A Riot of Color and Flavor

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Because I've never had both the space and time to grow them before, this is my first year as a bean farmer. We got these "Trail of Tears" beans from Seed Saver's Exchange, and I'm really delighted by them.

They were stupidly easy to grow (although a bit expensive), and they're just so beautiful. I set them down on a vintage lawnchair in the back yard and just about swooned when I saw their crazy purple shadows. This chair was a roadside scrounge from Hartford Connecticut. It also almost murdered my sister.




When Robb broke his back the first time, our lives came to a screeching halt. Like it or not, we had to slow the hell down. Our new Life in the Slow Lane gave us the opportunity to take time to appreciate the little pleasures in life. We got to look at things up-close.

How about these beautiful not-so-very-black beans? Aren't they beautiful?




And what about our flaming persimmon tree? A week ago, it had green leaves.

Persimmons are interesting because they hold their fruits longer than their leaves. I remember someone telling me a story about moving to California, and seeing what looked like tomatoes tied in bare trees.

Last spring, we had our poor neglected persimmon aggressively pruned by a professional arborist. And this fall we have a small harvest of fruits. Or, I should say, we have a small harvest of gigantic fruits.

It's sort of a lovely metaphor. The tree didn't have the opportunity to grow a lot of fruits, so it gave all its energies to the few fruits it had.

Comments

Anonymous said…
After living in New England for more than a decade, it is truly a delight to live and garden in California. We have year-round produce, varying colors of fruit, veggies, and flowers, not to mention the lovely leaves. We even have a poplar in our backyard that is gold and yellow right now - a small reminder of our New Hampshire Autumn color extravaganza. We love the way you appreciate ALL the aspects of what you grow.

Grumpy Grinch
Maple Leaf Red said…
OMG...those beans look so tasty. How will you use them? I bought fresh beets last week at the Farmers Market for my husband. While boiling them all I could think about was Who has some wool that needs to be dyed? Luscious coloring! Similar to your beans...
km said…
Those beans make me swoon too! I have finally come around to cooking my own beans (after years of buying canned) and now I'm dying to grow them.

Must. Get. Yard.

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