From: songbird@anthive.com   
      
   Drew Lawson wrote:   
      
   > As is unfortunately too common for me, last year the garden got   
   > away from me in the fall.  Overwhelmed, I pretty much walked away.   
   >   
   > So this weekend I finally got to the clean-out that I should have   
   > been doing in November.  In the course of clearing the dead plant   
   > cages, I discovered that neither the birds nor the squirrels have   
   > any interest in the black beans (Trail of Tears).   
      
     if they can't find them and they don't rot.  around here   
   it would be unusual for beans to not rot over the winter   
   with all the rains we've had.   
      
     once in a great while i'll find a pod that has survived   
   and the seeds didn't rot, but it is pretty rare, and it   
   isn't any trait that is through the whole plant because   
   other pods nearby can be rotting.  just the luck of the   
   draw/circumstances/fate or whatever you care to call it.  :)   
      
      
   > So now I have 5 cups of unexpected beans and am web surfing baked   
   > bean recipes.   
      
     i cook beans up plain in water, no salt, no soaking, just   
   bring them to a boil with about double the volume of water   
   and then turn them down to a low simmer until done.  stirred   
   when i turn them down and then once every half hour.  very   
   simple.  then after they're done, if i have a lot of them   
   we drain off the liquid (Mom doesn't like it) and put them   
   in jars and freeze them.  they can then be used in other   
   dishes or eaten plain or put into baked beans.   
      
     the problem with making beans with a lot of spices, meats   
   and fats is that then you're asking for it being more   
   noticeable when you toot the gas out the other end.  and   
   since what most people object to is the gas i figured out   
   that if i eat them fairly plain and my body gets used to   
   them usually i don't even notice or care and the digestion   
   system does get used to them as you gradually increase   
   them in your diet.  so the other suggestion is to not just   
   go hog wild and eat a lot of spicy beans all at once but   
   to build up gradually by adding them to other things or   
   having small amounts as a side dish.   
      
     my biggest test of this is hummus.  i like hummus.  :)   
      
     i need to get some chickpea seeds that will work for   
   this area...   
      
      
   > They are *mostly* black beans.  Apparently the near-by blue lake   
   > vines wandered into the cages.  So I have 1:200 or so white beans.   
   >   
   > I'll deal.  And not plant them close to each other next time.   
      
     i'm happy to find beans that do well enough here in   
   our soils/gardens/conditions.  last year i found several   
   that worked out so this coming year i have some other   
   similar beans to try out and compare to what i have   
   already grown.   
      
     always fun.   
      
     this coming weekend will be the seed swap so i've been   
   busy getting samples packaged and figuring out what i   
   want to take.   
      
     in the end i may just take everything as my collection   
   is now small enough that it fits in some boxes i can   
   move.   
      
      
     songbird   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)