Growing your own - is it worth it?

[amateur51]

I do sometimes think getting a freezer would be a good idea ...

Aaaah the Saga of frenchie's Frozen Peas springs to mind

[french frank]

Aaaah the Saga of frenchie's Frozen Peas springs to mind

Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore".

[umslopogaas]

#297 doversoul, if you have excessive leaf growth and not many flowers, it sounds as if you may have overdone the nitrogen? Beans dont need much, because the roots fix it. Try a fertiliser high in phosphorus and potash, but low in nitrogen.

[jean]

Brilliant year for greengages, BTW.

Had to go to France in ASugust this year - very apprehensive about the heat.

But there wasn't any. And there were the Reine Claude.

Strangely, I didn't see any fig trees, and hardly any figs for sale. Don't the French like them?

[clive heath]

Cropping Time and the unexpected excess is the almonds from a tree which was here when we took over many, many years ago. I'm about a third of the way through the 1000 or so we've saved from the squirrels or maybe they've not been so active hereabouts because of the foxes that patrol the back fence. Talk about packaging! You have a squashy green outer sheath which given freedom from squirrels will naturally split along one line, open and disgorge the shell which has an intricate indented whorly pattern on the outside and a completely smooth coffee-brown interior housing the almond itself. In their slightly unripe state having been ripped untimely from the tree but nevertheless with no attachment internally to the shell, the almonds have a pale brown colour and are deliciously moist but they soon darken and as they do so the flavour becomes more intense. (One of the disappointments of our trip down the Nile on the "El Misr" was the fresh dates which were not as flavourful as the dried which we are used to). The only way I've found of getting at them safely without a load of fractured almonds is a mole-wrench which has the advantage that it automatically limits the squashing process. This is after quite a few broken nutcrackers.

We are growing the climbing french bean "Romano", as in :
"For many years, I have grown the climbing French bean 'Romano', which is the finest-flavoured of any French bean I have ever grown. I only ever found it at one source: Thompson & Morgan. Unfortunately, they do not stock it any more."
from the RHS site. Luckily we are able to save the seed. There may be some to spare!

The other climbing french bean is "Blue Lake" which gives you "Haricot Vert" type beans, rounded rather than flat and only stringy if you leave them too long.

[umslopogaas]

Plant World Seeds (St. Marychurch Road, Newton Abbot, Devon TQ12 4SE) offer two climbing french beans in their 2014 catalogue (I havent seen the 2015 one yet): 'Blue Lake' and 'Barlotta Lingua Di Fuoco'. Both produce haricot-type beans if the pods are allowed to mature. 'Blue Lake' is said to be stringless.

[amateur51]

Had to go to France in ASugust this year - very apprehensive about the heat.

But there wasn't any. And there were the Reine Claude.

Strangely, I didn't see any fig trees, and hardly any figs for sale. Don't the French like them?

My French friends tell me that it's been a disappointing year for figs, sadly.

[clive heath]

To avoid any confusion, the beans I've referred to as "Haricot Vert" type are as in this picture

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/french_beans

whereas the mature Borlotti beans are as here

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/borlotti_bean

The latter are grown by several of the allotment holders nearby. Whether they dry them or can/bottle them I don't know.

[doversoul1]

A beautiful spring-like say. The doves are sunbathing in the pile of old pine needles but the pigeons are eyeing the purple sproutings although they are covered by a net. They (the sproutings, not the pigeons) looked splendid in summer but somehow deteriorated in the autumn. I expect the weather was too warm for them. Still, I hope they will shoot out when spring arrives properly.

For this year, a tray of tomato seeds is sitting on the bathroom radiator, and broad beans are growing nicely in a large tray in the greenhouse alongside peas in a gutter.

It was an amazing gardening year last year. I wonder what awaits us this year.

[umslopogaas]

I have plug trays of onion seedlings ('Ailsa Craig' and 'Red Brunswick') growing in the conservatory and also the first three fortnightly sowings of peas ('Hurst Green Shaft'). Germination has been a bit hit and miss, I think I shall have to start pre-germinating them. 'Pink Fir Apple' tubers are in a bag upstairs in an unheated spare bedroom, its much too early to think about planting them, but I wanted to secure my supply before the local nursery sold out. French and runner bean seeds are waiting in the fridge for spring. This year I have runner bean 'Desiree' which is white flowered and said to be completely stringless as well as traditional red flowered 'Enorma'. For french beans I have purple 'Royalty Purple', green 'Nassau' and yellow 'Golden Tepee': its going to be a colourful veg garden this year!

[Anna]

I shall probably regret asking this but why are your runner bean seeds in the fridge? In packets or in pots?
Last year I had White Ladies, year before Enorma, I fancied some of those heritage bi-coloured this year but doubtful about yield.
(Dover's broad beans in the gutter suddenly reminded me of frenchie's peas strung out on the washing line!! )

[umslopogaas]

In packets, I' shant sow them for a couple of months. Seeds keep longer at low temperatures, though it is not necessary for such a short period, I am sure my bean seeds would keep fine at room temperature. But at least in the fridge I know where to find them when I want to sow them, I'm not the tidiest person in the world and it wouldnt be hard to lose a couple of packets of seeds in my house!

I've not come across White Ladies, where did you buy the seeds? They arent offered by Plant World Seeds.

Worth trying a few bi-colours in case the flavour is special, but you are right about heritage vars. being prone to low yield.

[Anna]

Thanks - should have realised that it's just to avoid the central heating!! White Lady is a regular bean, from T&M, Marshalls, etc., I thought they were very good but I do think the red flowered are prettier!!

http://www.thompson-morgan.com/vegetables/vegetable-seeds/pea-and-bean-seeds/runner-bean-white-lady/231TM

[doversoul1]

Potatoes have been in for awhile and broadens have been planted out for a couple of weeks but so far little sign of any growth. Too cold, I suppose. The badgers didn’t bother with my vegetables last year but this year lone rabbit comes in to the garden every day, probably waiting for me to plant out peas and lettuce.

Rabbits have never been a problem here, as there were plenty of foxes about but for the last couple of years, I have only seen a couple and they looked quite sick. I wonder what’s happening.

The next lot of broad beans are waiting to be planted out and it looks as if it is going to be a sunny day today.

Happy Easter and happy gardening.

[umslopogaas]

I raise peas in plug trays until they are big enough for the field mice to be no longer interested, then I plant them out. This year I have miscalculated and raised far too many, so I have taken over the bit of veg garden that was allocated for French beans, and will raise the beans in pots instead. I've done this before with spuds and it works OK, though you have to watch the watering, needed daily in hot weather, which means that unless you can bribe the neighbours to do some watering for you, you can never go away. I'm also going to experiment with doubling up the peas with the runner beans. There may be a bit of competition, but the peas wont go higher than about three feet, and most of the runner beans seem to come from the upper part of the wigwam, so I think it will work OK.

Doversoul, isnt it a bit early for spuds? I've bought mine, but wasnt planning to plant them for another month. I would have thought there was a risk from frost damage, or do you cover them at night?