beans, beans, the magical fruit ...– episode 053

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Non-Lethal Defense Survival Stories

Beans, Beans, The Magical Fru it Episode 053

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Jun 17th, 2011 | By Off The Grid Radio - Transcribed | Category: Radio | Print This Article

Have you considered what NOT having control of your food supply is costing you?In Germany right now, that loss of control has contributed to the deaths of thirty-nine people. The sad thing is that Europe cant figure out what the problem is. Firstit was cucumbers, tomatoes, then lettuce, then sprouts, then it wasnt sprouts, andtoday it is sprouts again.

The lack of ability to track down this source showcases the problem of allowing

your food supply to become such a vast outward-spreading organism in which youhave no control. When you take away personal, one-on-one accountability, youlose much more than the ability to hold the grower responsible for the food youconsume. You automatically require government intervention in the food growingprocess and as we have seen, government intervention is seldom logical, quiteeasily corrupted, and an albatross around the neck of average citizens.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:03 22.5MB)

Off The Grid Radio Ep 053Released: June 17, 2011

Brian: Ladies and gentlemen, as the announcer says, welcome to Off the GridNews the radio version of offthegridnews.com. Im Brian Brawdy, as always herewith Mr. Bill Heid. Bill, how are you sir?

Bill: I am well. Top of the morning to you, Brian. Its a beautiful day, as you know,here in Illinois. Weve got a lot to talk about especially you know, Brian, we talk

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about this off the grid taking some of your life back. With respect to food sooften, we have that conversation. How can we not outsource so many things in our life? How can we take some of this back? We see all over in the news and youand I were talking before the show started all over in the news theres stories of people that are no longer alive because they outsourced their food supply. Imthinking of the E. coli thing in Germany. I know youve got some comments aboutthat. But I think, with our guest and what were going to talk about today, it really it can be a life and death thing.

Brian: It most certainly is a life and death thing, unfortunately Bill, for 23 folks inEurope, as you mentioned. Theres a great article in the Christian Science Monitor this morning. This will come as no surprise to you that the politicians now are allpointing fingers and blaming each other because, according to the article, Europehas a zero inability zero inability to figure out what is the ultimate cause of thecurrent E. coli outbreak. Its got people running scared.

Bill: Do you remember on day one it was cukes or whatever it was a while back,it was cucumbers. Then it was some other vegetable. Then it became sprouts

which ought to scare you again because these are government agencies trying totell you and granted, theyre probably doing the best they can, but just inherent inthe system is the lack of the ability to track down something like a little bug thatsreally very devastating in its effects on the human body. Will government help you?I dont know. Can they? Im not sure they always can. Theres a lot of goodgovernment employees. A lot of them will try to, but in the greater scheme, how canwe take some of this back? How can we get control over our own food supply itsbeen the theme of a lot of our shows, a lot of our conversations that we haveprivately.

Brian: Bill, Ill answer your question with what youve taught me and what weveworked on for all these years now and its a simple term its self-reliance.

Bill: It is self-reliance, Brian. You remember a couple of days ago when we wentup to Stockton to the home where Kims grandparents live and the home that wasbuilt in the early 1800s along the summer kitchen, when you walked in, when Ifirst met Kim and we would go up to see her grandparents, years and years ago they had something stocked along that summer kitchen. Almost something fairlyromantic, and its the subject of what were talking about today. Ever since I knewthem, thats how they lived, and thats how these folks lived since before the CivilWar they stocked this particular item that were going to talk about today. It wasalways beautiful. Its a little, even romantic, I guess you could say, the way it wouldalways be there. I guess today people might be able to dress their house upcountry knick-knack-wise by having some of these little guys in jars becausetheyre beautiful. But that was very much a part of their life, the way they lived, fromgeneration to generation, as these Vermont farmers came out and they broughtwith them beans. They started planting them up there in that garden where you andI were planting potatoes the other day. Beans have been planted there since the1830s, believe it or not.

Brian: Bill, before we get to todays guest, I think our listeners would also dighearing your story I think it may have been Kims dad or granddad that used tosay something to you? It would sound to our listeners today to mean one thing, but




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you knew it meant something totally different. When it was time to prepare a meal,what did he say to you?

