#chestnutbeans

Three varieties of soybean (Glycine max) grown in Korea, shared with me by my friend Kristyn from Namu Farm in Sunol, CA. See her first post at @seed_stewards on Instagram for more info. She received these seeds from Heuksalim Research Center when visiting Korea after she passed the hands test (her hands are clearly those of a farmer).

The two varieties on the left are called Chestnut Beans [pamk’ong] (due to their taste), and on the right are Scholar Beans (they look like they have ink stains). I am so honored and grateful to hold these incredibly gorgeous beans that carry important stories, which I hope to learn more about. Please let me know if you know anything about them or if they look familiar.

I plan to grow enough over the next couple years to reunite the seed with older Korean-Americans who can still remember growing, cooking, and eating these beautiful beans. So grateful, too, for my growing community of seed keeper friends.

It reminds me of the Albert Camus quote I heard today on the radio: “the only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion”. I only like this quote if we are becoming free together, and when we collectively carry our seeds and stories into the future despite market forces, despite free trade, despite stigmas against getting your hands dirty, despite patents, despite wars and diaspora and global warming, that’s what we are doing.