Trends come and go, but the runner bean remains one of our favourite T home-grown veggies. These high-rise stars are popular for their flavour when picked young and tender, but also for the colour they bring to the patch.
Flowers are produced in white and red and everything in between and are much loved by pollinators which will also go on to visit other flowering crops.
WHERE TO GROW
Growing good runners needs a certain amount of commitment; as climbers they need strong supports and space, preferably in the sunniest spot you can find. Since many of us are lacking space, this often means in practice that climbing beans are planted in the same spot each year. This rather flies in the face of the usual advice to rotate crops to avoid soil-borne diseases - good advice of course, but lots of gardeners grow their crops in the same place for many years without problems.
UTILISING SHADE
When deciding where your beans are to go, consider surrounding plantings. You may want to ensure that the tall beans don't shade out other crops, but on the other hand you can use this to your advantage, using the shade to keep the heat of summer from things like salads crops which may bolt in the full glare of the sun.
Beans are hungry, moisture-loving plants needing a soil rich in organic matter. Having decided where they are to go it is a good idea to follow the tradition of digging a trench where the crop is to be planted, before lining with plenty of newspaper and filling with kitchen waste. Cover each new batch of waste with a layer of soil to deter vermin.
Don't fancy that? Then simply fill with well-rotted garden compost or manure or enrich the soil from above with a thick no-dig layer of mulch.
SUPPORTS
This story is from the July 2022 edition of Kitchen Garden.
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This story is from the July 2022 edition of Kitchen Garden.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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