Mafe Maria: Personal stories by autism parent mentor, Maria Stultz

So Amazed

It’s funny how some times the simplest things can amaze you…

From all seven of you, oh wonderful regular readers, only one knows that my “bonsai” bean plant is producing fruit. He knows this, because he lives with me, and since the moment I discovered a tiny bean pod attached to a flower, I’ve been pointing out “the baby” every day. The truth is that I am completely amazed by my 3-day-old, 1-inch bean pod.

It amazes me to see how the long shape defies gravity and holds completely horizontal from a tiny branch (one flower petal still hanging on).

It amazes me to see 4-5 black bean babies inside the pod.

For three days now, I’ve expected the worse: That I’ll come in the morning and check on the plant to find the pod lying on the soil maybe because the branch couldn’t hold the weight. It happened with flowers 2, 3, and 4. But this baby is really holding on (so far).

And the thing that amazes me the most, is maybe the most obvious one: Since the fruit has started to develop, the plant seems to be putting all of her energy on it. Leaves seem to have stopped growing. At least, if they’re growing, they’re growing A LOT slower than before. I’m not seeing any new shoots at all. This is new behavior, I can tell… My little plant is definitely pregnant!

Beanpod

Not a great photo, but I’ve blown out the contrast so you can see the dark spots inside the bean pod. The photo and occasion inspired a new playground entry.

3 comments:

  1. On , Joey wrote:

    Should have read this before I looked at the playground entry! Now I see why there are two.

    I like the photo. Really puts your attention on the pod and you can really see the little babies!

  2. On , Petie wrote:

    That really is amazing that a little bean produced this inside your home! The purple stem is very interesting. What kind of bean was this?

  3. On , Maria wrote:

    It’s a plant from a black bean (the type you buy at the grocery store).