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Brockton Horticulture on the vine.
As all gardeners know, sooner or later you are going to lose a plant, several plants, or even a whole crop. Sometimes a pest comes and nibbles them out of existence in the course of a night. Other times a disease or a mildew may take hold. It is always sad and disappointing. It has happened to me many times, but nothing has been as disappointing as what I discovered just a few days ago.
I love growing soup beans. They are simply stunning. I could never grow enough of them to create any substantial store for the cool seasons, but I get such joy from their beauty. And they do end up in soups, burritos, and chilaquiles. This year I started off with Brockton Horticulture, Cherokee Wax, and Mayflower. The Brockton Horticulture were by far the most productive. I think the Cherokee Wax would have done just as well if it were in a better place (next year). The Mayflowers are pretty, but didn’t give me many pods. Here they are all shelled and in their containers.
From left to right: Mayflower, Brockton Horticulture, Cherokee Wax
In the late summer, Christina, from A Thinking Stomach gifted me two more varieties of beans and I did a late planting of Flagg (black and white speckled) and Tarahumara Dark Purple. I just shelled them a few days ago.
On Wednesday I took out a sampling of all the beans I had grown this summer (minus the Cherokee wax because we have eaten them all) to photograph for a post. As I was putting the beans back into their containers I noticed several tiny bugs crawling around on the paper bag I had the beans on. Then I noticed that several of my Brockton Horticulture beans had holes bored into them. On closer inspection of the container they were stored in I could see there was an infestation inside the jar. A quick Internet search helped me identify the pest as a bean weevil. All was lost. All that love growing them, all that toil harvesting and shelling. Lost. Talk about a bummer at the end of the road.
Very serendipitously, the new Seed Savers Exchange catalogue arrived in the mail yesterday. The cover photo is a beautiful display of none other than beans! Can you guess what I did this afternoon as I nursed my cold? I opened to the “Beans” and circled the varieties I want to try next year. There is always next year. Sigh.
Growing Up in the Garden 
Oh what bad luck. It really is heartbreaking to lose a crop of anything but, as you say, there is always next year.
I’m going to go look at ‘The Real Seed Catalogue’ on-line catalogue in the next few days and decide what we are going to order for the home and school gardens – I’ve been saving this particular treat until AFTER I had finished all my Christmas knitting and I’m very nearly there now 🙂
Loss in the garden is just par for the course. I am mostly over it, but still disappointed we can’t taste them. I have never seen “The Real Seed” catalogue. Happy browsing!
What a major drag! I had my own garden loss this year; two jars of the delicious ginger rhubarb chutney that I made earlier this year, in spite of seeming to have sealed perfectly well, showed signs of mold when I opened them, so I had to ditch. It’s always hard, isn’t it, but as you say, you move on quickly!
Bummer about your chutney! Sounds delicious. For me it is a little bit harder when it is something you have put up or taken time to preserve in some way. Maybe it is the added labor. But I guess I have come to expect it as part of being a gardener/food preserver. There is always that sinking feeling upon discovery, but we do move on quickly. 🙂
Oh no! That is really frustrating!
Hi Jessica. Last week I lost my entire potato crop to blight – just days before the first lot was due to come out! There are always loses in the garden, which is just the way of it and the hope that next season it will be better! All the best with your next crop of beans. Cheers Sarah : o )
Wow, that is terrible. But, alas, it is just the way of it. Hope the rest of your season in the garden proves successful. I will be planting the next crop of beans in just a few short months. 🙂
Oh I’m sorry to hear about the bean weevils getting to your beans, I know how much you enjoy growing and eating them. I tend to freeze most of my shelling beans as I worry about not getting them dry enough to store. But three cheers to seed catalogues and wishing you a super green New Year. Claire x