Beans! Beans! They're Good for Your Heart!

Guess what I harvested this weekend and again today?

More BEANS! Actually, there was even another gallon zip bag full that I brought to school to give to my team teacher. What was in the picture above was enough to fill an entire large colander which just made me crazy-giddy.
I know I've belabored it enough, but this late summer planted green bean experiment has done so well because it's been cool at night, warm in the day and generally dry, so the beans did wonderfully. The bean beetles are getting to them now and the pole beans have just about quit, so there may only be one more harvest or two, but it was soooo worth the gamble. Hopefully next year will be as dry and we can try it again. I'm honestly almost considering not wasting the space in April to plant them for the summer and just waiting until the fall next year.

You know....I was in the middle of an explanation of the background to The Canterbury Tales today in class when a student shouted out, Mrs. _____ (the foods teacher) said you had a pretty awesome garden. I paused and replied, "I'm attracted to shiny things," which was about just as random as I could get in response to his equally random comment. Then, the buzz started moving around the room...."She's got a garden?" "Mrs. ____ gardens?" "She's nurturing enough to make plants grow?" and the comments continued until one student, the eloquent one, said, "You'll have to pardon us, Mrs. _____. You just don't seem like the gardening sort." I paused and absorbed the comment. Gardening is a relatively new hobby for me; it's only been three years since I started, and I'll admit, my mother once told me I shouldn't have children because I couldn't keep a house plant alive. However, there's a freedom, sovereignty and down right confidence that comes with growing your own food, so I paused and instead of chastising the class, said, "Yeah, but what I really want are chickens." Everyone jumped at listing who they knew who had chickens I could buy. One kid then said, "Hey you could name one Chaucer!" for which everyone else groaned because it got me back on track. Oh well. Such is the life.

On a teaching note segwaying very awkwardly into another Keychains for a Cause update, this beaded wristlet keychain went to a teacher who is a collector of antique jewelry. Her style is magnificently elegant yet understated and the keychain compliments her style and colors perfectly. She's a classic beauty.

We've got about three new designs that I'm going to put up later this week or this weekend. We've had a request, also, for black and gold keychains to match a local school's colors, so I'll have that up as well.

The morning comes early. Try not to overdose on green beans with me.