This year, we planted more beans than ever before. During our summer program in June, we sowed over 10 varieties of beans with the intention of saving them for seed or using them to make delicious meals in our kitchen classroom. Some of the varieties we grew this year are Scarlet Runner, Cannellini, Anasazi, Gigande, Cranberry, Cherokee Trail of Tears, Kosovo Pole, Jacob’s Cattle, and Calypso.
We allow the beans to dry in their pods before plucking them off the plants and then shell them together and organize them accordingly. Typically, beans need to be laid out for a few weeks after they are shelled to ensure that they are really dry–any moisture left in them can cause unwanted rot or diminish the length of seed viability. The bean harvest has been a popular job amongst the sixth graders over the past few weeks, not only because they get to delight in uncovering the vibrantly colored beans hiding inside their pods, but also because shelling beans is an activity that brings us all together to work and creates lots of space for conversation.
Growing beans is a great way for students to understand the cycle of life in the garden from seed to seed. Many of the varieties that we grow have been cultivated in the Americas for thousands of years and we use the bean harvest as an opportunity to familiarize students with the important histories of the bean varieties we grow. For example, we grow the Anasazi bean, a delicious, non-hybrid black bean that is a descendent of the beans the Anasazi people of Mesa Verde, Colorado grew thousands of years ago. We know that the Anasazi disappeared from this part of the world, but it is unclear to anthropologists why they mysteriously vanished. Archaeologists discovered the Anasazi beans in food storage containers found in Anasazi cliff dwellings and we have the honor today of sowing this bean year after year.
Cannellinis
Red Calypsos
Jacob's Cattles
Scarlet Runners
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Beans, Beans, Beans
This year, we planted more beans than ever before. During our summer program in June, we sowed over 10 varieties of beans with the intention of saving them for seed or using them to make delicious meals in our kitchen classroom. Some of the varieties we grew this year are Scarlet Runner, Cannellini, Anasazi, Gigande, Cranberry, Cherokee Trail of Tears, Kosovo Pole, Jacob’s Cattle, and Calypso.
We allow the beans to dry in their pods before plucking them off the plants and then shell them together and organize them accordingly. Typically, beans need to be laid out for a few weeks after they are shelled to ensure that they are really dry–any moisture left in them can cause unwanted rot or diminish the length of seed viability. The bean harvest has been a popular job amongst the sixth graders over the past few weeks, not only because they get to delight in uncovering the vibrantly colored beans hiding inside their pods, but also because shelling beans is an activity that brings us all together to work and creates lots of space for conversation.
Growing beans is a great way for students to understand the cycle of life in the garden from seed to seed. Many of the varieties that we grow have been cultivated in the Americas for thousands of years and we use the bean harvest as an opportunity to familiarize students with the important histories of the bean varieties we grow. For example, we grow the Anasazi bean, a delicious, non-hybrid black bean that is a descendent of the beans the Anasazi people of Mesa Verde, Colorado grew thousands of years ago. We know that the Anasazi disappeared from this part of the world, but it is unclear to anthropologists why they mysteriously vanished. Archaeologists discovered the Anasazi beans in food storage containers found in Anasazi cliff dwellings and we have the honor today of sowing this bean year after year.
Cannellinis
Red Calypsos
Jacob's Cattles
Scarlet Runners