A reader wrote to me recently to ask about my family heirloom beans.
I guess I have been pretty remiss at posting about the kitchen garden in general. Not sure why that is. It’s almost as if, when I softened the focus last autumn, I gave myself permission to incorporate the whole Earth into the blog — and that’s made visits to this small, restful little spot figure less frequently into our interactions here.
But I really do want to return to blogging about the kitchen garden more often in the coming weeks and months. Not just because we’ll be leaving it soon (and I can barely type that without tearing up), but because it is the ground of my own daily interaction with Mother Nature. This is where it gets personal.
I pay more attention to the tiny changes here: the most insignificant creatures who show up to feast or mate or seek shelter capture my interest and take me out of myself and into the present moment. The weather matters more to me because I never forget the beloved roots that need rain, the leaves that need sun, the delicate blossoms that refuse to set fruit if the temperatures climb too high. When something is ripening, I’m the one who’s going to eat it. (Well, either me or F.)
All of this life is going on right outside my door. I’m so grateful.
Here’s an example.
These beans appear to me to be saying. “Hey, thanks for the homemade support and all. But if it’s all the same to you, we’ll just lean on each other.”
Obviously, the family heirloom is doing fine. Better than fine. It’s been thriving in this heat. That shot was taken a few weeks ago, and those carefully-crafted supports F. and I put together with biodegradable twine and branches found on the forest floor… yeah, they don’t seem to need them so much anymore. The mass of foliage is growing about two feet above the supports.
And because I’m not so anxious that I will accidentally render them extinct this year, we’ve been actually eating the beans much earlier in the season. Last year, with the entire living heritage down to exactly 25 seeds, I would not allow any of the earliest beans to be picked, but immediately reserved them for seed. This meant leaving them on the vines until the seeds were mature and the seed pods had begun to dry a bit in place.
Any bean-grower will tell you, the key to an abundant bean harvest is to pick early and pick often. The plants tend to keep producing much more abundantly and over a longer season if one is careful to keep them picked.
Now that I have jars of these seeds in storage at my sister’s and mother’s houses, as well as in my own fridge, I’m able to eat green beans going and coming, and appreciate their special and, to me, familiar and well-loved flavor. I’ve been eating these beans since I was a child, long before I learned that the seed had been passed down in the family through the generations, for over a hundred years, according to the oral tradition.
If you’d like a recap on the family heirloom seed and its saga of coming back from the brink last year, plus some beautiful meditative insights given to me while watching its restoration, here are the links to the relevant posts from the 2009 growing season. The dark links marked with a star are the posts I rank highly, as fine examples of my own writing and photography.
- heritage (the basic background story)
- tangle * (the original homemade supports — I just love this post!)
- cosmos feeling a little droopy today (the erratic weather’s effects on the crop)
- you need them both* (the mixed colors of the seed)
- beneath the canopy (the real underside – plus delicious recipe from F.’s home country)
- not jack’s beanstalk (on growing beans as a children’s garden project)
- a cord of three strands (the family part of family heirloom)
- yin & yang* (one of my best posts)
- the circle of life (deep thoughts about the seeds – a popular post)
- best 9 in ’09 (a recap of the 2009 season, family heirloom’s recovery celebrated)
Yes, I like to write about this bean!
If you’re new here, I hope these posts are a helpful primer about the kind of thing that goes on here at the blog. If you’ve already read all of that stuff — well, hey, I’m glad you’re still along for the ride, my friends. That means a lot to me.
In either case, I wish you a beautiful Monday!
Namasté, y’all.
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I’m new but it sounds like you have been planting the same bean string for some time.
You’re packing up to go
but you’d rather stay
F’s job it seams
is taking you
far away
desk49´s last blog ..For a Ladys Hand-
No worries about being new, Ellis. I’ve only been planting these beans since last summer, when the family heirloom seed was passed into my sole keeping. Rather a large responsibility, it seems to me now. But somehow it worked out okay.
We have no idea where we’ll end up. My work is portable, and F. is finishing his degree soon, looking for a place. Cross your fingers for us; won’t you?
Fabulous story, thanks for all the links back to the history. I know nothing about beans, but you make them sound great!
And I love the new look, Meredith. The new skills have paid off!
So glad you enjoyed that romp through the archives, Merrilee, and that you like the new look! I wonder sometimes, do you even need to know much about growing beans or any kind of gardening at all, to “get it” here? It’s almost impossible for me to objectively answer that. But more and more, I’d say I’ve got a lifestyle/personal blog on my hands, rather than a gardening blog…
I’ll be interested in hearing where you and F. end up next. I hope there will be a good place for a garden. It is always lovely reading about your garden – I look forward to hearing about that, too.
Lynn´s last blog ..In the mist- protection and seasoned with love
You and me both, Lynn. It is kind of scary, staring off into the distance and seeing only unknowns. But then, in reality life is always like that, and everything can change moment to moment. It’s only habit and a kind of egoic hypnosis that keeps us imagining we know the future and its possible contours.
Wherever we go, I’m hoping to keep blogging about it all. Should be an exciting journey!
Hey, I don’t see no pictures of giants or geese or golden eggs! I think you may be holding a few tasty secrets of the magic bean from us, Meredith!
I enjoyed looking back through some of your recommended posts too. My favourite so far has to be the yin and yang one. The way those two vines twisted together in a deathly embrace was creepy enough, but the fact that one went white while the other went black really made me walk away from the computer for a little bit! Brrr!
