2 hours or so, until beans are quite tender.

Chop the onion and saute in the remaining oil until soft. 

Chop the celery, including the leaves. 

Grate potato and carrot on a large grater. 

Add celery, potato, and carrot to onion and cook over medium heat for several minutes, stirring all the while. 

Add the vegetables to the beans, along with the seasonings, in the last hour of their cooking. 

Bring the soup to a boil and lower the heat to simmer until the beans and vegetables are done.

Add the lemon juice

Add lemon slices when the soup has finished cooking.

Makes about 9 cups.