Harvesting Mexican Black Beans

Mexican Black Beans

After our friends Susan and Michael sang the praises of Mexican black beans, I wanted to try them and so started a search. I discovered that Mexican black beans are not that easy to find in South Africa. When you do find them, you have to be prepared to pay a lot for them.

Mexican black bean harvest

My philosophy is to make ingredients with the raw material available. If you cannot find an ingredient for a recipe, my alternative then is to grow them.

Thus it was that I ordered some heirloom Mexican black beans. I was a bit let down when the packet arrived with 25 black beans in it.

Clearly not enough beans to fill a bed, I decided to plant a row of Mexican black beans with a row of the 25 Rattlesnake beans I got from the same supplier. The rest of the bed I filled with yard long beans.

The beans dried on the stalk, while the stalk kept on growing and producing more flowers and beans. The raw beans had the most amazing purple colour before they dried to black.

I harvested my black beans and with the help of a strong breeze, I separated the beans from the threshed shells. I expected more than a bowl of dried beans and plan to keep the beans that are still on the plants for sowing again next season.

I decided to make oven-roasted lamb and black bean stew. I love the texture and flavour of the black beans in the stew.