Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Garden Harvest: Purple Green Beans


Green beans are not my favorite vegetable. At the dinner table when I was little, I would trade my green beans for my brother's fish. Of course, when my parents weren't looking. I disliked green beans and he loathed the haddock that my mother prepared.

Fast forward some 30 years and I have acquired a taste for green beans. They still aren't my favorite green vegetable, but I tolerate them much better now. Mostly because I want to set a healthy example for my kids. So far they aren't trading their food yet and have no problem eating green beans.

I have two little girls who love the color purple. I thought this would be fun to plant in the garden. The beans are a pretty shade of dark purple, but change to green when cooked. At that point the kids are no longer impressed.

I decided to blanch and freeze these beans. We received a big bag of beans last week from our CSA that still needed to be eaten. These garden beans needed to be harvested and they are now in my freezer for later use.

This is the most that I have harvested so far. The garden has lots of green tomatoes, a few peppers starting to take off, tons of carrots that should be done soon, 3 melons growing rapidly and a zucchini plant that is going to take over my whole neighborhood.

How is your garden growing? What have you harvested so far? Let us know in the comments.

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11 comments:

  1. I have picked tomatoes, peppers, squash, lots of herbs out of my garden. The watermelon is every where. I have never heard of purple green beans. Do they taste the same?

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  2. I remember the first time I saw purple green beans, I thought they were amazing. I can't tell a difference in the taste. I have been able to have 4 servings of the green beans in our garden so far. HOpe they start to put on some more. Happy gardening!

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  3. I like your purple beans. Do you shell them or snap them?

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  4. I like growing the purple beans because they flower in purple, too- it's so pretty. I'm still harvesting just the spring things- summer beans, peppers, and tomatoes are still a few weeks off for me. :-(

    Thanks for sharing at the Tuesday Garden Party and please be sure to link back to us so others can visit and contribute, too!

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  5. The beans are gorgeous! I am growing purple green beans, and they taste the same as green green beans, to my taste buds at least. Also, once purple beans are cooked, they turn green. That was a surprise the first time I cooked them!

    I am harvesting some salad greens and raspberries at the moment in my garden.

    Athena at Minerva's Garden

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  6. Jeanette - the purple beans taste the same. The variety that I have is a thicker bean.

    Jami - I just linked up. Thanks

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  7. I'm probably asking the wrong person since you're not a bean lover, but are they super tasty? I've been planting Blue Lake beans for years but recently converted to French filet beans. I've thought of trying the purples someday just for fun.

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  8. I've never heard of purple green beans! I'm not much of a green bean fan either, but those do look interesting!

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  9. Oops I see you already answered that:)

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  10. I didn't know that the beans turned color when cooked... interesting. Is the flavor the same?
    visiting from TGP

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  11. Try roasting them in the oven with olive oil and garlic. Very tasty!

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