Since 2006 when Colby and I were married and had our own place, I have loved gardening. It’s something that has been instilled in my blood since the time I was a little girl watching my Grandpa Hitchcock grow an amazing garden and also my own Dad. I’ve not always had the space for a huge garden, but I’ve always worked with what I had to grow anything and everything I could.
My older boys (and I’ll admit I have too) have been wanting chickens. We’ve had chickens before and loved getting the eggs every morning. Since our dog Miley passed away last year, her fenced kennel has been vacant. After trying to find a chicken coop for a few weeks, our friend Karson decided randomly that he wanted to help us build one. We will put the chicken coop inside the kennel and allow the chickens to roam inside the fenced area.
However- if you know me at all, you know I like to make things look “cute” if you will. A boring kennel isn’t going to work for our chickens. I spent a few days designing the landscaping for it and realized I needed something to provide shade, but also be functional as well.
I inherited a really cool water trough that I decided would look really cool with pole beans planted in it next to the kennel so they could creep up the fencing and also provide shade for the chickens. About three weeks ago I planted two different colors of pole beans- green and white. I knew they would freeze outside if I planted them too early and so I started them indoors in some cups. I posted this picture a few days after I planted them.
During the day I would water them and let the plants get some sunshine outside on our deck. Exactly one week ago, I walked outside to find Aaron had dumped every single cup out! Needless to say- I was fuming mad. I almost started crying. Seriously. I called Colby and told him I was frustrated with Aaron.
I almost almost gave up and threw everything away out of anger and then I decided to try and save my sprouted beans. I sorted all the bean sprouts from the dirt and set them aside. Then I filled the cups back up with the dirt and set 2-3 bean sprouts on top of each cup. I gently planted the seeds back into the dirt and hoped for the best. Some of the seeds had broken in half and were ruined but most of them I was able to save. The only bad news is-I didn’t know which were green and which were white.
Thankfully they are surviving and hopefully my vision of the bean pole trellis will work after all! I still have a few more weeks before I will transplant them into the water trough, but so far they are looking good!
After I get them transplanted into the trough and growing I will share an updated picture with you (hopefully with the chickens included)!
Moral of the story- don’t give up even when you’re feeling defeated! I’m glad I took the time to save them! Hopefully my vision will still be able to come to life! And as a bonus- I’ll get to enjoy these beans for eating as well!
If you love to bottle in the fall, here is my favorite Dilly Bean recipe that I have used for many years. I got this awesome recipe from my friend Vanessa. I love to bottle tons of things each year. I’ll try and share more recipes if that’s something you guys want to see!
Dilly Beans
- 1 1/2 teaspoons non-iodized salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dill seed
- 1/8 teaspoon Alum
- 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
- Full clove of Garlic
- 1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper (you can use less of this if you don’t like things too spicy)
Place all above ingredients in the bottom of a sterilized pint jar. Snap the ends of your washed beans. Pack the jars with your beans. Fill the jar 1/3 of the way full with apple cider vinegar. Fill the rest of the jar with boiling water leaving headspace room at the top. Process in a water bath for 10 minutes.
*Note- Based on where you live and your elevation, processing time might be different. I am not responsible for any problems, food poisoning, or any other issues that might occur due to improper handling of food or processing time. Please research proper processing time based on where you live.*