Bill: Oh, he would always say wed be over there working as a matter of fact,one summer we were putting up a barn we built barns ourselves. I would go upinto the timber and I would cut a locust pole and I would shave off the bark and Iwould dig a hole and wed set the post. Id tamp in the dirt. Then wed come in for lunch and do you know what he would say? Hed put some coffee on and hed saywell lets go to the store. When I first got there I thought why would we want todrive all the way back up to town, 10 miles, to get something to eat? As it turnedout to be, he meant lets walk over to the garden and dig something up and cook itup quick. Thats how we ate all the time when I used to work on the farm with him.

Brian: I tell you, Bill, I think a lot of people today you hear the stories in the newsabout theyll interview some younger kids and they go where do cows come from?And theyll say from the store. Where does milk come from? From thesupermarket. I think a lot of people listening to that, and most certainly todaysguest, probably smiled when she heard you tell that story about lets head on over

to the store but it really had nothing to do with leaving your property, hopping inthe car and going. It had everything to do to go where you were growing somefood. Our guest today, Bill, as you know, is the author of a really cool bookHomegrown Whole Grains. Shes also the author of a dozen cookbooks andtravel guides. She has studied and written about grains in the Amish country, inCentral Pennsylvania, in southeastern United States and in California. Mostrecently she studied small-scale rice growing in Thailand, which is actually kind of cool. She now lives in North Carolina. But we have her on today, Bill, because of abook and people will laugh when I say this is one of my favorite books, but I reallyhave enjoyed learning from this particular book called Cooking with Dried Beans.Ladies and gentlemen, please say hello to Sara Pitzer. Sara, how are you?

Sara: Im just great. How are you?

Brian: Im doing great. Wasnt that a cool story about Bills and the way they wouldsay lets go to the store to grab I picture him grabbing Bill by the back of theneck going come on, lets go out here. And then they go out and dig up some stuff and head over to the barn. Thats a pretty cool story, dont you think?

Sara: It reminds me of pretty much how I grew up, so yeah, I love it.

Bill: We never needed any coupons and every day everything was on sale,drastically discounted. The only thing you had to worry about is stuff going bad if you didnt eat it quick enough.

Sara: Of course you do remember sweat labor

Bill: Well, yeah. I dont count that as money. But its something people areunwilling to do today, in most cases. Sweat labor is one of those rare youretalking about something that is a museum piece. Brian in Chicago, at theMuseum of Natural History isnt there a little thing on sweat labor there that theyused to have years and years ago?




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Brian: Oh sure.

Bill: Back in the old days, when people actually worked. A special display. It travelsaround from museum to museum, called Sweat Labor. It shows people actuallyworking.

Brian: Yeah, Sweat Labor and the subtitle was and self-reliance.

Bill: Sweat labor and self-reliance, yeah.

Brian: That we even have to have a museum and any portion of it dedicated to aconcept that should be absolutely unique to each and every one of us, in this dayand age, Bill as weve said, self-reliance isnt as big a deal as it used to be.Unfortunately.

Bill: Thats correct. And people that want to grow their own foods we want to talkwith Sara about growing one specific kind of food, one that were both very fond of

thats beans. So, Sara, lets get into it a little bit and talk about the history of beans. Beans have been around for a while. I think from the self-reliancecommunitys part, we mentioned beans becoming trendy, but from the self-reliancecommunity, Brian and I always get requests people like to buy dehydrated food.They like to buy things like that. But a lot of folks say to us what if I dont have themoney to do x, y, z? We have to try to come up with ideas that can be pennies onthe dollar ideas, as maybe Brian and I would call them. Todays topic with beans unbelievable storage, unbelievable shelf life. How long have people been usingbeans?

Sara: I think its like 8,000 or 9,000 years. Pretty much as long as we have artifactsto show us history.

Bill: As long as weve got recorded history theres been the use of beans. In thiscountry, especially, because Brian you know I told you Kims grandfathersrelatives came from that New England area these were Yankees that came whenthis land was surveyed early on in the 1830s. That region was a bean region, was itnot, Sara?

Sara: I think theres some bean thatll grow almost anywhere.

