The Beans of My Heritage

My grandparents lived in Kent, and I remember visiting them as a child and playing in the garden. It was a wonderful garden for children. It was huge - by my standards anyway, and it had lots of 'sections'. There was the lawn, flowerbed and summer-house area. Then apple and pear trees, and then the green house and vegetables, and at the very bottom, the chickens. You went from the open grassy bit, through the apple tree bit into the 'working garden' bit. There were lots of places to hide, lots of trees to climb and lots of things to eat. My Grampy grew loads of things, from broad beans (which I hated then and hate now - and yes, I have tried again recently) to rhubarb, to grapes and tomatoes and carrots. But it is his runner beans which have become my heritage.

When my grandparents died my uncle managed to rescue many treasures from the house and the garden. Grampy died at the end of summer and there were nine runner bean plants with pods on. He had been growing his from saved seed for years and years. Everyone did. Why would you go out and buy new seed when you had your own that you had grown the year before? What a waste of money. So my uncle saved the seeds from these nine plants, and has kept them going as the same nine genetic lines. He grows them all in his garden, but as numbered plants, and saves one pod from each for seed for the next year. They cross pollinate, of course, but in an attempt to keep genetic diversity high he has the nine 'bloodlines' and plants one of each every year.

And now it is my turn to join him in this project. I have been entrusted with my own seeds from these Heritage Runner Beans. But they aren't just any old heritage runners, these are MY heritage. MY inheritance. These are (allowing for genetic changes) the beans of my childhood.

It's an awesome responsibility.
I have been given instructions on growing, labelling plants and pods, on seed saving and on protecting the precious plants from slugs and small boys.
I hope it all goes well, and that I have some delicious beans to eat, and can keep this heritage going. I hope I don't screw up.

There is already variability in the seeds. Some are bigger, some are purpler. I'll have to wait and see what variability there is in the actual plants.



You may notice that there is no bean #8. That plant didn't do well last year and only produced one bean. My uncle has kept this to grow in his garden. Hopefully it will do well this year and I will have a #8 next year.

I am full of hope, and full of fear. At least I am not the only one with these beans. There are two of us trying to keep this heritage alive now. That's double last year...