The Black Bean Harvest

Thought the plants have died back mostly, there were still come green pods left hanging. I would have felt better if all the black beans had dried on the plant, but only about 1/3 of them did before I harvested. That is ok though, I set up a screen with good air flow to help dry the remainder of the pods so I can shell them all at the same time.

I did 2 harvests of black beans this year. I planted 4 seeds someone gave me and only 1 sprouted. I was a bit bummed, but I got 8 oz of dried beans out of that one plant. It grew, and dried so quickly I was SURE I could get a second harvest. So I planted beans from the first harvest (20) and 14 sprouted to give me this 1 gallon harvest. So I was able to get 2 harvests out of them! I will do this again next year and rotate my crops as well.

Soon I will report back with how many actual dried beans, by weight, I got and if they are enough for my small family. Though I do think I would have used another 20-25 plants to be honest.