Persephone returns

Posted: April 7, 2024 | Author: David | Filed under: Farming off the Farm, Little Green Thumbs | 2 Comments

Persephone returns, and thoughts turn to Gaia and the garden.  

For many years, we have grown several varieties of heirloom beans (none of which seem to be locally available).  This is our beans’ story.

A few years back, during the spring term, I had the opportunity to teach English to refugees and immigrants.  There was neither a curriculum nor textbook.  I was given a classroom at the SoPo High School and told to figure it out.  After a few classes I decided to focus on food – something universal – using children’s stories as a reader.  

I brought our beans to the class and chose to read “Jack and the Bean Stalk.”  Even though they did not speak English, they recognized the story; the single Mother from Venezuela nodded, smiled and whispered “Si, Juan y frijoles!” Another student, a young man from Angola – who walked 5 miles to and from each class, having walked north from Brazil, across the Darien Gap, to reach the USA southern border – this young man, not to be denied, nodded earnestly in recognition.  Of note, the children’s story did not insult them; they craved the chance to learn. 

Wikipedia contains an entry titled “Jack (hero)…Jack is an English hero and archetypal stock character appearing in multiple legends, fairy tales, and Nursery rhymes.”  Fairy tales proved an effective cross cultural learning tool with pole beans central to one of the most famous of Jack stories.  

Considering how nutrient-dense are beans it seems not coincidental they are central to an archetypal story.   And beyond the archetype, they can manifest as daily nutrition in our diet.  Frances Moore Lappe proselytized the protein-rich nutritional value of beans and her 1971 seminal book Diet for a Small Planet has been called, by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, “one of the most influential political tracts of the times.”  

As a protein source, beans are beneficial to the environment, whereas production of red meat generates substantial carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.  Beans require minimal water and lower greenhouse gas emissions because they “fix nitrogen” by converting nitrogen from its molecular form (N₂) in the atmosphere then converting into nitrogen compounds useful for other biochemical processes; the NH₃ they produce is absorbed by the plant.  The nitrogen fixing enriches the soil, decreasing the amount of fertilizer needed by the crop planted after them in the rotation.  Soil fertility is increased as a result of having grown the beans.  

The beans we grow came to us through Nance Klehm, a steward of the Earth working at the vanguard of art and the Earth.  She has lectured at the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, the University of Cincinnati, and the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal. She has taught at the University of California – Los Angeles, Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and Dartington College in the United Kingdom, as well as for countless community groups worldwide.  Her web site is: https://socialecologies.net/spontaneous-vegetation/.

As part of her work, Nance helped organize the Seed Temple, a seed bank located in Estancia, New Mexico, founded by Flordemayo, a Curandera Espiritu, or a healer of divine spirit.  Flordemayo is one of the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers.   https://www.grandmotherswisdom.org/  The grandmothers “…are committed to supporting all people reclaiming their relationship to Mother Earth, calling for a profound transformation in the heart, mind, and spirit. The Grandmothers Wisdom Project is an Earth-based community actively building a bridge to support the living legacy of ancient traditions that gives us deeper insight into the mystery of life and the importance of honoring the connection that exists among all beings, nature and the cosmos.”

Know your food

Know your farmer

Know your seeds’ provenance

About ten years sago, Nance asked us to grow the beans and then return a portion back to the seed bank; a seed bank need be a living library, and we were happy to help.  

We currently grow eight varieties:

• Wild Goose
• Rwanda
• Appaloosa
• Deseronto Potato
• Beauty’s Way
• Good Mother Stollard
• Turkey Craw
• Corn Planter

2023 was a challenging year in our garden. From Georgia north to Maine there were virtually no stone fruits, a late deep freeze having killed the blossoms. We had no peaches, a mainstay from our orchard. Many gardeners commented on the challenges. In our garden a varmint devoured all of the sprouts, including our bean crop. I was slow to replant, and watched with growing fascination as many of the beans sprouted a second time.  Having planted less than one cup, we still harvested several quarts – in the most challenging season on record.  

On Wall Street the Masters of the Universe, the glassy-eyed bankers, Homo Economicus and the Prudent Person battle for yields of 1/10th of a percent. In our garden just outside the kitchen, Gaia – in her majestic repose – provided an annual yield of breathtaking proportions, which continues to feed my family and our friends.  There is something profound here.

Great Mother, indeed !!

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