As a farmer you have to prep for summer vacation in a way I never have. Summer vacations may not even be an option for some. We considered skipping it again this year so we wouldn’t miss any ripe fruits or veggies, but we didn’t go anywhere last year and everyone needs a break, so we carefully mapped out a few days for a family vacation considering when we estimated everything would be ready. We may have cut it a bit close.
There are two garden mysteries that have been confounding me. I planted carrots three weeks ago and not one has sprouted. This was the second round and the first ones made an appearance very quickly. There are a pair of mockingbirds always keeping watch over the garden for me. You don’t plant carrot seeds deep. I suspect they ate them. Oh well. At least someone enjoyed them. The second mystery is the green beans. As in where were they? The plants flowered already and I hadn’t seen the beginning of a single bean. And I should also mention that we have a non-certified organic garden. We haven’t sprayed anything. The only thing that is going into our veggies is rotted hay, water, and sunshine. The weeds truly haven’t been bad. However when we planted the beans and peas we pulled the hay back to give the tiny green sprouts a chance. We want grass to grow in our clover filled yard so badly, but grass is an obstinate toddler refusing to go where you want it. “No. I won’t go,” it protests. “But this spot right here in the garden looks just right.” And so it was with the area reserved for green beans. We do have strong and thriving green bean plants but they are bordered on both sides by luscious and shiny dark green grass that sod farmers would covet. I quit fighting it and told myself the grass might be helping with moisture retention. After all there are no perfect, single species, straight rows in nature, and still the wild animals get plenty to eat. I mention the grass because until the weekend before our vacation, I never realized how much a blade of grass can look like a green bean. While I was cleaning out the garden before our trip, I decided I should dig into the plants and make sure there weren’t any green beans that needed to be picked. I was expecting a few handfuls that I could maybe make for dinner that night. I squatted down and lifted a few leaves at the end of a row and about fell over when I saw ten long slender beans on the first plant. I went back to the house and got a bigger collection bowl…
and filled it up…
and filled half of another.
Eight quarts of canned green beans later, I’m really glad I decided to check before we left! They wouldn’t have waited for us to take a vacation. Lesson leaned: Produce is ready when Produce is ready.
