Green Beans Farm Wooden Bucket Watercolor Illustration
By Charlie

Green Beans On The Farm

Written by Charlie O'Shields

For our prompt of “Green Beans” today, my mind leapt immediately to thoughts of my grandparent’s farm. These were one of my favorite foods as a kid, but only the version that my grandmother made. After she picked a large bucket of them from her garden, I would sometimes help her prep them by snapping the ends off. It was a really fun and relaxing way to spend some time together. Something about that sound is so wonderful. The beans themselves were slow cooked in a large pot with what I can only describe as magic. The flavor was incredibly unique and I’ve never tasted anything like it since. That said, the entire experience really created that magic ingredient and nothing could ever really compare. She’s passed now, and I miss her every day, but the memories that come flooding back whenever I think about green beans are truly wonderful. It’s impossible to ever really lose someone you love. They always have a permanent and special place in your heart.

My memories of my grandmother and the farm are so vivid. Indeed, I can actually taste the food and hear the sounds of the goats bleating in the distance with their comical conversations that always made me smile. The red dirt paths of the back 40 acres that led me on so many adventures are as clear as if they were right outside my window. That old rusty bus in the field that was only used to store things and left every kid anxious to explore its mysteries. And my grandmother, with her clever wit and ceaseless energy that left everyone around her struggling to keep up. Indeed, as an adult, I once had to follow behind her while she was speeding down the gravel roads and nearly lost track of her. She was in her 80’s at the time, but that didn’t stop her from flooring the gas, sending gravel flying everywhere and disappearing around each corner in a cloud of dust. I remember thinking that’s exactly how I want to be when I’m her age, as if there was something stopping me from being that energetic and bold in that very moment.

As time continues to hurtle forward, I feel so much comfort in thinking back to those times on the farm. There was a slowness to life and an appreciation of nature, the land, and all of the simplest things one can possibly imagine. It all came with that elusive feeling of contentment that comes from realizing I really didn’t need anything more. And though the farm belongs to someone else now, and there’s no way to return there for a visit, I can still go back anytime I like. In my mind’s eye, we’re all together again. That fabulous collie named Lucky, the stray cats who decided to camp for a time, the pigs waiting to be slopped, the cows shielding their wisdom behind bored faces, the goats bouncing off the walls, and my grandmother, the gentle yet fiercely strong and competent ringmaster of it all. It was the world that helped shape who I’ve become and it’s still in my heart, guiding me into the future. I’ll never forget those times, as I pause to take a loving moment to think of my inimitable grandmother, and her green beans on the farm.

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 Green Beans Farm Wooden Bucket Watercolor Illustration Sketchbook Detail

 

Charlie O'Shields

Creator of Doodlewash, founder of World Watercolor Month (July), World Watercolor Group, and host of the Sketching Stuff Podcast. Sharing watercolor illustrations and stories while proudly featuring talented artists from all over the world!

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34 thoughts on “Green Beans On The Farm”

  3. Wonderful memories, story and green beans. i have a lot of wonderful memories of spending time on my granparent’s farm and your stories always revive those thoughts of good times!!

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  5. Wonderful green beans and special memories Charlie! Farm memories are special and vanishing. I have great memories of gathering eggs, playing in my grandmother’s magical yard with lots of cousins and a cookie jar always full with homemade goodness.

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  7. I wonder what she did. I suspect bacon, of course. Probably brown sugar. Maybe soy sauce, though that seems more modern… maybe vinegar, because that’s what’s in old-fashioned warm German potato salad. Possibly a special kind of bean, as apparently in Kentucky they like something called Greasy Beans which are not actually at all greasy. Where was this, and what was her ancestry?

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  10. Funny how a bushel of beans can create so many wonderful memories for you and many of us on here. With me it was my Grandma’s gingersnap cookies. Lucky for me, I had asked her for the recipe many years before she passed. No doubt your grandmother used lard or bacon grease in them, seemed to be the ingredient to all recipes. hahaha

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