Enjoy the Beauty AND Bounty of your vegetable Garden

Beautiful Borlotti Beans look great on the shelf and are tasty too!

If you are anything like me, you started a vegetable garden for a few reasons, but the biggest reason was to grow and EAT the vegetables. Some of the other reasons included the fact that we had the space in the yard, my wife loved the idea, and it would be a good source of exercise. I also figured that I probably should be eating more vegetables and if the garden was a failure, I would have an excuse why I didn’t eat enough vegetables! On top of all of this, I like science experiments…especially ones that I can EAT! (Maybe I’m a bit fixated on the food part!)

One of the biggest surprises I’ve had over the last few years in the garden is how visually interesting it is. I’m amazed by variation of individual fruits and vegetables growing on the same plant as well different plants. Each bean unique, each tomato has a slightly different coloring and shape! Even some of the bugs in there are pretty cool! I also see the equity not in the perfection, but in the imperfections. All of this was totally unexpected for me! So, over the last few years, I’ve spent a lot of time just looking. More recently, I spent a lot of time photographing it as well. I strongly suggest that the next time you go out to pick the cucumbers and squash, take a closer look! If you are a painter, paint it! If you are a writer, write about it! And if you think you aren’t one of those creative types, just sit and study it for a while…you might be surprised at what it inspires you to do!

The most visually interesting seeds that we have planted over the last few years are the Borlotti Beans (also known as cranberry beans). They are colorful (red,maroon,and even pink) and each individual pod is like a work of abstract art with swirling colors. Once picked, they can be taken out of the pods and dried to be used later in soups! (I’m sure there are other uses but this is what we’ve done with them). And if you have some airtight glass jars to store them in, the look fantastic on the shelf too.

So don’t just enjoy the vegetable garden for its bounty, but also for its beauty!

Beautiful Borlottis, freshly picked.

Oh, And when you are done…you can still EAT IT!