Pole Beans for Victory

You know you are having a good crop of pole beans when you need to get out the step ladder to harvest. I have recently fallen in love with pole beans, and I'll tell you why. Firstly, they are prolific as this picture attests; and with a tall trellis, one can get quite a yield from just a few square feet of garden space.

Secondly, they are a legume, and you should know by now that legumes are good for your soil, in that they fixate nitrogen from the atmosphere,and deposit it in the rootzone. When picked young, they are sweet and delectable. I like the classic Blue Lake strain, but there are many good ones, and I also grow a strain bred Charles Ledgerwood, known for years as "The Seed Man of Carlsbad"

Which brings us to the last point, and that is that it is very easy to save the seeds from season to season by just letting a few bean pods mature and dry out right on the vine. Once the husk has yellowed and the seeds rattle a bit, they are easy to pop out and into a jar or ziplock for the next planting season. And here in Southern California, that is nearly year round, certainly from early spring to mid summer at least.

    
     The simple trellis for these beans was made from a 4x8 piece of concrete reinforcing mesh, less that $10 at the local Home Depot, zip tied to some 2x2 poles salvaged from the landscaping of some new construction nearby.  Viola!  a tall, sturdy trellis that can be disassembled and moved at a moments notice.  We also use the concrete reinforcing wire screens for tomato cages.  This product is very useful in the garden, and lasts for years.

     So I encourage all you nascent gardeners out there to get your trellis together and get your pole beans on!  You won't be sorry.  Just be sure to harvest when they are young and tender, and remember to leave a few pods to mature to provide the seeds for next season.

I wish you all a bountiful garden and life.
Now get out there and grow something.
Peace,
Swami bruce

Wums!!!

       The little ones at the Learning Tree Preschool in Cardiff, California were excited to get in on the composting craze.  With the foresight and insight of parents Steve and Jayshree Gherkins and teacher Anita Hoban, a lovely vegetable garden was installed for the kids, where they can began to learn the fundamentals of gardening.  And what is a vegetable garden without a compost bin?  So Swami bruce, worm wrangler and Master of Compost Technology swooped in with a City subsidized compost bin and a bucket of worms to start the process. 
     Working with preschoolers is a challenge, to say the least.  They are so adorable and funny, you cannot help but be charmed.  But then again, it is like herding cats! And when 10 little sets of little hands all want to hold a "wum" all at the same time, punctuated by a few high decibel shrieks when said worms start to wiggle, well, I realized that preschool teachers are not paid nearly enough! 
       I was able to explain to the kids that worms are our friends, that they like it dark and moist, and that they eat the food scraps that we throw away.  I showed them what the finished compost would look like, dark and rich and full of worms.  Every child was then encouraged to bring food scraps from home to feed the worms.  When I went back for a follow-up visit, they were already harvesting summer squash for lunch; and when kids grow vegetables, they usually will eat them! I also met the lovely Susan Finklestein, who is writing a children's book about the garden, including a character named "Swami bruce, the worm man."
       I hope that the seeds of a love of gardening will take root with these nascent gardeners.  And may their garden grow and produce much good edibles for the students and teachers alike. 
Now get out there and grow something.
Peace,
Swami bruce