Bill: So these folks brought a lot of beans with them out here from the Vermontarea and then planted them out here and it, along with corn the Indians wereraising corn and beans but thats how they were living. Their family annalssuggest the same thing.

Brian: Sara, were going to run to a quick commercial break and then I wanted youto know beforehand that when you walk into the side door, if you will, that Billsreferencing, all you can see as far as the eye can see, lining the counter are

jars of beans. Ladies and gentlemen, come on back after this commercial break.Were here with Sara Pitzer, author of Cooking with Dried Beans and alsoHomegrown Whole Grains here at Off the Grid Radio.

[0:09:59 0:14:15 break]




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Brian: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the home of a different paradigm Off the Grid News the radio version of offthegridnews.com. Im Brian Brawdy, asalways along with Mr. Bill Heid. Today, Bill, our guest is talking to us about aparticular substance, packed full of B vitamins, niacin, thiamin, riboflavin, B6, folicacid, minerals, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sulfur, potassium the list justgoes on and on and on, about what I believe to be a superfood.

Bill: I think it is a superfood and I think its a superfood that should be ineverybodys house. But its become more trendy Sara, we were talking about thetrendy nature of it why do you think this has picked up, especially in some of these posh restaurants? Whats happened recently, do you think, thats made itsuch an important whyd the heirloom bean come back?

Sara: Im not perfectly sure. I have a couple of theories. First of all, now that I livein the South, I am aware that beans never left. Thats obviously what they ate whenthey were dirt poor and there wasnt anything else and we cultivated a taste for it.Now, of course, southern cooking has become trendy. Also, they just taste good.How much lobster can you cook and you begin to realize theres no more lobster?

Bill: Yeah, you need something with it. And for our listeners, were not talkingabout the thousands and thousands of acres of commercially-produced limas or beans that youd buy in the store, were talking about the specialty niche especially whats becoming a specialty niche in upper-scale restaurants, and thatsvery fresh, heirloom beans. As a matter of fact, there are and I know, Brian,youve dined at some of these restaurants theres restaurants that charge $250for meals that feature heirloom beans. Did you guys know that is going on? I knowout on the West Coast theres some places that do that, and on the East Coast aswell.

Sara: I tried to order from online that I couldnt get around here and didnt because

they were so expensive, so I can believe it.

Bill: And a lot of times, I think with beans people dont really realize what you cando with them. Theyre going to sit there on a shelf, looking pretty, Brian like at theParker house in Stockton beans sitting there. But at some point, youve got totake them out and use them. Do you want to talk a little bit about using beans andhow do you get beans ready? Some ideas there?

Sara: Oh sure. I read a great line somewhere. It said beans last a long time butthey are not immortal. They do eventually get too old to be very good. So if youvegot em, use em. They shouldnt sit in the jar forever. They should get used. Therest of it is almost embarrassingly simple. You wash them. Somewhere theres astory in an old, sea-faring novel about the cook on board who didnt know enoughto wash the beans. You wash them because they can have dirt on them and youpick over them a little bit because they could have little stones in there and youbreak a tooth.

Bill: Sara, could I interrupt you a second, and Brian? Just to give you a little flavor no pun intended about Kims grandfather and what we used to do with thesebeans if I started to wash them too much, he would call that removing theselenium. He would say you dont want to wash them too much. In other words,




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he liked a little mud on his food. I dont know if thats a Yankee tradition or if thatssomething they do in the South. But youre right, hed rinse them off but he reallywasnt very careful. I think thats what youre saying you want to clean them up alittle bit.

Brian: Sara, I want a quote from your book and youre quoting Julia Child whenshe called it the rooty-toot-toot problem theres a little half-way point, isnt there?Between Bills granddad saying dont cook them too much and Julias belief thattheres a certain way to cook them to cut down on the rooty-toot-toot problem?

Bill: Maybe the rooty-toot-toot problem, Brian, maybe that was the afternoonentertainment as we continued to work. I dont know. Maybe he was setting me up.

Brian: Maybe thats why they cost $250 in some restaurants its like dinner and afloor show. [laughter] Im sorry, go ahead Sara.

