The Great Green Bean Battle

Going Gently into the Fall

As the gardening season begins to wind down we start to see the leaves change colors and feel a little crips to the air, the Leslie County Grow Appalachia members prepare for battle. Families against families, grandparents against grandparents, men against women and so on! Who would have guess that the Grow Appalachia program would spark such a war!

And so it begins..

Gardeners removed from the gardens they loved so much now stand in their kitchens stirring boiling hot pots dreaming of victory. Pride and family reputations on the line.

The Battle

Gardeners one after another arrive with their kettles, some with sly grins, some a little worried and some this poker faces only seen in Vegas. The GREEN BEAN BATTLE BEGINS!

Prizes and ribbons adorn a table as the Leslie County Extension staff hands out numbered cups of beans for the group to try. Numbered jars are set-up on a little table beside the prize table. Participants are asked to cast their vote for their favorite green beans by dropping a ball into the corresponding numbered jar. Prizes included a Dehydrator, Limited addition Ball canning jars, vacuum sealer and gardening tools.

People from the Appalachia Mountains take their green beans very serious. Some of the seeds that gardeners grow today have been grown in their families for hundreds of years.

All joking aside we had a wonderful meeting, pot luck supper and competition. Chris McKenzie was our guest speaker and taught our group about soil. We are very thankful that Chris could join us.