Seed Story...

One of my favorite things about being a seed person is how excited folks are to share seeds back with me.  Many new plants; from tasty beans to beautiful unique marigolds, have come to me by way of the generous hands of other growers. I am often gifted seeds from gardeners who have stewarded unique varieties for many years in their own gardens and want me and others to try them too.  This connection and generosity through seed is how I met and grew what I now know as Yu Ho’s Beans.  

I first grew them on the recommendation of avid Island gardener Will Lockwood.  He contacted me two or three Winters ago and asked how he could get me some of the delicious bean seed for me to try. He used such glowing terms to describe these sweet, tender, long and extremely prolific green beans that I had to grow them so he dropped an envelope of seed off at the farm.  I grew a small handful the following summer and wow was he right.  They were delicious.  

In that magical way that a handful of bean seeds turns into a 50 foot row of tall gangly bean plants, I had enough to eat and save seed on in that first year.  They are so delicious and unique that I asked Will if he would mind if I grew them out for a seed crop.  He gave me an enthusiastic yes but as I as I learned more about the story of Yu Ho’s bean, I realized I had others to ask! 

I like to learn a seed’s story as much as I possibly can before I grow and share it through the farm.  It is important to me to honor the legacy of the plant and the growers whose hands the seeds have passed through.  I don’t have the luxury of knowing most crops in this way. They come and go through packets and envelopes with a few words printed here and there.  The plants tell the stories themselves, but it is truly special to actually know the people who have kept a particular crop thriving in my community. 

As I inquired more, I learned that Will had been gifted Yu Ho’s bean seeds many many years ago from another Island neighbor Pam Hart.  Pam was gifted these beans decades ago from her mother, Marian Berg, who received them from her Beacon Hill neighbor Yu Ho Wong in the 1970s or 1980s.  They were neighbors who shared a love of gardening and also shared the gifts of seeds.  Pam remembers that when Yu Ho passed these beans to her mother Marion, she told her to always plant them on April 19th.  Pam remembers this critical date because it is also her birthday!

Pam has grown them for over a decade in her garden on the Island and has shared the seed widely to friends and neighbors, through the garden club, and even shared on social media to anyone who wanted some to try.   She received the gift from Yu Ho by way of her mother and has kept this generosity alive by sharing the seeds widely ever since.  Both Marian and Yu Ho have passed on now but Pam was delighted to hear how much the beans are loved and gave her blessing for me to sell them.