Eaten!

From small beginnings to the final product...

On 27 May, I showed the small young bean plants that we had raised from seed, and this year's cane structure up which we hoped they would grow.

Two months later, on 27 July, the beans had climbed to the top of the poles (indeed, up into the tree), and bright flowers were appearing on the plants.

Today, a couple of weeks later, we ate the first harvest. Only six mature beans, so far, but it is hard to describe how delicious they were, cooked lightly within minutes of picking them, and with a dusting of fleur de sel. There will be more, we are almost certain, but these first ones were a real treat. Treat them as though they were as valuable as truffles, say, rather than as a common vegetable to serve as an unregarded accompaniment to some other dish.