Purple Podded Pole Beans

Whoa, I didn't know I had vegetables ready for eating yet!  I had been so focused on the sad, unproductive tomatoes/pumpkins/zucchini that I didn't notice these shadowy pods lurking beneath their foliage.

Soooooo pretty....

These things are delicious!!  They're green inside and lose the purple if you cook them, so I just ate a few raw.  I know I've mentioned the superior taste of home-grown peas before... just like the peas, these purple "green" beans are equally tastier and juicier than their supermarket green bean counterparts.  I had grown some blue lake pole beans (a traditional green bean) in pots last year, and they don't compare in taste to these more vibrant heirlooms.  I suppose it's a blessing that my blue lake beans didn't do well and that I had to replace them with something new from rareseeds.com.  A review on that website says that they'll save the extra pods at the end of the season and let them dry, and the dried beans make for delicious soups all winter too.  Yum!  We'll probably eat all of them raw, but I will save a few seeds anyway... since it's an heirloom, I'll be able to start new plants next year for free.

Even if they don't produce a lot this summer (I did give them a pretty late start since the blue lake beans didn't work out), I will definitely have them in the garden next year too.  They're climbing the trellis really well, and they've been easy, with a very high germination rate and producing very vigorous seedlings that needed no special attention.  And let's face it, in such a small backyard, vertical is the way to go!

Can't wait until my husband gets home from his trip... it'll be hilarious to surprise him with the vibrant beans!

What're the most oddly-colored veggies in your garden?