I garden in North Carolina and have hated beans in all forms my whole life. I discovered Dragon Tongue beans in a catalog and reluctantly bought them because I thought they looked pretty, and they've opened a gateway for me to grow so many more: Alabama Butter Beans, Sunset Runners, 1500 Year Old Cave Beans, etc etc. I am obsessed with beans now, and the Dragon Tongue remains my favorite. I love giving it to neighbors and friends; no one knows what to do with them because we have nothing similar in any grocery store, and it encourages me to keep growing and sharing.
What a lovely story, thanks so much for sharing, Lauren. I can’t say I was familiar with the dragon tongue bean, but having looked it up, I can see why it opened the door to a bean obsession! What beautiful mottled purple colouring. If you’re giving those away, I can imagine you are very popular among your friends!
Brilliant - thank you. So many things we're talking about as a matter of urgency in our family in terms of seed security. Very good to hear such an in-depth discussion.
And yes, loving Van Morrison is an inevitable fact of aging - something I wrote about recently too :-)
I’m glad the interview struck a chord, Agnes. And thanks for sharing the link - having not thought of Van Morrison for a long, long while, it now appears I can’t avoid him! (Not that I’d want to though, obviously…)
Wow - two of my favourite substack writers chatting to each other - heaven!
Thank you so much for making the introduction, Jo!
I just knew you two would get on - those words are often the death knell but in this case I knew!
This was beyond delightful -- thank you, Dan and Mark!
I discovered anise hyssop this year and am totally obsessed -- who even knew it was so delicious? (I chop it up and add it to salads.)
Also, I never tire of the word, "courgette." It's so wonderfully British.
Haha, if you enjoy seeing it written down, just wait until you hear us saying it! (Audio version coming soon…!)
I garden in North Carolina and have hated beans in all forms my whole life. I discovered Dragon Tongue beans in a catalog and reluctantly bought them because I thought they looked pretty, and they've opened a gateway for me to grow so many more: Alabama Butter Beans, Sunset Runners, 1500 Year Old Cave Beans, etc etc. I am obsessed with beans now, and the Dragon Tongue remains my favorite. I love giving it to neighbors and friends; no one knows what to do with them because we have nothing similar in any grocery store, and it encourages me to keep growing and sharing.
What a lovely story, thanks so much for sharing, Lauren. I can’t say I was familiar with the dragon tongue bean, but having looked it up, I can see why it opened the door to a bean obsession! What beautiful mottled purple colouring. If you’re giving those away, I can imagine you are very popular among your friends!
Fantastic interview.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!
What a wonderful conversation! Thanks for introducing me to Mark and Otter Farms! Now I've got to track down some shiso to grow in my yard next year!
Yes, you and me both! Though I guess I now know where to look…
Brilliant - thank you. So many things we're talking about as a matter of urgency in our family in terms of seed security. Very good to hear such an in-depth discussion.
And yes, loving Van Morrison is an inevitable fact of aging - something I wrote about recently too :-)
https://chasingangels.substack.com/p/sieving-the-week-is-like-panning
I’m glad the interview struck a chord, Agnes. And thanks for sharing the link - having not thought of Van Morrison for a long, long while, it now appears I can’t avoid him! (Not that I’d want to though, obviously…)
Hi Dan, thank you - really enjoyed chatting with you
No, thank YOU. Really enjoyable conversation. And, thanks to your words of encouragement, the audio version will be coming soon!