heirloomgal
Garden Addicted
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2021
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- Location
- Northern Ontario, Canada
Actually, there is a story to those fabrics...
Much as I have tried to resurrect all the domestic talents once commonly possessed in eras now past, alas, sewing has not been one I've meaningfully been able to summon up. The story of those fabrics, strangely, began one quiet Sunday afternoon in late fall a number of years ago. My two children had some neighbourhood kids over playing, and as I finished up duties in the kitchen it occurred to me that this might be an opportunity to begin the shelling of the bean pods that had now fully dried. It was my first year growing beans to collect in their dry state. I made a point of choosing several very brightly coloured varieties that could easily be distinguished from each other, so there would be no confusion. I found my large wicker tray with the piles of dried pods, brought it to the dining room table and quietly began snapping open pods to the sound of happy children in a game of hide and seek.
It wasn't many minutes until the first of the little people - all aged between 6 and 9 - stood beside my chair asking 'what's that'? Another minute or two and the table was crowded around with children all asking 'can I do that too?' I handed everyone around the table a handful of the pods, pods which of course looked like death munching on a cracker, and the shelling commenced. The looks of wonderment, and shock, as they withdrew gorgeous bean after gorgeous bean from these ghastly looking pieces of dried plant matter, was amazing. What was inside each pods was a surprise, as all the varieties were mixed together. A loud chorus of voices began - 'look at this one' or 'this one matches that one' as they opened each 'surprise' pod. Their excitement took over the room. I couldn't believe my eyes how much these kids were enjoying the pod popping and the different coloured beans. I assumed their interest would fade as they began to realize just how much shelling actually needed to be done. But with great enthusiasm, they kept going until they finished the whole pile, and everything else I had left. I thought that's the end of it now, pods are all empty. But these kids fussed over the beans, moving them back and forth in piles across the table, playing with them like marbles. Over the course of the next week, when the kids all played together - it was all about the beans. They spent hours separating them out into matching piles, and just marvelling over them.
I learned that week how much colour can capture people's attention. How magnetizing it is. These kids had only known beans as that notoriously unpopular creature called 'vegetable', but in this pretty new form it was something enchanting. Eventually, I became involved in my local Seedy Saturday and used that elementary observation to encourage adults to see the beauty in the diversity of these heirloom beans. I've made many photographic presentation boards over the years at that event, with all kinds of heirloom vegetables, always using colourful backgrounds of paper or fabric. It seems to work, and the image of the humble bean is lifted ever so slightly.
My daughter, who is now ten and is home schooled, helped carefully select all the fabrics for each bean, to 'best bring out its beauty' and she supervised all my photography as well. Even a few years later, she is still captivated, but I think the colourful fabrics helps...
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