Chop all of your vegetables up in fairly even size, so they cook evenly. Put your ham bone in a large stock pot, Dutch oven, or slow cooker. Dump in all your vegetables.

Add the beans, undrained if using canned, drained if you soaked dried beans the night before. Pour in 4 cups of water.

Bring to a low simmer on the stove top. Allow to simmer for about 2 hours, stirring every now and then.

Once meat is falling off the bone, transfer bone to a plate. Using tongs, pick off any good chunks of meat remaining on the bone, and put meat back into soup. Add a dash of pepper and salt. Serve.