when your bean harvest surprises you with purple pods
This weekend, as I wandered through my backyard garden—just like my father used to—I picked beans from the same old vines we’ve tended for years. Most were the usual green, but two pods stopped me in my tracks: a deep, beautiful purple, shimmering in the morning sun. It took me back to childhood summers, shelling beans with my grandmother, who always said, "Nature loves a surprise."
But here’s the thing: in our community, some folks swear by sticking to tried-and-true varieties, while others chase after every new hybrid or mutation. Are these purple beans a fluke, a sign of changing climate, or just nature’s way of keeping us humble? Some neighbors say we should embrace these oddities for their beauty and possible resilience. Others worry about cross-pollination, or even breaking the unspoken rules of what a ‘proper’ garden should look like.
With our region’s unpredictable weather—one week it’s a heatwave, the next it’s pouring rain—maybe these purple beans are adapting faster than we are. Should we celebrate this burst of color, or stick to tradition? I’d love to hear if anyone else has seen this, or if you think it’s time to rethink what belongs in our gardens. After all, isn’t gardening about both honoring the past and welcoming the unexpected?
#gardenmemories #beanharvest #naturemystery #Gardening
