A Garden Profile --Garden of a 12 Year Old Boy

I have a friend who homeschools. She has a 12 year old boy who has befriended an elderly man they call "Mr. Ben." Mr. Ben has a huge garden and his garden got this 12 year old interested in gardening.

It is the 12 year old's garden. It isn't the garden of the mother. It isn't the garden of the father. It is his. He decides what to put in the garden. He borrows the rototiller from Mr. Ben. He plants okra, cucumbers, cantaloupe, watermelons, and tomatoes.

I asked him what his favorite plant is. He said, "Okra, by far, okra."

Very cool.

And kudos to the parents for allowing him space to follow his interests. 

A Story about Field Peas

After reading several posts by Kris at Georgia Home Garden about field peas, I decided to hunt some field peas down to fill the beds when I remove the corn. I have gotten interested in heirloom seeds, so I spent a good bit of time looking through different sites, trying to find an unusual variety to (possibly) preserve. The plan was to plant some unusual variety of cowpea (field peas, crowder peas, cream peas, Southern cowpeas--as far as I can tell these names represent the same type of plants.) I would grow it, and if my family and I liked it, I would save it, and possibly offer it on Seed Savers Exchange.

I spent several hours on different websites looking for something that sounded "just right." I asked Kris his opinion, and considered that as well. All in all, I spent too much time on the idea of field peas. Then (Yes, I agree, it was too late. I should have asked my husband first.) Then I asked Greg. He said, "I love Pink Eye Purple Hull peas." Well. I should have just asked him. Then I wouldn't have spent so much time trying to find some other variety.

So I placed an order with St. Clare Seeds for Pink Eye Purple Hulls. After I received my packet of seeds, I decided that I really would need more seeds than that, so I placed another order for more of the same seeds. The second time, St. Clare Seeds sent me a free packet of Mississippi Cream Cowpeas.

I had a few bare spots in the Twenty Foot Garden. On a whim, I planted the Mississippi Cream peas in those spots. I planted approximately 40 seeds. I gave the rest to my children. They "planted" them around the yard.

I was surprised and pleased at how quickly they grew. I had almost 100% germination.

Now to the really interesting part of this story. I had never heard of these beans. I planted them on a whim.

My mother-in-law came by and wanted to see the garden. I showed her what I had, explaining what everything was. I mentioned the name "Mississippi Cream peas," and she squealed. I have never heard her make that sound. I looked at her sideways. What did that sound mean?

She explained, "My Granny Johnson loved Cream Peas. They didn't sell them in Mobile. Every year she would make us (meaning my father-in-law and her) go back to Andalusia to get a bushel of Cream Peas."

It really moved her that I was growing these beans that reminded her of her Granny Johnson.

Now I feel that the Lord gave me a gift. Free beans, yes, but more than that. A story of my kids' heritage. A story I would never have heard if I had not planted these beans.

A side note about this: those beans were rare in the Mobile, Alabama in the 1990's when her grandmother died, according to my mother-in-law. She has personally not eaten them at all or seen them offered for sale since her Granny Johnson died. Even way back then, the beans were rare. I did a search of these beans on the Seed Savers Exchange 2012 Yearbook. They are not listed at all. Not one member of the Seed Savers Exchange has Mississippi Cream Peas on offer. I will list mine if I get enough.

Please, if you have seed that can be saved, consider saving it. It's not very hard, and the variety may not be available if you don't help. 

On My Mind-- Scarlet Runners

I harvested a dinner plate full of Scarlet Runner beans. They were big--as long as my children's heads. They felt like the beans were mature inside. When I peeled them (which was no easy feat, by the way), the beans were still teeny. I ended up with about 2 tablespoons of beans. They tasted okay when I cooked them, but that is really a lot of trouble for not much.

Later, I harvested some of the smaller beans and tried them as green beans. They feel sticky on the tongue, even after cooking. It was quite uncomfortable for me.

They have been coming in almost daily, but I can't bear to eat them. I don't like them shelled and I don't like them cooked like green beans. Now I am dithering about what to do with these plants. I like the beauty of the flowers. I like that hummingbirds and bumblebees stop by and drink nectar from them. But the taste appalls me.

