Hello, Friend!
We are not from the place we now farm. Like so many folks in the Asheville, NC area, we meandered our way through life to this amazing place we now call home.
And here, we're planting roots. ;)
One of the vegetables we're most excited to be growing this season is the greasy bean. Now, if you, too, are not native to Appalachia, you might wonder what the heck a greasy bean is... It's a robust heirloom pole bean with a smooth, shiny texture that looks a bit greasy. These beans have been part of local culture and diets for centuries, cultivated by Native American tribes and later adopted by European settlers.
Greasy beans have been passed down through generations, swapped between neighbors, and even given as part of dowries. They have history and meaning. The greasies we planted (thanks to the Appalachian Seed Growers Collective) came from the Grapevine community here in Madison County, where they've been grown for many years.
By planting these beans, we honor the local traditions of this land, and all of those who came before us. In our modern world, with so many of us choosing to settle in places and cultures not our own, such traditions are threatened. And commercial seed companies threaten to replace many such treasured heirloom crops with plants that are more amenable to mass production.
While transplants like us may not be able to claim the rich history of Appalachia as our own, we have an important role to play in its continuation. And, as we help to preserve tradition, we in turn find ourselves more grounded in our chosen home.
