Fava Bean Acres Farm Report

farm update

Fava Top

I am very excited to be able now to send a picture of the FAVA TOP that I make into tincture for l-dopa supplementation for myself. It is not very big and takes quite a few to dry (for just about 4 hours) and make a jar of them..but for those of you who are serious about staying off pharmas like me…it is worth the work. So far at going on 5 years taking it for my symptoms…I have had no unwanted side effects, just the absence of symptoms (unless I wait too long to take some). It is so easy to carry and take when needed that this doesn’t happen very often.

You could also call it a bud. It is ust a small roundish cluster that forms at the top of each stem. It is important to remove the top few inches of each stem anyway to encourage more stems to spring up from the base. It does not hurt the plant and discourages aphids and ants that love this little bud so much. After it is removed..they leave too.

I dry the little bud and either eat or discard the leaves (they are good dried and powdered separately to add like parsley or dried spinach to dishes…so keep them if you have time and dry them by themselves. DON’T put the leaves into tincture..they don’t seem to have much strength)

You can also tincture flowers separately undried and they seem to have a very calming affect, but I have not had mine tested as yet for l-dopa content…It is hard to find a chemist interested in the project. Anyway…the little part I am holding between my fingers in the picture is the Top or Bud for the tincture that I use. I hope this helps to clarify it for all you fava bean growers out there. Have a great day.

May God Bless You and Your Bean Patch.

Love,

Aunt Bean

First Picking of Fava Bean Tops for 2014

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I just spent 2 1/2 Hours in Saturday morning picking tops in low garden. Ony got 3/4 dehydrator full first time and ran them til partially dry….emptied them into brandy. Then, put in the ones I finished picking for 3 hrs Saturday evening…which was a full dehydrator…(which I have let run all nite on lowest setting.) Won’t pick again now for a wee or so…then there will be more stems with tops…some at ground level…they seem to form the top really quick.

Forgot to remind you that you need to take the tops of each stem of the fava plant…the little unopened flower top ball protected by leaves is what will draw ants and aphids/ earwigs also and leaf hoppers. This makes the plant send out stems from the bottom ..which gives you more tops (the part I dry for tincture…which seems to be the strongest l-dopa on the plant) Remove the leaves surrounding the top ball & eat..or can eat the whole thing if you don’t want to tincture, but it needs to come off even if past the ball stage and has tiny leaves on the top…plant will be healthier if pinched back

Was blessed yesterday with a Bee Hive. We have had only one or two honey bees here on the farm …even our sunflowers did not have polinators last year. Wasps have been the biggest source of polination.A neighbor found a hive in a building nearby last year and destroyed them…have hardly seen any bees since…….perhaps we will have better crop polination this year. God is good to provide our needs.

Have a blessed day (Aunt Bean)

Spring Fava Beans Update

farm update

We have had some mighty cold weather here in TN this year…even the favas in the greenhouse have been bit back several times and I have not been able to pick tops or flowers from any this winter. Last winter, I picked them and made tincture thru-out the cold weather.

Planted 100 fava beans in the low garden over the weekend as the ground had dried sufficiently to get in there with a shovel and mattack and work up a small area. Today it is raining and the ground is soaked once again. There is such a small window to get ground dried out enough in spring to do planting…all the farmers around here are trying to get theirs done also in that little window of time….so it is hard to get help during short dry spells.

Meanwhile,my bag of favas are in the house screaming “plant me”….these seeds are different from those I have purchased in the past…fairly large, but a shade of green, not brown purple or yellowish. The are some 40 varieties of favas I have been told….who knows what kind these may be. The Health Food store in town ordered them for me from the same place as last year…Mountain High Organics…but the beans are completely different. Hopefully they will sprout and grow in our area.

Any of you thinking of planting favas this year? They like cool weather best as do all the pea family. March and April are good times to plant and I try to get all of mine in if possible by mid April.

Blessings from Bean Acres!

Aunt Bean

 

Winter News from the Farm

farm update

Greetings from Bean Acres!

We are still having cold weather, but in the greenhouse the fava bean beds are growing. The taller (older plantings) have been bit the hardest from the very cold nights …very many below 20 and even down to -5. But, they are hardy and are still alive. I wanted to do an update on my supplements for you all trying to do natural approach: Most are from Swanson Health Products will * these:

* B Complex 100
*Turmeric
*Brain essentials
*Vit A&D
*CO Q 10
*Cran Max
*Hawthorne Berry, Kelp Powder Liquid Calcium, Magnesium, Zinc & D3
*Essiac Capsules
*Rhodiola Rosea(only using one capsule per week/sprinkling a small amount onto cereal) lecithin
*creatin (very small amount)
acidophilis
magnesium citrate
*l-carnosine.
EmergenC
Aquas for hydration (www.aquas4life)
Homemade fava tops tincture
Fermented papaya (which I dehydrate / powder/ and keep in a jar in the refrigerator )

God is Good …starting to plan this year’s gardens and purchasing some new varieties of seeds. Have saved seed from the things I enjoyed most last year. Looking forward to sunshine and fresh vegies again…the winter is long this year, but probably before we know it

We will be complaining that it is too hot.

Blessings to all.

Keep warm and keep smiling.

Aunt Bean

Fava Beans Farm Update

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Greetings from Bean Acres in East Tennessee . It has been pretty cold here already. Down to 18 degrees a couple of times, but the patch of fava beans in the lower garden is still alive. The upper garden ones have died. Amazing the different climate zones on one farm.

