My first green bean harvest

My first green bean harvest, originally uploaded by daniinnc_2000.

I know that I haven't been talking about my garden much lately, but that doesn't mean that I've given it up. With the beginning of school and a big family trip taking up the first half of September, I haven't done much more than send the kids out to water the garden. So I was pleasantly surprised when I took a look outside and found that I have green beans ready to be picked.

This isn't a large harvest. I think I got about three cups of green beans from my seven surviving plants. My plants aren't very big, either. I'm wondering if they would have become fuller and more prolific if I had planted them in the spring.

Even though it wasn't a plentiful harvest, it was a tasty one. The kids and I lost the taste for green beans after years of eating them out of cans. Having fresh ones was like a jolt to the taste buds. I can't wait to try stir-frying them with chicken and onions.

As for the rest of my plants, they are doing OK. The cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and collard greens are growing slowly. I'm surprised at how well the stevia is doing, considering that it is supposed to be difficult to grow. I have lettuce, spinach, and onion sets that I still need to plant. The goal is to get that done this week.