Sara: Anyway you wash them you have to be your own judge of how much.The standard, and there are ways around this, but really the simplest thing to do is

just soak them for a while overnight is nice in a cool place. Typically, you pour the soaking water off some people think you lose nutrients but other people thinkthat if you dont youll have poison. Then you put some fresh water on them andyou simmer them till theyre tender. Then you do whatever you were going to do.

Bill: Are we talking 12 hours worth of soaking or two hours worth of soaking? I goto bed at 9 oclock at night or 10 or something should I put them in and then inthe morning I rinse them off and get ready to simmer them out? Or what should youdo there?

Sara: Both possibilities. What youre describing is certainly the easiest and I feelsure the most traditional way. But for everybody in a hurry, you can also bring them

to a boil from the raw, dry state; off the heat; put the lid on and let them stand for anhour. Then go back to the simmering process.

Bill: Im wondering too, even prior to boiling and I dont know if either of you guyshave read anything or heard anything about that the restaurants that are doingthese high-end gourmet things theyre buying very fresh beans. They like to havebeans that were from that years harvest. Do we lose

Sara: Lots of luck. Where I live

Bill: Most beans take a long time most people are storing beans end up gettingthrown in hot warehouses and silos before they make it to market, dont you agree?Isnt it kind of a long haul from Point A to Point B?

Sara: Usually I think it is and the fresher they are the more they tend to cost, Ithink. But I can go in to a produce stand 10 miles down the road and therell be abig basket of whats called new crop pintos. I think if youre looking for it, you cantrack it down and it doesnt have to cost as much as a lobster.

Bill: I think you just touched on something too, thats somewhat magical in the way if youre in the South, the southern agrarians used to write years ago about tryingto buy food from people that you knew. If there was a way to buy food from people




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that you had a personal relationship with, thats part of what community was, thatspart of what safety was, thats part of what nutrition was. By all means, if we canbuy fresh beans from people that we know, thats the single most important key, Ithink, to working with beans, wouldnt you say, Sara?

Sara: In that regard, yeah. I would direct you to the farmers markets.

Bill: Start to create again, people are always saying everything costs money. Idont want to do this, I dont want to do that it costs money. What can you tell usto do that doesnt cost any money? Heres a good one go start visiting farmersmarkets. Yeah, youve got a little gas going on there, maybe on a Saturdaymorning, but start talking to different producers. Strike up a relationship. Get toknow them. Maybe buy some samples. Then youve got a friend. If youre ever going to need a friend in a pinch you can call them directly and go the farmersmarket and say can you bring me over some beans? Ill take 50 pounds or whatever it is youre trying to negotiate.

Sara: You can buy them fresh and dry them yourself.

Bill: You can buy them fresh and dry them. Thats a nugget, Sara, right there, Ithink. For people that are always looking for some way and you mentionedearlier, dirt cheap. Why did people in the South use them? They were dirt cheapbut they were healthy and dirt cheap at the same time. Can you imagine asubstance on earth thats both healthy and dirt cheap at the same time? We keepoverlooking things like this because theres a little prep time or something with it.

Sara: There really isnt that much prep time if you just start ahead. It cooks whileyoure doing something else.

Brian: Do you know what, Bill and Sara? It almost reminds of when people come

up to us, Bill, like they did a couple of weeks back when we were in Dallas for thesurvival convention and they go Im not really sure I could ever learn how to live off the grid. Its the same thing of why now beans have become more popular again.Its not that youre learning a new skill, its something humans have been doing for thousands of years. Were simply suggesting that you may want to reawaken thatability to live off the grid. You may want to reawaken the latent ability to be self-reliant and reawaken what Sara said in the beginning of the interview was it never left the South, but reawakened the understanding of exactly what preparing andcooking your own beans can do for you. Sara, were going to run to a quickcommercial break and then were going to come back. I want to talk a little bit aboutsome of the recipes that you have in Cooking with Dried Beans. Ladies andgentlemen, come on back, youre going to not want to miss the next segment.Some great recipes that you can use while cooking with dried beans. Come onback after this quick commercial break.

