As a child of a farm family in the 50's (as in 1950's), my memories of summers are full of scenes of us kids performing assigned chores, such as assisting with crop planting and harvesting, as well as animal care. Haymaking was especially a bear! The days when we put up hay were always intensely hot, humid & sweaty! Inside the barn was suffocating, especially up in the hay mow! I sometimes think of those days much as a "Waltons" episode on steroids. But most of all, I remember we were always hungry; and we clock-watched for dinner (12:00 Noon) and supper (6-7 PM). Both of these meals were huge because of farm hands, kids & neighbors. Many of these meals included green snap beans in a large pan along with bacon rinds and new potatoes (like the ones shown in my picture). These were especially enjoyable when served with fresh crisp corn bread, chilled milk, and assorted vegetables, such as sliced cucumbers, onions, radishes, and slaw. Fried chicken, ham, or pot roast were often the meat choices, and desserts always included home baked cakes or pies. No counting calories back then: We worked it off the same day!

To this present day, we as a country family still raise most of our summer vegetables, including the "Strike" snap bean shown in the pictures above. A neighbor grew them one year; gave us a batch, and we were hooked. We've grown them for at least three years and just picked our final batch last week. They are a continuously producing plant with new blooms setting even while the ripe beans are being picked, as shown in one of my pictures.

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