Beans: good for the belly and the spirit

I had a surprisingly difficult time dragging myself out to the garden today. I have no idea why; I mean I created this garden, I lobbied for this student internship. I suppose I was just being a lazy, moody teenager. Thankfully I only have three more months, in theory, to endure those plaguing moods.

By 11:45am I had arrived at Baker Campus and set to work on my goal for the day: get the beans in the ground, by God! before it's too late. But, since I had set my mind to plant a vining variety, a trellis became the first order of business.

There are all kinds of contraptions out there built for the purpose of growing beans using string, wire, poles, supports, etc., but me being new at this sort of thing, I took Dick Raymond's advice in his book Joy of Gardening and built a teepee. Why should I trust Dick's preferences, especially if they're spelled out in a book from 1982? Haven't things changed since then? Well, for one, he got someone to publish his book. That's pretty legit in my humble opinion. Secondly, the idea of a teepee was more than favorable to me. I am still a teenager after all, which means it wasn't too long ago that I was a child. I'm still allowed to have childish longings to hide away in secret forts, right? Actually, mostly I trust Dick Raymond because Tom, the college's Sustainability Coordinator, our advisor in this endeavor, and amazingly knowledgable in all things gardening, recommended this book. Its old, but the things he says are still true. I suppose, there are only so many ways to stick a seed in the ground and watch it grow.

After not too much contemplation, a teepee was constructed. I used four bamboo poles Tyler had previously chopped down from a neighbor's yard. We legitimized this action by telling ourselves that the bamboo was encroaching on the college's property and it was clearly ours for the taking. I mean, it does grow amazingly fast, and there was so much of it, I'm sure thy wouldn't mind giving some to poor college students trying to prove to the college and to the world that small-scale organic gardening is effective, worthwhile, and worth investing in.

The bamboo poles were each about ten feet tall; nine feet after they had been buried in their designated places, which was about four and a half feet apart. Maybe it was a bit large, but i'll gladly sacrifice ease of harvesting to be able to fit inside the teepee. I then placed 3 more bamboo poles parallel to the ground and tied them to the base of the erect poles on three sides of the teepee. I tied three strands of twine, evenly spaced, to each parallel pole and attached them to the top for further vining area and cover for the teepee. I just hope the twine will last through the season.

Finally after spending way too much time constructing my second home for the summer, I planted the seeds. They are called Italian pole beans, which we ordered from Seeds of Change. A pretty standard type of bean, but I figured we couldn't only plant crazy, strange, and exotic vegetables that we don't know the first thing about preparing. The package of the beans describes them as "the finest flavored snap bean" We shall see.

Things we might need to remember:

• 6-14 days to germination
• 60-70 days to maturity
• keep seedbeds moist, but once established, "deep, infreuquent watering encourages deep roots and strong stems"
• pick when young and tender

I also planted the "Amish Nuttle Bean", a Happy Cat Farm seed packet we purchased from Space to Grow downtown. I planted them between the two rows of sweet corn. I hope they have enough room. The packet says they're a Native American bean variety that was traditionally planted as a companion plant to corn. I trust the Indians, they did know how to survive in the North American wilderness after all.

I finished by hawling a cartful of compost to the garden, generously donated by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. I fed the non-existent beans, the corn, cucumber, watermelon, squash, herbs, beets, and tomatoes. I had no real method, and truthfully I don't really know if it was helpful to the sprouts. Is there such thing as too much compost? The only thing I did know was that I didn't want to hawl the cartful back the the pile of unused compost sitting on the outskirts of the garden, lonely and forlorn. I was careful not to give compost to the pepper plants. I don't know where, but I read that peppers actually do better without nutrient additions.

I forewent weeding. The weeds have Thoreau and his views on weeds having just as much right to life, as well as my lack of motivation, to thank for their extra day among the living.

At the end of the day I had no regrets. Even after for hours of laboring, I felt more energized than I had before I started. It's just so satisfying and refreshing spending your time out in the sun, sinking your fingers into the earth, and breathing life into these tiny seeds. And in turn, they breath life into me.