Sowing beans now for harvest late July and August

Submitted by webmaster on

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.

February veg planting...

Submitted by Carol on

Conventional advice is to sow parsnips now but if their reputation for poor germination is connected to being placed in cold wet soil there may be better germination by sowing in March.  ‘Avonresister’ is an early maturing variety and has very good resistance to canker, and ‘Gladiator F1’ is the worlds' first hybrid parsnip producing a heavy crop

Jerusalem artichokes and shallots can be planted now - shallots will benefit from covering with a cloche.

Last chance to plant garlic.

In trays or pots . . .

Plant out Runner Beans [May]

Submitted by webmaster on

Runner beans best grown on a wigwam of canes with typically 10 canes of approx 2.5 mtr length.

These plants can get quite heavy and the wigwam construction remains much more stable in windy weather than the more common straight row. Ten plants will produce a continuous supply of fresh beans from July through to October provided they are constantly picked - the more you pick, the more you get.

Plant Runner Bean seeds [mid-March]

Submitted by webmaster on

Runner beans best grown on a wigwam of canes with typically 10 canes of approx 2.5 mtr length.

These plants can get quite heavy and the wigwam construction remains much more stable in windy weather than the more common straight row. Ten plants will produce a continuous supply of fresh beans from July through to October provided they are constantly picked - the more you pick, the more you get.