Planting Beans

The unusually wet spring (and now summer) have made farming a challenge this year. Of course most years are a challenge for farmers--I guess the surprise comes in that the challenge is always slightly different. Remember last summer's drought? I do, and I've been caught muttering more than once that this is likely all of last year's rain, arriving late. 

With beans we have to wait until the soil warms up. And because we are organic, we want to till the soil lightly several times before planting. We want to allow the weeds to sprout and then till them out, over and over again. So we've done a lot of waiting for the right conditions. 

Finally, last week, The Farmer determined that it was now or never.  See the lovely sky? He planted one evening and then part of the next morning, in a hurry, before the next batch of rain came.

The seeds are supposed to be planted just under the surface. Sometimes near the end of the row, as the planter is lifted, the beans end up on the top of the ground.

Yes, we plant the same thing that we sell at the markets. Beans are seeds, after all, and because we are certified organic, there are no seed treatments or coatings added to our seed beans. Here are a few new varieties.

Now the work to stay ahead of the weeds begins.