[0:24:08 0:28:22 break]

Brian: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to Off the Grid Radio here atoffthegrid.com. Also want to make mention quickly of our parent company,Solutions from Science, and that Mr. Bill Heid travels the world most certainlytravels the country and the world looking for those solutions from science to some




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of the headaches that we have today. Most certainly, Bill, when youve traveled tostudy seeds, when youve traveled to study sprouts, when youve traveled to studybeans or solar or wind or the like as you travel around the country now, dont youthink more and more people are fired up? Did you ever really think wed do a radioshow about beans? Arent more and more people fired up about rekindling thatsense of self-reliance?

Bill: As you mentioned, Brian, at the Dallas survival and self-reliance show, howmany people wanted to talk about things like this. Five or ten years ago it justwasnt there. Today theres a resurgence of this kind of thing. I think some of its onthe health side. If you look at something like theres studies on black beans andred beans, loaded with protein and almost no cholesterol. I think they did a studyone time, guys, where they gave people beans to eat a cup a day or something

and tested cholesterol. Beans even had an effect on cholesterol. Now, alwayssee your doctor, this isnt medical advice, but beans because of their fiber I likebeans, being diabetic, they tend to mitigate against rising glucose levels for me.Theres a lot of good reasons. Im talking about some very pragmatic ones and wetalked about the reasons these posh restaurants want them, because of the taste

and fresh. Exotic beans are really in the news. Like you said, if you go to arestaurant that features this, youre going to pay a pretty big chunk of change tohave a bean-featured meal. But theres ways to take these beans and cook them athome. Its low-cost, dirt cheap. You go from a $250 meal to the phrase dirt cheap.It doesnt seem like it belongs in the same sentence those two phrases seem tobe antithetic to each other. But the common denominator there, guys, is beans.Lets chat a little bit about some bean recipes. I was going to mention some beans,Sara, because as Brian said I have been out looking for beans to try to find anassortment of beans. We put together a fun bunch of beans that we thought wouldmake a good assortment. We found a grower we think is the only grower of hiskind in California, that has a secret bean farm that very few people, except someof these chefs, know about. We got our nose in the door a little bit and started tomake some arrangements so we could buy a few of whats left of some of thecrops. But anyway, Sara, Christmas limas does that resonate with you at all?

Sara: I think its the red and white and its lima shaped. It is, I think, an heirloombean and I think can be cooked fresh, if you can get it, as opposed to dried.Otherwise would be cooked about the same as everything else. I think it loses agood bit of its color in the cooking.

Bill: It might lose a little bit of that red but it still has distinctive burgundy markings,but is not quite as bright, youre right about that.

Sara:I think you wouldnt need to do much else to it to make it tasty. Its its own

thing.

Bill: Ive got another one and I wanted to have a meaty, creamy flavor. This is sortof chef talk, but we picked up some good Mother Stallards as well.

Sara: Thats foreign to me.

Bill: They dont require a whole lot of soaking so you can do something a littlequicker with them. A lot of folks add bay leaf and stuff. We also picked up we




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loved the Hutterite bean. Has that one Hutterite looks kind of boring on thesurface.

Sara: Im not sure what color is it?

Bill: The Hutterite ones kind of a dark bean. Doesnt really look like too much.

Sara: Yeah, yeah. Have you tasted it?Bill: Oh, theyre unbelievably good.

Sara: You are definitely into the exotics.

Bill: These are very exotic. The reason I like the Hutterites Ill tell you theHutterites have kind of a buttery taste. My kids would never eat limas because theywere so dry and I had to throw tons of lard on them to get them to eat them. ButHutterites have a natural buttery taste that, if youve never had one, theres nothingquite like a Hutterite. These are all some of the stuff were looking for is wewant to be practical and have some practical things. Ill bet Jacobs Cattle youveheard of?

Sara: Oh yeah.

Bill: Tell us a little bit about Jacobs Cattle. I know Jacobs Cattle is pretty popular.

Sara: To me, you can do anything you want to with it because it doesnt have standout taste of its own to my taste. Im not going talk about anybody elses palate.Again, I think its I wouldnt put it in chili or something like that. I would dosomething with a little butter, maybe a little warm milk creamy.

