The first pods of pinto beans were found to be crackly and ready for harvest this week. Opening the pods reveals jewels: beautiful speckled beans for the pantry. I never get tired of looking at beans: my pantry treasure.
In the cool of dawn it was also discovered that there are tiny Lycium barbarum aka goji berries ripening.
The straggling bush is covered in little red fairy lights!
Long a staple of traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine, I shall dry my goji berry harvest to use as a nutritional supplement, add to homemade trail mix/granola and for possible medicinal value. Modern science is unsure on this piece, but several traditional medicine systems value these little berries highly.
The berries really are tiny and have a tart sweet sour flavour, though I’m not sure of ripeness.
I’m going to have to make sure I keep them separated from the Thai birds eye peppers during the drying process since they look so similar, are from the same Solanaceae (nightshade) family but one is spicy hot, the other sweet and tart.
The other advantage: these are reputed to be not very thirsty plants. Checks the waterwise box for the garden.