The Musical Fruit (Part 1)
Remember Jack and the Beanstalk? A young boy gets duped into buying magic beans. His mother tosses them out the window and they grow into a "stairway to heaven" that predated Zeppelin? Rings a bell? Good.
I can't say I ever gave much thought as a child to why it was a beanstalk and not a cucumber vine, or a giant head of cabbage. That is because I'd never planted beans before. And then it was obvious to me that neither had Jack's mother, or she would know that all beans are magic.
Planning for the garden this year involved a lot of talk about small space/high yield plants for food. We do have a spacious yard, but not much of it was cultivated, and so we ruled out melons and cucumbers and any other plant that requires an acre to really be worth it. Then mom said "well, there's always beans." And I shrugged and said, "Sure. I like beans."
And I do like beans. I read up on them and found out that beans, like peanuts, are legumes. And legumes are the soil conscious gardeners best friend. Legumes have a symbiotic relationship with a bacteria which produces its own nitrogen. Virtually every other plant out there consumes nitrogen and requires nitrogen. Some plants require a lot of it. So you're supposed to add it to your soil, which I don't like doing in general, and cycle your plants around your garden.
I made a hasty choice in a garden store between bush beans and pole beans, and ended up planting a row of bush beans in between two rows of lettuce, and on the sunny side of the tomatoes. I hoped that the nitrogen would get to the tomatoes and the lettuce. Within a few days there were sprouts with pretty big leaves, but nothing really seemed to be happening with those for a long time.
Then I read some more and found out that bush beans produce one crop and pole beans produce continuously. Plus, Mom said pole beans are cool. *facepalm* Why didn't you say this when we were picking seeds Mom? Alright. We'll get pole beans and I'll make a pole for them out of our sunflower stakes from last year.
This is where I really realized that beans are magic, and why Jack's particular story required a bean stalk. Now, I haven't planted many seeds in my garden- some nasturtiums from last year, some marigolds, and some okra which will most likely top the fail list. But beans grow faster than just about anything in my garden. Sprouts shot up within a week, and shortly after that they were six inches tall. Soon, they were growing at least four inches a day, finding the pole on their own and wrapping around any obstacle in their path.
Now, the beans are taller than I am, growing off the end of their pole, trying to get to that cloud kingdom of giants.
I can't say I ever gave much thought as a child to why it was a beanstalk and not a cucumber vine, or a giant head of cabbage. That is because I'd never planted beans before. And then it was obvious to me that neither had Jack's mother, or she would know that all beans are magic.
Planning for the garden this year involved a lot of talk about small space/high yield plants for food. We do have a spacious yard, but not much of it was cultivated, and so we ruled out melons and cucumbers and any other plant that requires an acre to really be worth it. Then mom said "well, there's always beans." And I shrugged and said, "Sure. I like beans."
And I do like beans. I read up on them and found out that beans, like peanuts, are legumes. And legumes are the soil conscious gardeners best friend. Legumes have a symbiotic relationship with a bacteria which produces its own nitrogen. Virtually every other plant out there consumes nitrogen and requires nitrogen. Some plants require a lot of it. So you're supposed to add it to your soil, which I don't like doing in general, and cycle your plants around your garden.
I made a hasty choice in a garden store between bush beans and pole beans, and ended up planting a row of bush beans in between two rows of lettuce, and on the sunny side of the tomatoes. I hoped that the nitrogen would get to the tomatoes and the lettuce. Within a few days there were sprouts with pretty big leaves, but nothing really seemed to be happening with those for a long time.
Then I read some more and found out that bush beans produce one crop and pole beans produce continuously. Plus, Mom said pole beans are cool. *facepalm* Why didn't you say this when we were picking seeds Mom? Alright. We'll get pole beans and I'll make a pole for them out of our sunflower stakes from last year.
This is where I really realized that beans are magic, and why Jack's particular story required a bean stalk. Now, I haven't planted many seeds in my garden- some nasturtiums from last year, some marigolds, and some okra which will most likely top the fail list. But beans grow faster than just about anything in my garden. Sprouts shot up within a week, and shortly after that they were six inches tall. Soon, they were growing at least four inches a day, finding the pole on their own and wrapping around any obstacle in their path.
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