Bill: I think these beans what I liked about Jacobs Cattle was an interesting storyabout them. In the Prince Edward Island area there were Indians that had giventhese beans to Joseph Clark who was the first white child born in Maine. Thesebeans, the Jacobs Cattle, were very prized by the Indians and that was their veryspecial way of welcoming someone giving them beans. Beans for them were likegold because you relied on your beans to get from one year to the next. You wouldsave and again, were talking about ancient tradition where in the old days youwould save some of your seed and with heirloom beans you can do that. Yousaved some of your seed and you plant them next year. The Indians they weregoing to starve if they didnt do that. Jacobs Cattle Im just kind of droning on, butJacobs Cattle has a special place in my heart because its one of those its like agift between an indigenous people to people that were coming in and it was a gift of

love.Sara: And you know they wouldnt have done anything fancy with them.

Bill: Yeah. We picked up some Eye of the Goat another kind of a cowpea bean thats a little strange. They look like an eye of a goat gray with a dark stripe theyhave on them. We have some of those. I dont know, Brian, have you ever readanything about Eye of the Goat, Brian?

Brian: No, I havent read anything about Eye of the Goat.




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Sara: But its a cowpea.

Bill: It is, it is.

Brian: Then why didnt they call it the eye of the cow?

Sara: [laughs] I wont touch that one.

Brian: OK. Never mind. Just checking. Inquiring minds want to know.

Bill: Eye of the Goat is a great chili bean, by the way, just so you know. Theyrevery rich in color and sweet flavor. They also hold up very nicely through thecooking process. Thats another one wed read about that one in a food and winemagazine. Like you said, Sara, these are trendy. Food and wine magazines talkingabout Eye of the Goat beans.

Sara: And Ill also point out, they are not easily available unless you are in a verymetropolitan area.

Bill: Yeah, these beans you cant go into a grocery store and get the ones thatwere talking about. There are beans you can go get. Ive got a couple of other ones Im just going to throw out at you guys and you can tell me if youve ever heard of them. This is almost like a game show here. Its like a Japanese gameshow. If you miss, you hit a button and you go down into a tub of beans or something. Snowcap ever heard of Snowcap?

Sara: Never.

Bill: Its a cranberry bean. It looks like a cranberry. Snowcaps they used them inNew England chowders for a long time. Theyre still putting them in New Englandchowders. Snowcap are some beans that were brought out here, as well asJacobs Cattle, by Kims family, Brian. Snowcaps are part of those thats an oldheirloom classic. They use them out here too. A lot of folks in this area youprobably saw a lot of deer when we were going back and forth from Thomson up toStockton. Theyll make venison stews or venison chilies and theyll use a lot of Snowcaps in there as well.

Brian: I suspect a lot of peoples first bumping into beans, if you will I remember as a little boy my mom used to make chili all the time. I loved chili with those beans.Were going to ahead and run to a quick commercial break. When we come back,shes agreed to stay for the final segment, were going to have Sara Pitzer. Weregoing to talk a little more about cooking with dried beans, but also touch on her new

book Homegrown Whole Grains which is a pretty cool book as well. Ladies andgentlemen, come on back after the break. Quick commercial and we will be rightback with you.

[0:38:09 0:42:23 break]

Brian: Welcome back to Off the Grid Radio. As the announcer says, getting youready to prepare for the worst. Bill, you look at the headlines going on in Europeabout this E. coli breakout. We have to we have to become more self-reliantwhen it comes to our food. We have to become more self-reliant when it comes to




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everything we do, in my opinion, but golly, all youve got to do is read theheadlines. You and I arent making this stuff up. If you had a chance to read FoodShock, you know exactly what were talking about. Then, ripped from thoseheadlines, Bill, we have a solution although its a little more from the soil thanfrom science weve got a solution for that. Today, the author helping us with thatsolution, is Sara Pitzer.

Bill: And were trying to we are preparing for some hard times. I think anyreasonable person that looks at the economic data, that looks at the headlines andsays that theres trouble brewing. I mean, Brian, even James Carville the other daysaid trouble. Civil unrest. This isnt a joke. This is James Carville its theeconomy, stupid guy that got President Clinton elected. Hes not messing around.He knows whats going on. So were preparing for the worst but today werepreparing for the worst with the best how about that as a little catchphrase?Were preparing for the worst, with the best. One of the best things you can do isstart to get a stash of beans, I think. Dried beans, fresh beans, you can dry themyourself, as weve been talking about. You can make soups, you can put them insalads there are so many things. Weve been talking with Sara about some of the

beans that we had mentioned. I had another one that I had picked out as one of theones that I liked, was the Black Valentine a pretty common bean too. Its a classicfor gardeners. Any comments on Black Valentines, Sara?

