bucket of beans during harvest

You know what these look like!

We grow mostly green Jade beans for fresh eating, with a few dragon striped and yellow beans thrown in to mix things up.

When it's in Season at Hartwood Farm:

Peak summer—mid-July through early to mid-September.

Beans are a tender annual and prefer warm summer weather, and neither too much nor too little water! We strive to have the first round ready just as pea season wraps up.

Crop Category and What it Tastes Like:

Legumes or pod veggies, these are in the same family as peas (and dried beans) and edamame. They should be crisp and tender, with a nice, sweet bean-y flavor.

While related to canned and dried beans (you can actually let green beans ripen to fullness and dry and eat them as a dried bean), these guys taste VERY different when green, and are much more popular for their flavor than their dried cousins.

How to Handle and Store:

Stored in plastic bag in fridge, they should last a week or so. If they get sad and floppy at the end of the storage time, you can firm them up by soaking in cold water. Older beans are also fine in cooked preparations.

How to Prep for Use:

Remove the little stem on the end (some folks also remove the little tails), and chop if recipe calls for it.   

Ways to Cook and Eat:

Pretty much anyway from raw to boiled, roasted, grilled, etc. One note is that for some unfortunate people (like a certain farmer who can't stop eating beans during harvest), super freshly harvested raw beans can irritate your throat with their little fuzziness. If this is you and you have better self control than me, it's best to cook them for a bit before eating (even 1 minute in the steamer makes the irritant go away).                  

Quick and Dirty Hangry Farmer Go-To Preparations:

Beans are one of our favorite summer veggies--we love to eat them every way possible. Some of our favorites include tossing the raw whole beans with olive oil and roasting them, adding chopped beans to any saute or stir fry, lightly steaming them and topping them with butter, or eat them raw or just barely steamed and chilled for salads.

Typical time to:

  • Steam—1 to 5 minutes, we prefer crunchier beans, so on the short end! Cooked beans become a nice bright shade of green

  • Saute—1 to 5 minutes, we prefer crunchier beans, so on the short end!

  • Bake—20 ish minutes, or until start to look browned

  • Boil—2 to 5 minutes, we prefer the shorter end

Our Favorite Recipes:

Coming soon!