Jill and the Beanstalks

I'm pretty sure I have discovered the reason that whoever originally thought up the tale that was later to become Jack and the Beanstalk picked beans as the means of transport to a higher level. Seriously!

My beans are pretty average heirloom beans with nothing so special about them, except perhaps the story behind how they got here to New Zealand. In fact the bean seeds were rather plain, almost homely, in comparison to the scarlet runner seeds. Bob's Beans certainly displayed not outward sign of magical qualities...

At least not until they germinated.

One minute they were breaking the breaking through the soil

A mere 26 hours later they'd doubled in size.

Just imagine if they had been truly magic beans!

They do hold a little magic for me. Not only do I enjoy watching seeds germinate & grow but "Bob's beans" have a rather nice story behind them. They were originally brought to New Zealand by a returning Prisoner of War after the second World War, hidden in his socks. The soldier had been hiding in the hills in Italy after having escaped from a Prisoner of War camp and decided he couldn't return home without these beans that had become a much loved part of his diet.

In the USA they are known as Valena Italian or Kahnawake Mohawk beans with varying tales as to how they originally got there.