Fresh garden beans

I picked some of the first beans from the garden today. The purple ones are a variety called Red Swan, and the stripy ones are a variety called Dragon Tongue.

They look very pretty, but when you cook them, at least with water - either steaming or boiling - the color disappears and you have just green beans again. I don't know what happens if you stir-fry them. I'm sure I'll find out soon :-)

But they were very tasty. I made them my favorite way to have green beans: boil them with potatoes and onions, and a little bit of butter, salt, and pepper. Yum! We had them along with a ham steak I bought from the farmers market (local farmer, no nitrates, etc.), and some corn bread.