#Beans and #Kohlrabi

This is the time of ‘The Garden’. Time to harvest some of the vegetables we seeded and planted in the Spring. This morning I picked two ice-cream pails full of beans. I grow three varieties: The Golden Wax, Pencil Pod (the beans become black when they are ripe), and Purple Beans. Purple Beans are strange; they turn green when you boil them. All of them are bush beans and the beans are string-less.

This is the second time I’ve picked beans. The first time was Wednesday morning, when I picked a couple of ice-cream pails full. I took some along to our friends on Friday. We can’t eat all the beans, even though we try. Wednesday evening we ate them with a dill/cream-sauce. Delicious. Last night we just boiled them and ate them with a pinch of salt and some pepper, and for tonight’s supper my wife made a bean-salad. There are so many ways you can make beans. When I say we ate beans I mean we ate the shoots. The actual beans inside the shoots are tiny and not formed. Once the beans inside begin to ripen and the shoots are bulging out they are not tender anymore. Of course, anyone who grows beans knows that.

A couple of nights ago we had boiled Kohlrabi for supper. I planted a dozen plants in the Spring and they are coming along fine. The ones I harvested where about the size of a medium-sized apple. For the two of us we needed only two Kohlrabi. It is difficult to find Kohlrabi in the stores, and when you do they are expensive. Not everyone likes them. A friend of mine said Kohlrabi are nothing but a turnip that didn’t make it into the ground, because they grow above ground. Somehow I had the feeling he doesn’t like them. We love them and the ones we ate were delicious and tender. Kohlrabi do have the tendency to become woody if they are allowed to grow too large. Sometimes even the small ones can be woody.

A good-looking Kohlrabi just waiting to be harvested

With the Kohlrabi I barbequed a nice Pork tenderloin. It also was tender and scrumptious. We usually also have a bowl of lettuce. I cut it in the morning when it is still fresh and crisp. We’ve been eating our own lettuce for weeks now. Better than the stuff you buy in the store. No chemicals in our lettuce.

When I pick beans I always get a little bit religious. I give thanks for the great bounty I am able to harvest and I count myself lucky. Then my thoughts go to the people who are not so lucky and I feel sorry for them, sorry for the people who go hungry. But then again I have to stop myself and I think my pity may be misplaced. I think about the proverbs: No reward without effort; without pain no gain; Help yourself and God will help you. I’m sure there are plenty of other sayings out there with the same meaning.

Okay, some people have no means to grow their own food, but there are many who can. Anyone who owns or rents a house has a backyard, which means they can have a garden. It doesn’t have to be large like mine. Maybe twenty bean plants, a row of lettuce, six tomato plants, a few pepper plants, and a few beets. A couple of cucumber plants will round it out. These vegetables don’t require much room; in fact, they can be grown as a multi-vegetable plot. Sure, having a garden requires some work, like turning the soil in the Spring, seeding and planting, watering and picking the ripe vegetables. The time needs to be spent. Once in a while weeds need to be pulled. It is fun and very rewarding. Nothing can top fresh vegetables from the garden and there is the satisfaction of having accomplished something.

Some people just don’t want the trouble and that is okay if they can afford to buy their food and if they are happy with the not-so-fresh stuff you buy in the grocery store. However, those who cannot afford to buy food and have the means to grow their own but don’t want to be bothered should not whine about not having anything good to eat. I guess it is easier to go to the soup kitchen and have it given to them. This way they don’t even have to cook it.

Perhaps I am too harsh, but when I drive by these soup kitchens and I see able-bodied men and women standing there waiting for handouts I have no pity with them. There is a segment of people out there who think it is the government’s job to look after them. They expect to get everything for free but they give nothing of themselves. If they don’t get what they want they complain and whine about their lot in life. Like I said: No reward without effort.

It seems some people wait for a miracle to happen to get them out of their misfortune. Again: Help yourself and God will help you. Those words don’t seem to make much sense, but at closer look they do. I don’t want to sound like some kind of religious fanatic here or some mystic, but what it means is that in order for something to happen we have to start the ball rolling ourselves. We have to take the initiative. Anyone with a sound mind has to admit that there is some kind of super-intelligent force controlling everything. It is inside all of us and we are part of it. It is that force that gives us and every living thing life. Some may call this force God, Divinity, Allah, Great Spirit, and other names. Scientists may call it ‘the Universe’ or just ‘The Force’. It doesn’t matter what we call it, that force exists.

This force will not put that bean into the ground for us; that is our job, but once the bean is in the soil, the force will take over. That bean will sprout and break through the soil. The tiny seedling is alive. Then it is our job to water it and take care of it. The tiny plant will grow into a large plant, and finally it will bear fruit, in this case beans. And lots of them, but they don’t pick themselves. Again, that is our job. We eat the beans, but we also let some ripen and we save them for next year when the cycle begins again. A miracle did indeed happen here, but we were part of it. We made it happen with the help of the spirit that resides everywhere.

Growing that bean plant may not be an easy ride. Lots can go wrong. It may never sprout. When it does some animal might pull the little seedling out of the ground and eat it or the sun might burn it. Should it make to maturity we may get hail that destroys it or it may just shrivel up and die for no apparent reason. Much can happen, but that is the way things are. Nothing ever comes easy. There are pitfalls along the way, even for a tiny bean plant. But when it does grow beans it was worth all the trouble and all the hard work to keep it alive.

Aah, I should have become a preacher or a philosopher. This whole thing boils down to this: I enjoy my garden and I don’t mind the hard work that goes with it. I’m looking forward to picking my first tomato and the first pepper. All being well my potatoes will be plentiful. The plants are healthy looking and green and they are full of flowers. I hilled them a while ago to keep the potatoes that are hopefully growing in the ground from turning green. I sprayed the tomato and the potato plants today with Bordo, which supplies the plants with copper, to keep them from getting the Blight. That’s when the leaves turn yellow and the plant dies

Something I want to add. Before I had a garden I knew nothing about gardening, but I read books, talked to people, and after twenty years I am still learning. I am constantly studying how to grow better plants. Even that is exciting and has its own rewards. Having a garden keeps my mind sharp and my body in shape, not to mention the satisfaction it gives me to put great vegetables on the table.

Happy Gardening to everyone who has a garden. Enjoy your rewards and don’t be afraid to feel a little bit smug about it.