Post by DarJones on Oct 19, 2012 17:57:30 GMT -5
I spent about 30 minutes shelling sword beans (Canavalia) this evening. I've grown them for the last 4 years since some seed were sent to me in 2009. As I was shelling them, I remembered showing a few of them to some of the people at Bill Best's fall gathering in 2010.
One person brought out a nice long pretty bean about 10 inches long and was showing it to some other people there. I looked at it, got a funny look on my face and in a kind of strained voice said "I think my beans are bigger than yours". Now that got some looks, it is just not the kind of thing you expect to hear at a seed swap meeting. But then I reached into my bag and pulled out a sword bean and handed it around. I will never forget the look on one person's face, it was a combination of "should I run from it before it bites me?" and "how many seed has that thing got, can I grab it and run?".
If you haven't seen sword beans before, they are about 14 inches long, 1.25 inches thick 2.25 inches wide, deep green and kind of look like a big green knife. The beans are pink and about 2 inches long shaped roughly like a kidney. Seven of them at the shelly stage is a cup full.
DarJones
One person brought out a nice long pretty bean about 10 inches long and was showing it to some other people there. I looked at it, got a funny look on my face and in a kind of strained voice said "I think my beans are bigger than yours". Now that got some looks, it is just not the kind of thing you expect to hear at a seed swap meeting. But then I reached into my bag and pulled out a sword bean and handed it around. I will never forget the look on one person's face, it was a combination of "should I run from it before it bites me?" and "how many seed has that thing got, can I grab it and run?".
If you haven't seen sword beans before, they are about 14 inches long, 1.25 inches thick 2.25 inches wide, deep green and kind of look like a big green knife. The beans are pink and about 2 inches long shaped roughly like a kidney. Seven of them at the shelly stage is a cup full.
DarJones