Yup, I’m afraid I get weirded out by stuff like that. I don’t really understand why!
LOL, Tony. I actually thought just this morning, when bringing in the newest harvest, that I almost wish for a gullible “Jack” to come along who’d like to trade me the modern equivalent of a milk cow for a handful of my beans. But only if I got to keep plenty of seed to keep the crop going.
Nobody willingly sells their seed corn… well, except perhaps politicians, sometimes.
Isn’t that crazy, how the vines died? I’m so glad someone else got how utterly wild and amazing that was. I was just stunned, too, when I realized you could not even separate them in death. When we cleared the vines to prep the soil for spring planting, in winter, they went together the whole way.
I hope it didn’t not really upset you, however. Just think, the cycle continues fresh this year…
I just followed one of my favorite tropical bloggers ( Lona) over to your site. I love your art from the garden. Your images are breath taking and truly inspiring.
Great bean share as well – I can’t wait to return to see what you share later in the season.
Bren´s last blog ..Bringing Glamour to the Garden
Hi, Bren. I’m so glad you did. And your tweet follow helped me discover your lovely blog before I even saw this comment.
Thanks for the compliments!
Meredith, I love the new layout and the soft colors – lovely!
The beans are thriving! Oh, I can just taste them! I’m glad you can enjoy them without fear of not having enough seeds. It’s truly remarkable all the life – above, at ground level, and below – that takes place in just one teeny tiny piece of the earth and it’s wonderful to be able to appreciate it and grow from it and revel in it. Which is one of the greatest things about your blog
Talon´s last blog ..A Sharing Connection
Thank you, Talon. Those words are so lovely and uplifting. As far as the design goes, the colors will probably change with the seasons, but maybe less frequently than before with the rotating header, so that I can focus on the individual posts more.
And as far as the other stuff, I’m glad “appreciate,” “grow from it,” and “revel in it” were things that described my blog to you. I’m grinning now.
oh golly the new header, oh my, I’m feeling that I may need to jazz my humble blog up a bit, to keep up xx
carrie´s last blog ..Berries everywhere!
Oh, Carrie, I’m glad you like it. But I don’t find your blog “humble” — more like highly creative and original and inventive. Only alter what you want to alter as your vision requires it of you. We’ll all love whatever you do.
Oh, a spiffy new look Meredith, I like it! My beans kept doing the same. A little velcro as encouragement to attach them to the support helped, but now they’ve reached the top of the poles, they’re twining around each other reaching for the sun. Then there are a few sneaky lateral shoots that reached out and throttled a poor young cornus and my Meyer lemon! Who knew beans had such an independent streak?
Curbstone Valley Farm´s last blog ..Symphyotrichum chilense
Thanks, Clare. It’s not nearly as professional-looking as your own, but it’ll do. (By the way, speaking of your blog, I fell in love with that slideshow header all over again tonight when the little snake was there, sticking his red tongue out at me. So cute!)
Are y’all getting a lot of heat? That was my guess as to why the beans are just galloping all over the place this year. They do like it hot!
I hope you were able to protect your Meyer lemon and the cornus. (Esp. the cornus. Personal soft spot and all.
)
Your Yin Yang post and this enchanted post intertwine so nicely.
Love your words: “take me out of myself and into the present moment”
gemma´s last blog ..Cut arrange paste
Oh, I’m glad you got to read that one, Gemma. Somehow the yin yang post seems to be a perfect fit for how I feel your energy. If you know what I mean.
Remember the story of Jack and the Beanstalk? You always have the choice to take some magic beans and other seeds with you wherever you go. Who knows what will grow where and when you choose to plant them? No doubt we’ll find you nestled comfortably in the enchanted forest known for its magical vegetables.
Liara Covert´s last blog ..Drop the self-deception
Oh, some seeds are definitely traveling with us, Liara.
Of course, we have no idea if they will survive or be adapted to the new local conditions. They’ve been selected for the climate in North Georgia for over a century, and we’ve already dragged them to SC, with a slightly different climate and soil, but really it’s not a huge change. But then, we’ll all have to roll with the changes, beans, and cats, and F., and me.
In a way, I always carry an enchanted forest with me, you know?
Hi Meredith
What a pleasure to check out your site (and garden
I enjoy learning about gardening as this is something that I am getting into. The idea of growing my own, whether it be beans or other veggies, or fruits, etc… is so exciting.
I love how you put it that yes, life is going on right outside – so often we miss that there is so much life inside and outside of us.
Evita´s last blog ..Double Take
Thank you, Evita. I wish you a joyful, exuberant, abundant journey into gardening. I love newbie gardeners! If you have questions, I can direct you to blogs that are great resources for the how-to stuff. I do more of the daydreamy, meditative, “deep thoughts” part of gardening on this blog.
It is easy to get lost in our busy lives and forget the wonder of it all. I agree.
I’d comment on your post, but I am distracted by the new banner and buttons. I LOVE them! I keep scrolling back up to admire them again.
Elizabeth´s last blog ..ode to joy- volume 28
Oh, yay! That means so much to me, Elizabeth, because I admire your artistic vision and your taste.
This is the exact beauty of heirloom seeds. I grow my heirloom veggies with some reverence, but how special for you that they’re your family seeds.
Wendy´s last blog ..Growing- buying- cooking Chinese long bean