This week I planted 115 more favas in the greenhouse and have 4 raised beds planted there now. Hoping for a good crop of tops and flowers all winter long. Also have beets and kale coming up and we are still eating from swiss chard. Still have not found someone to come plow up garden so it will be ready for planting favas in March. Hard to find help everywhere I guess.

I have needed to take less tincture lately upon adding a product called Natural Calm to my supplements. My bowels are working better and l-dopa tincture is lasting longer. The supplement is magnesium citrate. If any of you out there can explain that…I would love to know why this is. It is a welcome thing and I only take 2 teas a day at breakfast.

Still am looking for farm help …especially someone who is interested in help for their Parkinson’s Disease, but able to work and learn. We have a guest room with its own shower , etc. (Healthy meals will be provided). Send an application if interested
and Robert will forward it to me.

Have a great day.

Aunt Bean

 

Fava Beans

farm update

Aunt Bean is putting out a call for help on her fava beans farm. Here is the call below:

Robert Rodgers, Ph.D.
Road to Recovery from Parkinsons Disease
www.parkinsonsdisease.me

“Is there someone with PD , or has a loved one with PD who would like to spend a week or more learning about natural helps for PD ? Must be able and willing to put in half days of hard farm work to help get ready for spring planting this year… Aunt Bean has a room with it’s own bathroom to accommodate you.

Must be a person that does not smoke/ drink/ do drugs,  or use bad language. Would be great if the person enjoys bluegrass/country and gospel music, we have wonderful places to go jam or just  listen. There will be food provided for helping and the learning is a
gift.

If you are interested in the position as a working vacation for a week or two, please send your application to Robert Rodgers at Parkinsons Recovery  (robert@parkinsonsrecovery.com) and he will forward them to me.

1. Name and email
2. Age and ability to work
3. Interests
4. Why you would like to be a part of this research ?
5. Do you or someone you love have PD and you want to learn better
how to combat this disease?

A couple working together would be fine for the job. There is room
for two people in the master bedroom that you would occupy..as long as
you get along with each other ok!!!!”

Aunt Bean

 

Asparagus Beans

asparagus beans

We are harvesting now the most fun asparagus beans that I have ever grown. It is a yard long purple podded asparagus pole  bean . They are beautiful hanging on the bamboo fence dad and I  constructed for them and they seem to double their size in just a couple of days. They are tender and buttery flavored to me. Easy to prepare, no strings.  We have eaten them steamed, stir  fried,  in place of spaghetti noodles with sauce and cheese over them , and today I made a cream sauce with sauteed garlic and leeks and poured that over them….YUMMY

This bean is a seed savers’ delight…If you miss a bean it grows into a really huge bean with developing seeds….a neighbor commented today that they look like purple snakes coming out of the foliage and bamboo. These beans even grow faster than zuchini…which in a few days time can become a baseball bat!  . Aunt Beans favorite new vegie
of the year….it even stays purple when cooked.   OH, it’s so Good!

Aunt Bean

Fava Beans Harvest

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It is August already and the fava beans harvest is over and some new fall planting of seeds are in the ground with one more planting to go August 10th so that I can harvest more tops before winter sets in. This planting will be only for collecting tops as it will not have time to make beans unless 26 degree weather does not come until after December..

My newest kitchen experiment was a success!  The perfect pods from the last picking of fava beans were cut up in small pieces into a peanut butter jar with brandy. This was shaken for a month. Strained / let to settle for 24 and then siphoned off and bottled. It seems I need a couple drops less than the fava tops tincture to take care of my PD
symptoms.

Still no researcher to test it so don’t know the amount of
l-dopa per drop. But my response to it is very good. Have used it almost a week now and give it a thumbs up

Aunt Bean.

Fava Beans Harvest

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Well, it is July and most of the spring crop of fava beans has been harvested.  Had a very good crop of beans this spring and also fava tops for tincture…although the first picking of tops was half lost to spittlebugs this year, but the plants made up for it in successive pickings.

Hardly any aphids. I read that if you leave your pests alone..that their natural predators will move in to eat them…we do have more lady bugs this year. I have not had to spray parley water on the plants to discourage the aphids..

Have a couple new experiments going on and hoping the local college is taking an interest in my research and will help out by testing the l-dopa content in the new tinctures. Pray they will come thru on this……they have the proper equipment to do it, and it would be such a blessing to have people who could document it.

We have a hen and nine baby chicks that we are enjoying watching….people could learn a lot watching chickens….the hen is such a good teacher with good students.

Just picked a half gallon of wineberries (cousin to raspberries) and my first green beans….oh so good. We ran out of green beans a few months ago…gave too many away this year. Need to put mine all up first this year, I guess so we don’t run out again. I don’t have much appreciation for canned store beans….I like mine picked/steamed and frozen right away…that way they taste fresh picked when you go to eat them.We have been eating cabbage/greens/ yellow squash / broccoli, and cucumbers out of the greenhouse for a while..

God is Good.

Aunt Bean

 

Heavy Rains and Thunderstorms

farm update

Having very heavy rains and thunderstorms in our area…a portion of the upper and lower gardens have washed out, leaving a wide ditch where rows of vegies were planted. I have decided to leave the ditches where they are and make them walking paths (in dry weather) and rivers when the inevitable happens. Can’t fight Mother Nature and water takes the course of least resistance.

Anybody ever heard the old saying “If Mama aint happy…aint nobody happy” Well, I will do my level best to accommodate Mother Natures Will at this point…if you can’t fight ’em …join em. She is probably a really good landscaper …our area sure is beautiful. Today I will “Go with the Flow” and so will my gardens.

Have a blest day.

Aunt Bean