I love seeds. Seeds tell me stories of cultures and families and soils. In a fold in fate that makes me grin, someone with whom I've had a few seed exchanges recognized my passion and passed my name on to another person, who through the death of a seed saving neighbor, was suddenly rich in historic bean seeds, and soon thereafter, I became rich in these seeds as well. Yesterday, a box of 33 varieties of beans—many quite rare, a few more familiar—arrived in my mailbox.
As soon as I heard these beans were coming my way, I recruited a team of local gardeners, some experienced, some new, and one even a former student, to help me maintain this collection by growing it out. We'll meet next Thursday at a local pub, where I'll distribute seeds, tools to perform small-scale mechanical isolation, and information on how to maintain varietal purity.
![](//2.bp.blogspot.com/-T41J-dv--QI/UzOTTsGrmDI/AAAAAAAAIS8/dsyNA2PE9Eg/s1600/DSC06116.JPG) |
Succotash |
![](//3.bp.blogspot.com/-q6aiJrfUkFs/UzOTT0FfmQI/AAAAAAAAITA/1ZHrvrcRSzE/s1600/DSC06118.JPG) |
Tucomares Chocolate Runner |
![](//4.bp.blogspot.com/-WXZCjj_H-gM/UzOTTvPM9fI/AAAAAAAAITE/Mj_j_pj4Gyw/s1600/DSC06120.JPG) |
Herren Bohnli |
![](//2.bp.blogspot.com/-Vqv4uQgxFSU/UzOTab79MMI/AAAAAAAAITk/nTstmLeQoPY/s1600/DSC06123.JPG) |
Falsetti |
![](//1.bp.blogspot.com/-KYAig2HXQwI/UzOTaYhn90I/AAAAAAAAITU/KyH3-1zPHmo/s1600/DSC06125.JPG) |
Sargas |
![](//1.bp.blogspot.com/-pnkLzVV96Do/UzOTamLR-sI/AAAAAAAAITY/E3wwU_JPoDo/s1600/DSC06129.JPG) |
Tennessee Wonder |
If the internet didn't exist, it is very likely all this history wouldn't be sitting in my lap. Yet, the internet does exist, and through it, in 2014, I have a box with a shy estimate of 2,500 years of seasons—droughts, floods, freezes, bounties, and lean years—right here with me on my couch in my house on the edge of a canyon.
Comments
Thanks once again, Christina, for an inspiring story!