after a long hiatus....can you tell me what these beans are called?

it's been a while and lots gone down. left one job, joined another - which isn't quite working out etc. life has been really hectic and unsettled and the last thing on my mind has been this blog. which is a shame because after a really long time i just thought of this and it made me really happy - because this is the one place (yes i realise it isn't a real place, so to speak) that i can say whatever i want and do whatever i feel like it and not have to second guess myself - incidentally, is this what it feels like to work for oneself?

today i want to show-off my garden. especially these super tasty beans that we have growing that wimale picked up from his village in the kegalle district. it is popularly called atakana bonchi (ඇට-කන-බොන්චි) the beans are a deep dark purple when they're dry and a greyish green when they're tender. I though they were a variety of black bean - but i can't be sure, if an agriculturally savvy blogger knows what they are actually called, i would really appreciate the info.

Then we have our amazing cherry tomatoes. they've been green on the stem for about a week before they all suddenly started ripening. they are amazingly beautiful to look at, and the perfect tomatoes for salad and pasta (tart with a touch of sweetness-mmmnomnom)

in addition to the beans and tomatoes, we also have since of the last two months one tiny strawberry plant that we have coaxed and cajoled in to existence that is (fingers crossed) doing well and has leaves the size of two rupee coins. it's an amazing little bugger - the only one of 10 seedlings we planted that survived, hopefully i'll be able to post a picture or two of the fruit not too far off in to the future.

in the floral department we have the eager to please kumudu flower, every day there are at least two little heads peeping out of the water just waiting for the right moment to bloom properly and as well as the one Nil Manel bud that has boldly stuck its head right out of the water (the picture is of this morning just before i left for work - fast little fellows the Nil Manel flowers are).

apart from my tumultuous career, everything else seems to be pretty much the same as it was before i abandoned this blog. fingers crossed better (more stable) times are just around the corner!