[This was on of my first posts when I started blogging but I think it’s been buried and forgotten. As things develop in the fields, I think it would good to look back at this crop. – Steve]
These
beans were incredibly fast growing. They first sprouted up after 5
days! The flowers arrived at about 5 weeks and they were small lilac
blossoms. The seem to blossom once, make a pod and then the plant
starts to fail. I’ve read severely cutting the water produces even more
blossoms. I’ll experiment next year.
Special watering techniques perfected by Nico.
The first blossoms.
The first beans!
The plants to start to fail and it’s near time to harvest.
Nico helps harvest the bean pods.
Dried pods.
The beautiful Blue Speckled Tepary bean. Phaseolus acutifolius
is native to the American Southwest and northern Mexico. There are
still wild forms growing but the plant was domesticated over 5,000
years ago by various Indian tribes. Since they are an excellent source
of protein and fiber, and are drought tolerant, they should be
respected as an important crop. Here in California, we’ve been growing
them commercially for almost a century.
