Beanblog

Well, I finally bowed to reality and threw my beans away. They were even soggier than they looked, and slimed about half of their total mass onto the sides of the glass as I trashed them. I'm hesitant to reintroduce that particular glass to the normal beverage-holding rotation.

I'm not sure what to do now. I considered buying new beans and starting over, but I'm not sure if grocery-store beans will sprout. Plus, in a fit of frugality, the 2 lb bag of lima beans at Safeway seemed too great an expense at $2.79. And I'd feel wasteful throwing the rest away.

It's been two weeks. We're slated to be halfway through our bean-growing experience by now... So far I've just watched mine decay. Perhaps someone will propose solutions at tomorrow's class.

Through the glass, I can see my beans beginning to separate into chunks as they try in vain to return to the great bounty of the earth whence they sprang. i.e. They continue to decompose. i seem inured to the smell, however, which is a net positive.

Beans #2-4 (the survivors--and I use that term loosely) look a little like raisins since I reduced their water rations. On the upside, they don't smell so bad. I just watered them again to see if they'd like to live this time around. My hopes are not high.

Chris, how are yours?

My boyfriend is starting to complain about the smell of the beans. They don't look any worse, really, but nor have they improved. I let them dry out a little to slow the decomposition process. I've really given up all home of the slimy little wads actually generating life.

I'm beginning to blame the beans. The rash of bean miscarriages I'm hearing about can't be entirely Johanna's fault and mine.

My beans still smell a little off, and they're discharging some sort of green liquid that stains the paper towel. I feel very morbid writing this down. Everyone else is chronicling some new development and sprout, and I'm noting the details of death and decomposition...

My beans smell like rot.

Bean #1: dead. Beans #2-4: ailing.

When I inspected my beans this morning, one of them had basically exploded, and the others were covered in slime and suspiciously soft. I'm afraid that they have bypassed most of the life stages (sprouting, growing, reproducing) and skipped straight on to decomposition. My diagnosis: they need more air and less water. In what may prove futile hope, I have replanted them in a clear glass, held in place by damp paper towels. But my poor beans seem awfully mushy...

Still no sign of life from beans 1-4. I'm beginning to wonder if they're defective. Or perhaps it's me and my black thumb. They are currently bathed in sunlight and rapidly stagnating water, the best I can do for them.