Beans, Redux

On the advice of my attorney, I direct-sowed my peas this year. I should point out that my attorney is also a gardening expert, a brilliant landscape artist and a good friend. However, since his graduation from law school, he will be henceforth referred to as my attorney. According to him, peas don't like to be uprooted in any way.

So I followed his advice regarding my peas, but should have realized that this advice would transfer well to beans, also. Last year, I used all of the seeds I had for purple bush beans. They taste pretty much the same as green beans, but they look gorgeous dangling off the vines. For some reason I couldn't find any more seeds at the beginning of the season, so I pounced on the seedlings I came across. Not literally though, as I don't think they'd respond well to a pouncing. I made sure they grew nice and strong in their trays, but as soon as I transplanted them, they dropped faster than a Brazilian soccer player. Luckily by this point, I had found some seeds of the 'Royal Burgundy' variety, as well as some soya bean seeds. Now that they're direct-sown, we'll be eating a rainbow of beans in no time.

Peas and beans really do grow exceptionally well from seed, they just don't like to be jostled around in a transplant. However, if next spring is as chilly as this last one, I may try out a brilliant suggestion got from my attorney. Sometimes, you can get away with planting your seeds in a small trough, like an old rain gutter. When the time comes to transplant, just dig a trench, place your peas or beans in there and gently slide the trough out from under them. They'll hardly even notice they were moved, if you do it right.