Magic Bean Seeds
I can’t help but think that the magic beans in Jack and the Beanstalk must have been Scarlet Runner Beans. When you hold the seeds in your hand they feel heavy for their size—so it’s not hard to imagine that they are concealing a secret inside their mottled purple shells.
Runner beans must be eaten very young because the green pods quickly grow tough and develop an unappetizing fuzzy skin. I often miss that critical harvesting window, but the dry beans taste good, so I just leave the bigger pods on the vine and wait to harvest the mature bean seeds. About this time of year, I rip the vines out of the ground and pick off all of the tawny brown bean pods. I usually let the pods dry indoors for another couple of weeks before I remove the beans. I drop a handful into a paper envelope and set them aside to plant the following year and the rest end up in my big, blue soup pot!
Gorgeous! I’d be interested to know your bean recipe too.
September 9th, 2009 at 6:20 pmBean seeds to me are always the most beautiful things in the world. They come in so many colors, sizes and shapes. Right now I’m reading The Bean Harvest Cookbook which is half cookbook half other things, like history, growing, harvesting and even yes beans in fairy tales. My favorite part is finding out where all the different kinds of beans came from.
September 10th, 2009 at 7:42 amI love these plants. I picked up two varieties at Monticello earlier this year. One has a red and white flower; the other is traditional pure scarlet. Both are just beautiful. We’ve been eating the fresh beans this summer, but I think I’ll let some seed now. We’re a little snapbean’d out at this point, with many frozen and pickled for winter. Now to let some dry! Maybe when I pull out the intermingling vines I’ll find my golden goose
September 10th, 2009 at 7:57 amOh wonderful, these are on my “to try” list for next year!
September 21st, 2009 at 3:29 pmWe have grown these beans for many years. I often carry a few in my pocket to pass along to folks I meet, and without a single exception even total strangers have been enchanted by the beautiful seeds. We have always called them magic beans; I have traded some for items at music festivals, and once when I didn’t have enough cash to buy a book the shop owner took the remainder of the sum in beans, and passed them along to his young children to plant. We have used the beautiful flowers to attract hummingbirds and butterflies, and it is one of the prettiest blossoms in the garden. The real magic of the bean is not merely in its beauty and versatility, but in the fact that countless generations of future beans are wrapped up in such a small package. (Oh yeah, you can eat them too…)
October 22nd, 2009 at 6:05 am