As the temperatures have soared the red beans have struggled to fill out. But with supplemental watering they have done well. The beans now are just drying.
Above you can see the 3 100 ft. rows of red beans as the bushes start to yellow and dry at the end of their life cycle. As the bean pods turn yellow I take it as a sign to pick them. I could leave them to dry on the bush and eat them as dried beans but prefer this type of bean picked as a shell bean and frozen or canned. We picked a 5 gallon bucket off each row last week and left that many more to pick at a later date so that they could finish drying.
3 5 gallon buckets of beans took me all day to shell. Once shelled they were washed and blanched for 3 minutes. Then cooled and placed on cookie sheets to freeze.
Once frozen they were bagged
Each bag contains 2 1/2 cups of shelled beans which is the average cooking of red beans for Louisianan red beans and rice for our family.
We bagged 8 bags with atleast 10 bags more still in the field.
The great thing about these beans is that they cook down into a heavy red gravy. I grew up on these and you can find them sold in the French Quarter restaurants of New Orleans every Monday served over rice with a hearty helping of corn bread. Maybe some fried okra on the side. I cook mine with smoked sausage, onions and a Cajun seasoning meat called tasso. Cooked long and slow in a thick bottomed pot. A link to the home I have left and my past. With about 10 bags left in the freezer from last year and an additional 20 from this year that should hold me for another year.
Blessings from The Holler
The Canned Quilter
Ok, I have a question about your beans. When you pull them out of the freezer and thaw them are they a soft bean (like canned) or hard (like a drid bean)? The only beans I have grown are green beans but I would like to get into growing other beans. I just need some guidance in what to do with them!
ReplyDeleteIf you can them they are soft like canned beans that you would buy in a store. If they are dried they are hard. If frozen when defrosted they are just like you pick them from the garden and shell them. Not soft and completely cooked but not hard either like dried. You simply cook them like fresh beans until cooked thoroughly and soft.
DeleteWow, your bean dish looks delicious, my family would flip over it! Is there a specific variety of red bean you prefer to grow?
ReplyDeleteCamelia Red Bean
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ReplyDeleteCongratulations. Looks great, CQ.
ReplyDeleteIs your red beans and rice (and cornbread) recipe on your 'make it yourself' page?
Thanks again, CQ! Blessings. ♥
You just made my mouth water with the red beans and rice with cornbread and fried okra. Yum Yum Yum
ReplyDeleteWhat is the name of your beans? I would love to find some seeds to plant.
ReplyDeleteIf you live in the south go to most grocery stores and buy a bag of dried Camelia Red Beans. Those are my seeds! I plant them directly from the bag. Cheap, easy and taste great.
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