Red, gold and greens

So where is the lovely Howard Sooley when you need him? Thought we had been smarter this year, staggering the wigwams, avoiding a bean avalanche. But we reckoned without the abundance of Gold of Bacau , the Romanian yellow pole pod from seed saved and donated by Pat at Bifurcated Carrots . And, of course, I reckoned without Howard and family, not to mention Mary, being away as the bean harvest kicks in. It was while I was filling the basket with yellow Gold, blue Blauhilde and favourite Trail of Tears (we are picking them young and green right now, leaving the black beans till later in the year) that I pondered how colour also became central to our plot. It may be, I thought, because we have always grown flowers, both for companion planting, for bees and for beauty. It may be there is something in the red in Red Salad Bowl, the crimson colouring in Bulls Blood , that imparts intense flavour as well as tone? But then it may be because we want food to be a feast for our eyes, too. Once we had seen and tasted the rosy floury flesh of Highland Burgundy , the riot of tones that make up Painted Mountain corn , and now the delicate beauty of Gold of Bacau, there was no going back. So as I packed my breakfast bag with beautiful beans, rifled through red amaranth leaves, as I cut yellow shards of Real Seeds golden chard , I missed Howard and family, and Mary, and placed emergency calls with my kids.