Field Trip

I took some co-workers to one of our facilities in Matagorda County and a side trip to the beach was a good way to end the day.

We stopped at the Matagorda Nature Park where my donated sea bean collection is on display. Here is Laura and her addition to the collection - a black hamburger she collected on her trip top Mexico.


These are black mangrove seeds. Note that they sprout before falling off the tree and drift along until they find a suitable beach on which to root.

This was a first for me - Beach Mushrooms!


Total collected for the day were these two beans - a fresh sea coconut and a well weathered walnut.

In the Dunes at Three Mile

The time for the new bean harvest is coming soon but for now I'm still looking back in the dunes.

Here are the beans from the latest picking:



The sea purses and red hamburger bean were really clean - just like a dream I had the night before.



I picked up so of the more common beans but they may not make it to the display bowl.

Gift Beans From Afar

A couple of weeks ago I introduced a co-worker to sea beans and she took a real interest - especially since her holidays would be spent on beaches in Mexico and Thailand. She found several hamburgers, almonds, and hog plums along with a couple of sea hearts and some that were "unidentified".

This turned out to be the big prize - a Puzzle Fruit. This bean (Heritiera littoralis) comes from the looking-glass mangrove - a large tree with wing shaped nuts, which is most easily recognized by the silvery scales on the underside of its leaves that resemble a mirror.

I was given three beans from her collection - one black hamburger like the one below.


The black hamburger bean is from Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

She also gave me these two beans that are unlike any in my collection.



The pale, round bean is from Ko Samui, Thailand. I'm pretty sure this is a Laurelwood (Calophyllum calaba).

The fibrous bean is from Song Pee Nong Beach on Koh Paluay, Thailand. I need to study this one some more for positive identification.

Thanks Laura for the new beans!

Display Your Beans

After collecting beans for a few months and polishing some of them up, the next thing to do is figure out how (and where) to display them. We saw some shells and other beachcombing items displayed in the shell shop in Rockport last spring and also have seen shells displayed in a coffee table in a store in Matagorda.

My first attempt at "beach in a box" was done using a shadow box.


I liked the result but this has glass only on one side and has to be sealed (glued) to prevent the sand from leaking out since it must be filled from the bottom.

Robyn gave me this excellent wooden bowl for Christmas. It really shows off my collection.



I found this case in Michael's craft store. It is called Finish-It as you need to apply a stain or something to the raw wood. I used linseed oil for the finish. It has a hinged lid and glass on the top and sides. I really like this since you can add or remove items over time.

Whatever method you use, get your beans on display!

Windy Picking

Since kayak fishing was out of the question, a ride down the beach was in order. I felt like I could brave the 20 mph north wind for a little beanin'.


These are the keepers of the day: One red mangrove, two sea hearts, one prickly palm, one red hamburger, and one black walnut.


Here are the sea hearts and prickly palm prior to cleaning & polishing.

And here they are after.

The black walnut (on right) was the biggest I've ever seen. I saw several others and lots of water hickory, pecans, and tropical almonds but I've stopped collecting these.


The red hamburger (on right) was also one of the biggest I've ever seen.

I'm ready for the new beans to arrive. It won't be too long before searching the wrack line in the dunes will become hazardous (snakes).

Final Tally for 2008

I think my bean collecting for the year is over. We spent one day on the dunes over the Christmas holidays but we were in an area that I had previously searched and other than a few pecans, waterlogged sea hearts, and almonds, the picking was pretty slim. I learned that if you find a sea heart that has been ruptured or cracked and has absorbed water - leave it! It stinks like old manure and the smell will follow you all day.

I'm happy with my finds so far and am eager to see what the spring tides will bring.


These are the keepers I have collected since August - Sea Hearts, Sea Coconuts, Starnut Palms, Prickly Palms, Jamacan Walnuts, Nickarnuts, Sea Purses and Hamburger Beans. All were found on Matagorda Peninsula between the mouth of the Colorado River and Mitchell's Cut near Sargent.

I have recently spoken with the manager of the Matagorda Bay Nature Center and may soon be creating an interactive display for educational purposes.

I also plan to visit some more Texas beaches to expand the collection.

Happy New Year and Happy Beaning!

Starnut Giveaway

Friday before supper we had the beach all to ourselves. I searched the dunes while Tracy looked for shells. I found several starnuts, a prickly palm, one blisterpod, and a couple of sea hearts.

I had to show my finds to a fellow sea beaner Edie Pruitt at Spoonbills. She got so interested in the starnuts that I offered her one. Little did I know that her sister Maree was also a sea bean fan and when she showed up I gave her one too.