Growing your own - is it worth it?

[gurnemanz]

Cats don’t eat moles or voles, so if you have a hunting sort of cat, it will catch voles for fun but if you starve it, it will probably catch something it can eat. In my experience, not many cats are bothered with hunting wild things these days [sigh].

I hope cat lovers are aware of what their pets get up to when allowed to roam free. I saw a neighbour's cat jump on and fatally injure our daughter's pet rabbit which was in a run on the lawn, by biting its neck. We took it to the vet who put it down (costing us £25). They also kill wild birds and use our garden as a toilet. At least dog owners usually clear their mess up.

[Anna]

Has anyone grown dwarf runner beans? I ask because I'm clearing areas of the garden and now have a space where I'd thought of putting runners, however although it's open and sunny it's really quite windy. There's a high fence on the West side and it faces East but the area runs along the fence SSW - NNE, nothing to stop the wind and they say you cannot grow runners in windy sites (why? damage to leaves?) so I wondered about dwarf runners but wonder if pods would perhaps be too near the ground - I've only looked at Hestia variety so far - but are dwarfs really only suitable for pots?

I'd like to put some vegs there until I'm ready to plant something more permanent around September but fear I'm running out of time unless I go for salady stuff.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I hope cat lovers are aware of what their pets get up to when allowed to roam free. I saw a neighbour's cat jump on and fatally injure our daughter's pet rabbit which was in a run on the lawn, by biting its neck. We took it to the vet who put it down (costing us £25). They also kill wild birds and use our garden as a toilet.

That's a very sad recollection. We have a cat, but control the excesses with a smart cat flap which prevents him going out after dark. Unneutered tom cats are the problem round here.

At least dog owners usually clear their mess up.

If only...

[doversoul1]

Has anyone grown dwarf runner beans? I ask because I'm clearing areas of the garden and now have a space where I'd thought of putting runners, however although it's open and sunny it's really quite windy. There's a high fence on the West side and it faces East but the area runs along the fence SSW - NNE, nothing to stop the wind and they say you cannot grow runners in windy sites (why? damage to leaves?) so I wondered about dwarf runners but wonder if pods would perhaps be too near the ground - I've only looked at Hestia variety so far - but are dwarfs really only suitable for pots?

I'd like to put some vegs there until I'm ready to plant something more permanent around September but fear I'm running out of time unless I go for salady stuff.

Runner beans may not be able to run up properly if the place is too windy. I have never tried dwarf runners but what I saw in the garden centre looked more like an ornament than for eating. (I am quite suspicious about anything turned into dwarf)

Unless you have set your heart on runner beans, how about Borlotti beans? They are easy to grow and very good to eat either fresh or dried. If you decide to try, start the seeds in a deep-ish tray in the house where it’s warm, as soon as they come up put them out (ideally in a greenhouse), and plant them out when they begin to look like bean plants. If you start them in the warmth, it shouldn’t be too late.

[cloughie]

Has anyone grown dwarf runner beans? I ask because I'm clearing areas of the garden and now have a space where I'd thought of putting runners, however although it's open and sunny it's really quite windy. There's a high fence on the West side and it faces East but the area runs along the fence SSW - NNE, nothing to stop the wind and they say you cannot grow runners in windy sites (why? damage to leaves?) so I wondered about dwarf runners but wonder if pods would perhaps be too near the ground - I've only looked at Hestia variety so far - but are dwarfs really only suitable for pots?
like to put some vegs there until I'm ready to plant something more permanent around September but fear I'm running out of time unless I go for salady stuff.

Hello Anna - how're you diddlin'
I'm no expert - tend to stick things in and hope for the best, but in a by no means wind-free garden I have successfully grown runner beans for a number of years -as long as your canes are firmly in the ground and securely tied you could risk proper runners - let's face it you can't beat a good boiling of runners straight from garden to pan!

[doversoul1]

… and you can always help them climb up by winding the vine up the cane or string when they are young. But do make sure you wind them right way (don’t ask me which way, it’s my hands and not my head that remembers it).

[cloughie]

… and you can always help them climb up by winding the vine up the cane or string when they are young. But do make sure you wind them right way (don’t ask me which way, it’s my hands and not my head that remembers it).

No

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I've always found that runner beans become very stringy from September onwards. Switching to stringless varieties of climbing French beans was a good decision for us, though we do have a problem of heavy coastal winds - a problem already highlighted. To overcome this we have extra strong canes and have string reinforcements linking the beanpoles to the hit-and-miss garden fence. Despite this, there are occasional disasters, but we do get very good crops, lasting well into the autumn.

[umslopogaas]

Yup ... reinforcements keeping the bean canes in place. I have them. Very wise. Beans just germinating inside, I'll probably plant them out in about two weeks.

Just finished putting up plastic netting for pea supports. A very tedious job, but plastic netting is cheap and recyclable and works. There are going to be an awful lot of peas down this way in east Devon, if all comes to fruition.

[gurnemanz]

I've always found that runner beans become very stringy from September onwards. Switching to stringless varieties of climbing French beans was a good decision for us, though we do have a problem of heavy coastal winds - a problem already highlighted. To overcome this we have extra strong canes and have string reinforcements linking the beanpoles to the hit-and-miss garden fence. Despite this, there are occasional disasters, but we do get very good crops, lasting well into the autumn.

I grew climbing French beams one year. They were great but seemed to have a shorter productive season than normal runners. I should have done successive sowings.

[gradus]

Anna, just keep pinching out the tops of the runners and they won't run! You'll end up with multi-stemmed runner beans at a manageable height, on the other hand just let them sprawl and if you can put straw or something to keep the pods from contact with the soil they'll grow ok - maybe not straight though.
I have grown to prefer climbing french beans for flavour and would recommend Cobra - same 'rules' apply.

[jean]

I have grown...

Then this thread is the place fior you!

[umslopogaas]

I also grew climbing French beans once, but they were more trouble than the normal ones and I couldnt see any advantage in terms of yield or flavour, so I havent grown them again.

If runners seem to get stringy around September, I wonder if this is just "bean fatigue", ie after two months of munching beans you get a bit tired of them and leave them on the plant for too long before picking them?

I didnt know there were such things as dwarf runners, I shall investigate. I would think though that the climbing ones are more productive, if you can be bothered with making wigwams out of garden canes: mine are up and ready, beans just germinating inside.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I find making wigwams out of canes enormously therapeutic in its own right. It's when you're in a hurry to do the rest of the gardening that it becomes frustrating!

[umslopogaas]

It is fun, isnt it? I have two, and have joined them across the top with a horizontal cane, to give a bit of extra stability and reduce the risk of them blowing over (never happened to me, but my sister's blew down last year). Much more frustrating for me is putting up plastic netting for the peas to climb up. However, it is cheaper than sticks, and recyclable. Job done for this year, I'm hoping for a bumper crop.