First of all, the beans. I sowed a first round of French and runner beans in root-trainers in an indoor heated propagator at the start of April, putting them outside two weeks later for hardening off. But towards the end of the month there were harsh winds and cold nights and they were shredded to bits. The best thing to do in these circumstances is to count your losses and start all over again. It is still not too late to sow French and runner beans – you can keep sowing these until June, but be aware that they won’t be ready to harvest until late July and August.

I sowed the same beans in root-trainers as I’d sown in April:

Dwarf French beans: ‘Sungold’, ‘Sprite’, ‘Cannellino’, ‘Royalty’, ‘Primavera’, ‘Presto’ a flagolet bean; climbing French beans: ‘Heritage Climbing Bean’, ‘Eva’, ‘Cobra’, ‘Barlotta Lingua di Fuoco’, ‘Corona d’Oro’, ‘Violet Podded’; runner beans: ‘Moonlight’, ‘Painted Lady’ and ‘Lady Di’ plus one variety of soya bean called ‘Elena’.

These are ready to go outside to be hardened off in the cold frame for a few nights before planting out.