I pulled all the Scarlet Runner Beans from my Twenty Foot Garden. I decided that they weren't worth the space back there. I just don't know what to do with the ones in the front yard garden. 

Flowers and Passion Fruit

We have had about 2 inches of rain since I reported the inch of rain on Monday. Praise the Lord!

Everything is perking right up after that wonderful rain.

My kids have seen the hummingbirds more than I have. They have seen them 4 or 5 times. I was worried about pollination on the Scarlet Runners, because I haven't seen many bees, either, yet this year. In several places, the places where there were flowers now look like this. Just a nub.

But today I found this.

Do you see those 2 little baby beans right in the center of the picture? I have several more that look like that. So I am hopeful that we will get to eat some scarlet runner beans. (We plan to use them as shelly beans, because I had heard they taste similar to butterbeans and my crew likes those pretty well.)

In the Twenty Foot Garden, I have been watching my green beans. Today I saw the first flowers. Yea. We may be eating fresh organic green beans soon.

Then, just after I lay my youngest down for her afternoon nap, I got a call. "Do you think I could stop by?" Dot Dot wanted to know. "Sure. Come on," I said. 

She came and brought me red passion fruit vines! Woot! Woot!

Now to just get these planted. 

And here are the purple ones she gave me a couple weeks ago.
They still look weak, but they still seem to be hanging in there.
The rain does seem to have perked them up some. 

It is great to have friends willing to share pass-along plants with you. :) 

View of Dot Dot's Garden

In a former post, I told of getting some passion fruit vines from our dear friend Dot Dot. I don't know whether my passion fruit vines will make it. They look pretty weak so far. Here's hoping.

But I had the opportunity to walk around her garden with her today. 

This is an overview of the front yard. She didn't know I was coming.
It always looks this good. 

Here is an overview of the back yard. 

This is her husband's plot of ground. He caged it to keep the
birds out of his tomatoes.

She has about 400 day lilies. I don't know how many gladiloli she has. I forgot to ask, but she has little clumps of them all over her yard.

I asked her what her favorite plant of all the ones she has is. She said that she really doesn't know. She loves her glads, she loves her day lilies, she loves her hydrangeas and hibiscus. 

I asked her to name her favorite day lily. The one that is blooming. 

I asked why she stopped buying day lilies. She said that she and a friend would shop for them together. They would buy one and split it so that each of them could have one in her yard. A few years ago, they just stopped.

"Why?" "There was no more room to plant them."

On a side note, her husband's garden is a new arrival. He has only been gardening for 3 years. He asked his wife for more of the yard for his garden. She said "No." 

I will leave you with a few close ups of some of her beautiful flowers.

blooming day lilies

blooming day lily

almost finished blooming amaryllis lily

Passion Fruit Vines

Passion Fruit Flower Picture from Wikipedia

Click the link for a picture.

One of the treasures of our family is a wonderful couple named Dot Dot and Robert. They take up a great deal of time with my kids and lavish them with loving attention. My children simply adore them.

They have a wonderful garden. I have been asking Dot Dot if I could photograph it for you. I know you would enjoy it, too.

In conversation, I told them that I had read online that Passion Fruits were edible. After a long discussion, I offered to be the guinea pig. I ate a couple of the fruits last fall. They have an interesting, unusual and perfumey flavor, to me anyway. And maybe a bit slimy. I think I could get used to it, but it is nothing like anything I have ever experienced.

So the fruit is edible.

The flowers, Oh the flowers are stunning.  They are completely covered with bees. They have this really interesting stamen that stands up from the flower. The ones at Dot Dot's house are purple with light yellow. After the bees finish with the nectar, the caterpillars take over and harvest the leaves. These are the caterpillars of the Gulf Frittilary butterfly. Passion Fruit is their favorite host plant.

Click here for an image of the Gulf Fritillary.

So the Passion Fruit Vine is also an important part of maintaining our butterfly friends and feeding our bee friends.

She gave me some today. I hope they grow. I'll take pictures if I get anything from them.

(Man, I hope we get some. I would love for my kids to get to see the life cycle of the Gulf Fritillary. Wouldn't that be a cool science thing for them?)

Humor

I found this on Facebook.