November 2014

I have just harvested the rest of my mature broad beans from the legume Ecobed.  I have already had a substantial harvest of juvenile beans from these plants taken a few at a time over recent weeks and cooked in their pods.  

The pile of stalks and foliage will be a welcome addition to my compost heap, but the roots have been left to decompose in the soil.

Here we have beans at different stages of preparation prior to storage in the freezer.  Mature bean on the left have just been harvested from the Ecobed, and a few of them have been removed from their pods (glass bowl) ready for blanching for 2 minutes in boiling water.  The beans in the 4 small freezer bags were prepared yesterday and have been in the freezer overnight. 

The space occupied by the beans was cleared of debris and spent mulch immediately after harvest.  The soil was covered with a 60mm layer of compost and a 75mm layer of organic sugar cane mulch.  In 2 weeks when I foliar spray my edible plants again, I will temporarily remove the mulch and spray the soil with compost extract to boost microbial activity.