Saturday, April 30, 2011

April Beans

2010 was a tough year for bean pickers. I didn't search as many times as in the previous year and when I did the pickins were slim.

So far it looks like 2011 may be a better year. The higher tides and strong south winds have been producing heavy loads of sargassum.


We had a few opportunities to look for beans and found some keepers already. I found this sea heart and sea purse in just a few minutes after supper one evening.


The next day Tracy found this tropical walnut on a leisurely stroll near the beach access road.


A couple of weeks later we again took a short walk and I found a Mary's bean and another sea heart.


The last weekend in April the strong south winds continued to pile up the sargassum. The county has not yet started using the motor grader on the beach yet so with a little luck the sun will dry out the seaweed and expose some of the hidden treasure.


I found a few more hearts including this one crusted over with sea growth and a couple of hamburger beans.


I was surprised to find another Mary's bean before ending our search for the day.

This may be a sign of a great year for beans!

3 comments:

NaloMeli said...

Just got back from a few days at Surfside Beach, Texas (south of Galveston) and found several sea-hearts and hamburger beans. I think some of the sea coconuts as well. I really like your blog with the descriptions and pictures.

Happy beach combing!

dan/joy everett said...

I've just read several of your posts, including the earliest 2008 ones. It sounds so much like the experiences my husband and I have had beaning on western Louisiana beaches! Between us, we have found lots of sea hearts, hamburgers, purses, sea coconuts, scads of true coconuts, a few nickars, blisters. Today I found my first Mary's bean! And we leave the sea almonds, walnuts, etc. on the beach now, too.

Kathy said...

I found a bean as you call them. It's reddish brown and almost kidney shaped. Not sure what it is. What do you do with them?