Starting to harvest mucuna beans. Yesterday , picked a few on the ladder, without pulling down the vines. The pods are "buggers" to get open to get the bean out! I tried just cutting the end with a knife and stringing..nope! String beans are hard to do, but these don't string. Did alot of prying, etc and finally got to the beans. Steamed them 6 minutes like the favas and tried one. It tasted good to me and though I had determined to just eat one, I wanted another (lack of dicipline!) So I indulged myself and ate two.
I had skipped my 10AM tincture to try them and in about 20 minutes...when I checked my tapping was up to speed ...only I was ready to wrestle tigers. Could have been alittle too much l-dopa, but no side effects other than "too much energy". But, I used it to get quite alot done . Picked a few more beans and tried steaming the whole pod and then cut the end off the pod and with alot of effort, managed to open it. It wasn't as had as with the raw pod, plus, now the inner bean was also steamed and ready to pop out of it's little rubbery skin. (just like the favas have ...interesting enough)
I want to get a good picture of the super tall vines that climbed up to the 10 feet point (where we strung string for them to climb to, because I was told they could get that tall)
Well, they went at least 14 plus feet and then climbed around the corner of the barn and started up another side. They are like the Jack and the Beanstalk Magic Beans!! Anyway, it's harvest time for mucunas..wish you all could see them. Fava harvest is continuing, too. Will report more on mucunas next week. Blessings Aunt Bean