Sara: Not a one. I thought I might recognize it but the name does not

Bill: Its kind of a bush bean. Its pretty staple. What I like about Black Valentine isit doesnt take much space, it doesnt take much of anything. You plant them andthey just grow like crazy. Black Valentines another great bean.

Sara: Could you put them in a raised bed or a window box?

Bill: You can put them in a raised bed or a window box. You just plant them inrows. You dont need trellising or anything because theyre a bush bean.

Sara: So you could grow your own?

Bill: You can grow your own right in your own backyard. You can just put them in aflower pot and grow a few beans there and have some. If you want some for salads

theres another idea too you can always pinch beans off before theyre readyand throw them in salads or dunk them in dips and stuff. Theres a lot of ways toeat beans that really are good for you. As long as youre using your own or buyingfrom some farmer that you know or some folks that you know in your community,youre kind of taking back a little chunk of your life and your minimizing your exposure as Brian mentioned too with things like the E. coli issues that comefrom big ag a lot of times from big ag and big distribution systems. You take alittle chunk of your life back. Lets talk about cooking them up a little bit more. Brian,didnt you guys want to talk a little bit about recipes? We talked about nutrition,right? We talked about how good they are for you. Theyre full of fiber, theyre full of all this stuff that you had mentioned. A true superfood.

Brian: It is. And one of the things I love about Saras books and I may have saidthis during the break but Sara, I went ahead to amazon.com and downloaded the




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digital version of Cooking with Dried Beans, so I have it right on my iPad. I set itup on the counter and Im able to go right through. Youve got some great recipes.Some of them Bill touched on. A lot of people will recognize Boston Baked Beans,or theyll recognize hummus or pureed bean soup, split pea soup for that matter.Black bean soup was another favorite I had growing up in Virginia. Evenminestrone. What I dig about your book is the ability and the directions are prettystraightforward. You did a great job!

Sara: Well, thanks.

Brian: And the same, I thought, of Homegrown Whole Grains: Learn to Grow,Harvest, Store, Grind and Cook with Nine of the Most Popular Whole Grains. Ifound your book at amazon.com as well.

Sara: That book had its origins back as far as the beans in its original version. Itwas something like Grow, Harvest and Cook Your Own. Then the revision, whichis what you would have, changed its title a good bit and added grains that wehadnt even heard of back then and tried to bring stuff down to scale so it wouldconceivably be manageable by people with backyards instead of the field and thecommune.

Brian: One of the things we touch on, Sara, in Food Shock why 2011 might bethe single most important year and Bill, Id say we got some great reviews whenwe were at the survival conference in Dallas over Food Shock is when you talkabout growing it in your backyard you dont need a 400-acre spread. Bill, I read areport the other day that said you get 10 good square yards, you can jump startwith some herbs, some sprouts, some beans. You can have a tidy little garden in

just a little bit of space.

Bill: And beans the thing about beans, for people who havent really done a lot

with beans you plant beans and what you got, for most folks, if theyre not ready,is more beans than what you bargained for. Beans just keep coming. So you go outand pick beans and if you dont want a rusty feel to your leaves go out and pickyour beans early in the morning before it gets too hot, take your beans off. But thenext day thered be more beans and then more beans and then more beans. A lotof times, well plant a row one week. Maybe a week later we plant another row andanother row. That way were eating fresh beans all summer long. The stuff that wewant to harden off we let go and we dont eat. Thats the stuff that well use for soup beans later on. Well be eating these beans fresh, well be eating them likegreen beans any of these you can take and eat prematurely as green beansbecause you just dont let them mature out. I dont know of a crop that you canhave that has as much variety or latitude for use maybe corn, but I dont eventhink corn has as many uses beans. This is a true superfood.

Sara: Corn takes more space, realistically. It also attracts raccoons.

Bill: It does. Raccoons wont come and eat your beans. Most people are too lazy tocome and pick your beans so its not really a threat to anybody.

Brian: Is that true? Raccoons dont dig beans?




