Growing up, our family didn’t have much. We were refugees that left a very successful life behind to build a life in a free country. We would have been very “food insecure” had my father not planted a garden wherever we lived. No matter where that was, the first thing he did was plant fruit trees even if we only rented.

I remember being sick when little but not terribly hungry. Of course I wanted more food of the delicious food my parents made fresh every day, but I never felt that wrenching hunger that many experience. This was because of the supply of fresh vegetables and fruit in the garden my father tended. I have this compulsion to plant things. I always have had this compulsion to stick seeds in the ground so we will have food no matter what. I remember being hungry sometimes. I was not starving or aching with hunger. We never went to sleep without a meal, even if it was only some toast.

One of my favorite super foods is beans. Green or dried, they can easily keep you alive. They’re easy to grow. One seed produces thousands of seeds which become thousands of plants. Nature is extremely generous.

So, I want you to try growing them in case there is another disaster and food is scarce. Green beans will keep you alive and healthy. Cooked or raw.

Love Andie