Simple and Delicious Tuscan Bean Stew (and brining beans)

Brining: To have tender skins and not mushy beans - can help very old storage beans! (from Cooks Illustrated)
put1 lb beans in 4 quarts room-temperature water with 3 Tablespoons salt, soak 8-24 hours (long is good if the beans are old - even 36 hours won't hurt them). Rinse well and cook gently in your oven, for tender yet not mushy beans that keep their shape, as below (about 1 1/2 hours at 250 if already simmering when put in)

For Tuscan Bean Stew: (adjust ingredients to taste or with what you have on hand)
Heat oven to 250 degrees with rack down low enough to fit your soup pot
If you have a bit of bacon (maybe three slices) or pancetta, or a bit of good sausage, chop and brown it to render fat, (or pull a bit of bacon fat you saved in the freezer from making corn chowder) then add:
a bit of olive oil if needed
large chopped onion
chopped celery (2 stalks)  and
thin sliced carrots (3) and
cook til soft.
Add up to 8 peeled and crushed cloves of garlic - (or spoonful of store-bought minced garlic in jar) and cook another minute.
Add 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth and
3 cups water,
2 bay leaves, and
1 lb. previously brine-soaked, rinsed white beans.
Bring to simmer over high heat then cover and put in oven. Cook an hour then add :
a can of petite diced tomatoes and
your choice of greens (1 bunch kale or collard greens or spinach, chopped, or a bag of coleslaw cabbage, etc.) and
return to oven for about 45 minutes. Remove bay leaves, (you can mush some of the beans to make it thicker if you like).
I like to add Pensey's Foxpoint seasoning or "Nature's Seasons" or "Mrs. Dash".
Good served over thick toasted slices of country bread.