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Sara: Ive not seen it but I dont know that.

Brian: Thats good news!

Bill: They dont like beans. Theyre going to eat your corn though. Thats one thingtheyre going to do.

Brian: Alright, Sara, we only have a few minutes left so what I would like to do is,were always talking about off-the-grid type of mindsets. When we talk about beansits like they taste great. Weve got great recipes. But theyre really, as Bill said,theyre a superfood. Theyre packed full of nutrients. When we talked about leavinga little bit of dirt in the water, it comes from the earth. Just like whole grains, in your new book Homegrown Whole Grains, its a great thing to be able to plant, toharvest these things and what I love about your books is you teach us how to usethose after we harvest them in our own backyard.

Sara: Its really pretty simple. I live near Asheville, North Carolina and up there this might be good for your listeners to know people are you know that spacebetween the curb and the sidewalk in front of a house? Theyre tilling that up andplanting things in it.

Brian: Wow!

Sara: Yeah! So you could put some beans in there.

Bill: You can plant beans anywhere.

Brian: Thats certainly off-the-grid, Bill, if you find a plot adjacent to your propertyand you can grow on it, what a great idea.

Bill: As you long as you dont run into any government issues where youreviolating some state or local law, or North Carolinas law. But I think thats a greatidea. You can plant them anywhere. You dont want some inspector coming in andfining you $5,000 for illegal beans, Brian.

Brian: In the Peoples Republic of Illinois, where we live, I probably would besurprised if they didnt. Ladies and gentlemen, Im sorry, but its time for us to run.WE have had the whole hour this morning with Sara Pitzer. She is the author of one of my favorite books when it comes to cooking with dried beans obviously thetitle Cooking with Dried Beans. But also, you can check her out on amazon.com,Homegrown Whole Grains: Learn how to Harvest, Store, Grind and Cook withNine of the Most Important, Popular Whole Grains. Sara, were going to have to

have you back when we do a whole grains segment. But thank you so much for joining us today.

Sara: It has been a good time.

Brian: Very good. Thank you as always. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for listening to Off the Grid Radio. Be sure to email us with questions, comments,critiques at [email protected]. Of course you can find us on Facebook one of the fastest growing Facebook pages when it comes to off-the-grid living oddly enough, title Facebook.com/offthegridnews. Of course you can follow us on




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Twitter @offgridnews. On behalf of Bill Heid and everyone at Solutions fromScience our parent company and the entire crew at Off the Grid News, pleasekeep the suggestions coming because this was a perfect example weve heardfrom a lot of folks they wanted to do a show on beans and we listen here at Off theGrid News. Thank you so very much. An hour is a huge chunk, a very valuablechunk of your day. It truly is an honor to be able to spend it with you.

[0:52:57]

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5 Comm ents to B eans, Beans, The MagicalFru it Episode 053

1.

Paulhelsel says:June 17, 2011 at 8:37 am

My mother taught me that if I didnt plan ahead and soak beans over night, Icould bring them to a boil and then pour off the water. This has alwayseliminated the gas for me.

Reply Report comment 2.

viola says:June 17, 2011 at 11:41 am




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Thank you guys for a very informative morning for me in Houston. I read thereport and laughed along with you and after you. I grew up on beans, mostlypinto, black eyed peas, limas and fresh peas. I will be taking a look at other kinds of beans. Again, thanks for this info and I will pass it on to my friends.


toddma says:June 17, 2011 at 8:44 pm

Sara did not seem to know much about the beans you mentioned! Also youguys did all the talking and there were no recipes given like you said therewould be! A very poor guest and show! But I agree beans were veryimportant in the past and are becoming more important now. I will be growingthem and using them more now!

Thanks,Mike Todd


roycerolls says:June 21, 2011 at 6:45 pm

How about those receipes??? Hey, Ill settle for the names of somecookbooks or magazines, something. I live in Arizona, beans are a part of life,but this is my first year trying to grow them. HELP would be nice.


eileen morgan says:July 6, 2011 at 10:41 am

I would love to purchase the heirloom beans. Where and how do I get them. Isaw an email that said how to order them. I think the price was $99.00.Thanks

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beans, beans, the magical fruit ...– episode 053

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