Pea and broad bean diversity

I always grow many different types of peas and broad beans (favas) (erter og bondebønner). Peas (Pisum sativum) rarely if ever cross so I grow them very close to each other. Broad beans do cross, but active selection I do manage to keep several varieties true to type (such as crimson flowered with its distinctive beautiful lime green beans ).They’ve been lying around the house on windowsills drying for two months and I finally got round to sorting them, saving some for seed, and saving extra of good ones for Norwegian Seed Savers’ yearbook. The rest I just mix to make mixed bean falafel and pea soup later in the winter!

St. Lucia Parrot Day

Today (13th December) is St. Lucia Parrot day and people are celebrating the world’s most beautiful parrot everywhere…even here in Malvik ;) – well, this is how I interpret this important feast day here….and the presence of this parrot in my indoor forest garden helps to brighten up the dark days of winter, together with the waxwings (aka arctic parrots, which are foraging in the garden as we speak!)….
When we visited the island in 1981, we hooked up with the local naturalist’s trust who gave a talk at the hotel about this bird and we were lucky enough to see one that had been found injured. This was just after Hurricane Allen had devastated the island and the population crashed to under 100 birds as reported in this video. It’s good to know that the population is now over 1,000 thanks to the conservation efforts for this wonderful endemic species found nowhere else than on this Caribbean island:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2yRs1283UA