That’s one of the things I love about gardening.  There is always something new to find, new to see, perhaps new to taste.  Take for instance, these yellow pole beans, just planted last week.  When you try a new variety, you never know how they’ll do- if they will even germinate and burst forth from the ground.  With these beans, I have 100% germination.  Every single bean planted has sprouted.  I planted heirloom beans, Marvel of Venice, which is an Italian heirloom that produces long, flat beans.

My grandfather used to grow flat yellow beans.  One thing I remember most about my grandpa was that he always had a lush garden- he always seemed to be growing something new, and just about every space that could be planted with something was planted.  I remember warily eyeing the eggplants that he grew- they seemed scary to me, and as I recall, no one ever ate them…but he still grew them.  I remember the yellow beans though, because I didn’t much care for them.  I remember eating them cooked with melted butter, and biting in and seeing the enormous purple seed pods- I liked beans, but these just weren’t my favorite.  As it turns out, the variety he grew were actually Scarlet Runners, an heirloom which I’ll have to try someday, simply because Grandpa grew them.  I also remember where he grew them- on Grandma’s clothesline.  She had those clotheslines that were a basic metal “T” on either end, and Grandpa had rigged up some lattice one one of those T’s and I clearly remember the massive bean bush…I wonder if they crept out onto the clothesline at all once they reached the top.   I have memories of going to visit Grandpa every summer and spending time just exploring the garden- he was always proud to show something off.  Sadly, he was taken away long before I ever had an interest in gardening.  I imagine he would have had tons of little nuggets of advice for a novice gardener like myself. 🙂

This plant is one that I suspect Grandpa had never even heard of, let alone tried to grow, and that would be a tomatillo.  I’m beginning to be a bit concerned about my use of a pot for these guys- those are awfully big leaves.  I recall seeing the Manic Organic picking tomatillos and how abundantly loaded his busher were with tomatillos…but I definitely don’t remember them being monster plants.  I have three plants, all destined to be turned into some Salsa Verde.  Without even seeing a blossom though, I’m wondering if I should start enhancing my supply of canning jars now.

These seedlings are the Patty Pan Squash that I’m growing.  I never actually intended on planting these this year.  I was going to skip zucchini altogether this year, but then I decided to order some smaller, more compact, yellow summer squash.   Well then, when my order came in from Baker Creek, they had put in a small free gift- a packet of patty pan seeds. After thinking about it, I decided to plant those instead. I think the kids will get a kick out of seeing the little flying saucer shaped squash, and I’m hopeful that they won’t be near so prolific as those zucchini plants last year.

So far so good though.  In the next day or so, I’ll be actually tearing out the first of the spinach and putting in…well, something else, I’m not sure what yet.  I also need to pick up something for the ants, or they’re going to get all of my lettuce.  They’re hungry this year, and have made quick work of my Tatsoi.  Speaking of which… I need to do better research on things I’m planting.  I assumed I was planting something similar to bok choy, and as it turns out, it’s more of a green- and should be eaten asap.  Some of the tastoi is beginning to put out blossoms, so I suspect that means they’re about to bolt.  I need to find a way to eat Asian greens quick! I’m thinking some kind of peanutty noodles or stir fry, but we’ll see.