Green's Heirloom - October Origins

Number 2 in my series of October Origins a blip challenge by Ponty Cyclops

From an early age, gardening has been on the agenda. In fact, anything that can be done outdoors has been on my agenda. These days, there is little time to do much, as anyone with a young family and a busy work life will know. Back in the eighties, the outdoors was the place to find entertainment, beyond a couple of sticks and a square ball bouncing across the TV, imaginatively called tennis.

More excitement could be found on the coast At a distance of around 10 miles, seaside resorts such as Clacton and Walton have piers and amusement arcades and that meant track and field. We made the cycle ride regularly in the summer hols and our money disappeared faster into those machines than cash in a banking crisis. Beyond that, the great outdoors was the place to play and roam.

But the gardening bug must have been caught earlier than that. In the late seventies, at an age slightly too young to be roaming about, a lot of time was spent in the garden. I remember watching Mum, the gardener in our household, and grandparents growing a mix of flowers and vegetables. Before long, I was helping to sow seeds and watch those shoots of new growth appear and BAM!!! That was it. I was hooked, and there would be no cure. It was a good number of years later before I showed any interest in weeding, but to this day my favourite season is Spring.

After what must be a good 30 generations, the beans in this saucepan are the direct descendants of those green shoots that first hooked me all those years ago. A well known gardener called Terry, Welsh he is, you might have heard of him, advised that runners could be kept for 2-3 years after which new seeds should be bought. Well Terry, these ones are still performing perfectly after all this time. I've no idea which variety they started out as, but like the gardening bug, they are a Green's Heirloom.