Growing Borlotti Beans
The season starts now
Well, I’m not so sure. Last night I sowed nine pots of Italian borlotti beans with a voice in my head telling me it was too early. Last year my usually formidable harvest of these fabulous beans was an utter disaster. The rain and wind in June and July devestated them and I could count on my hands and toes the amount of beans I podded for my winter store cupboard.
That was annoying, I love borlottis, the colour of the pods look wonderful in the summer sun and the speckled beans inside are creamy and delicious fresh or dried. I always like to take a basket of them into the summerhouse where I sit and shell them with a fortifying gin and tonic for company. There is something about the process which I find deeply satisfying-the gin and tonic!
No, it’s the pleasure gained from growing something from its infant state all the way through to a six foot tall plant full of food in the knowledge that it will feed you well over the winter months. I could easily afford to buy borlotti beans canned or dried with a fraction of the effort but I suppose the fact that I am preserving food in the summer for eating in the winter appeals to the hunter/gatherer in me.
So I am hoping the English summer of 2008 will prove kinder than the one of 2007, if it does then I shall have an airing cupboard full of drying borlotti beans, if not I’ll get the can opener out!
Miles,
I hear the Gourmet Weekly is looking for possible ‘page three’ material… perhaps a photo of you shelling these gorgeous beans in your designer sunhouse would be just the thing?
Nipped into Waitrose and found a whole counter dedicated to Lincolnshire honey produced by local people… now that must must feel good for the man in question. What about a MC range of food sold through them… what would you choose?
Item number three…. did anyone see the gardening show this week featuring courtyards? Apparently they’re all the rage…. now what have I been telling people
Perhaps that’s what we should sell, a bagged up yard concept with a packet of borlotti beans…
Cid
March 11, 2008 @ 2:43 pm
Cid,
Not sure a mugshot of me would increase magazine sales, as for Waitrose, well I hope to have a glut of chillies towards the end of the year so who knows?
I quite like the idea of a courtyard, they can be quite chic if done properly.
Miles
March 11, 2008 @ 2:59 pm
Miles,
Have you been watching the saga of the chocolate maker on tv? I am filled with a mixture of delight and horror every time… next week I understand he manages to drop the expensive grinding machine essential to the finished product. Trying to get any business idea off the ground always seems hellish to me and this one particularly. The product itself is 100% cacao grown on his farm in Venezuela, that can be grated into all kinds of recipes both sweet and savoury… what looked interesting to me was watching it melt so easily. We shall have to see if he makes it in the end.
Cid
March 11, 2008 @ 5:09 pm
Cid,
Can’t say that I know about it to be honest. I once went on a chefs trip to the Callebaut/Barry chocolate factory in Paris which was fascinating.
Miles
March 11, 2008 @ 11:04 pm
Borlottis already?! Wow. I don’t even think about putting them out here in California until April 15 - the weather needs to warm up.
But then again, your weather never really warms up, does it? 90 is scorching for you, yes?
Here, my borlottis grow an inch a day when the weather gets above 100 in late June and early July. And August…sigh….maybe not ever getting too hot is a good thing.
March 12, 2008 @ 1:09 am
Hank,
I will do a later sowing direct in the ground when the soil warms up but early ones are always sown under cover. It’s a bit of a lottery to be honest, if the weather is good early on then you’re on to a winner, if not….!
I’ve got my fingers crossed but looking at the weather outside it’s going to take more than luck!
Miles
March 12, 2008 @ 8:13 am