These are the blossoms for the Dragon’s Tongue beans. Photo Source
And for all this, nature is never spent;
there lives the dearest freshness deep down things . . .
– Gerard Manly Hopkins
Bean plants grow low and lazy, leaning. Standing above and looking down, there are
only leaves, a canopy. But kneeling and brushing
them aside, shifting and lifting the plants, reveals the long, lean beans.
This year, unbeknownst to me, my husband planted Dragon’s Tongue and Royalty
Purple as well as our regular green beans.
Dragon’s Tongue produces long, light-green beans with purple
stripes. Royalty Purple yields small
beans in a velvety shade of violet.
Purple beans, striped beans – imagine my surprise!
Snapping them from the vine, the kids and I sampled.
We chewed on sun, on dirt and the heavy rains of summer.
I hand them out to visitors, “Have you ever seen a purple
bean? Try one!”
On my knees picking for a friend, I tell her a secret.
“The green ones still taste best,” I say. “I’m not sure why.”
Moving from Dragon’s Tongue to Royalty, my children follow
like hungry hens, snapping beans out of the colander as fast as I can pick
them. They never pick more than they
eat, there is no storing up, no stockpiling for them, only pull, snap, crunch
under a blue sky, crisp breeze and sun.
Last, I arrive at the green beans which, tasting, yield a
revelation.
“I know!” I cry, “They’re better because they taste like
green!”
“They taste like green?” my friend replies, laughing.
“Yes! Like green! The
purple ones don’t taste green, that’s why they’re not as good.”
“What does green taste like?” she asks.
“Like freshness and vegetable.” Like something essentially green, I think to
myself as my hands continue plucking strings from the vines; like spring rain and the “dearest freshness, deep down things.”
Welcome to the #SmallWonder link-up.
What if we chose to deliberately look for the small moments of wonder, the small sparks of presence, of delight or sorrow, of true humanity in which we meet God?
That’s my proposal – that we gather here each week to share one moment of Wonder from each of our days.
You’re invited to link-up a brief post about a small moment of wonder. Don’t worry if your post is too long, too short, or not just right – you’re welcome to come as you are.
While you’re here, please do take a look around and encourage at least one other blogger with a comment.
Kelly, I so enjoyed this > "They’re better because they taste like green!” It's true, isn't it, that we come to expect something to look & taste a particular way. So grateful that each time I open my Bible, I get a fresh taste of "green". Blessings!
Thanks, Joanne 🙂
You had me smiling all through this. And then…"the green still taste better"…and I laughed. I'm still smiling over this delightful writing. I felt the velvet, and the sun on my shoulders smelled the garden and heard the snaps. Thank you for my first reading of the day!
Thanks, Pamela.
Kelly, I know exactly what you mean. I can't help myself when I'm out in our garden picking snap peas, they rarely make it into the house, with all my "pull, snap, crunch" ing.
They taste like crunchy green, indeed.
Pure goodness. Thanks for being here, Jody.
I love this post! I can at least 50 quarts of green beans every year, and my kids LOVE raw green beans. Come to think of it, even our St. Bernard loves raw green beans. Yours is a post after my own heart. Blessings on your week!
Our dog love them too! I find it so amusing. She also loves carrots. I've never canned them, (a little scared of pressure canning) but I'm trying my hand at freezing them this year, because I think my kids will like them better that way if it works well.
"Tastes like green."
I get that! Isn't it amazing how God has given us our senses, and how they often overlap to delight us?! For instance, to me, watermelon tastes like an ice-cold lake and oranges are sunshine.
GOD BLESS!
I'd say green is the taste of summer! So fun. Thanks for hosting, Kelly!
I love this! I agree – Green definitely has a taste! (But now I still want to go out and find purple beans – even if they don't taste as good!) 😉
I think it get it' — the reason the green ones taste better — they taste green! fresh, living, enjoyed reading about your bean experience
Green…I know that taste, too, although it's a hard thing to explain! 🙂 How special that you get to pick healthy food with your kids in your own backyard. I cannot wait for that!
. . . and tomatoes taste like red! There is something soul-satisfying when our children eat the fruit of our garden, picking them on their own to eat them. One of my sons like to pick the chocolate mint from our garden. I'd see him out there sitting on the edge of the raised bed, just quietly savoring! Sweet, beautiful moments, Kelly – both green and red!
Wonderfull natuur, greeting from Belgium.
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I love Gerard Manley Hopkins 🙂 Beautiful post.