... Runner beans are almost always a climbing plant with only a couple of bush varieties but you may have to hunt around to buy these as they are not so common. The other beans most commonly grown in this group of plants are French bean, broad bean and bean sprouts. You can also grow the ... Read review
Runner beans. Grow your own & taste the difference
Advantages: cheap,easy, fun and healthy Disadvantages: slugs
...Phaseolus occineus. Runner beans are almost always a climbing plant with only a couple of bush varieties but you may have to hunt around to buy these as they are not so common. The other beans most commonly grown in this group of plants are French bean, broad bean and bean sprouts. You can also grow the soy and lima beans but these are not well suited to out climate, yet.
Runner beans are incredibly easy and quick to grow and for ... ...
Runner beans are a good source of vitamin C, folic acid and fibre. Unfortunately it is very easy to destroy the vitamin C by over boiling so you may prefer to try steaming or stir-frying your beans.
If you find you have too many beans to use at one time they are very easy to freeze. First wash and trim the pods, slice into chunks if you like them like that and blanch for 2 minutes, drain, cool and freeze in ... more
Beans have been grown for many years, firstly as ornamental flowers and since the Victorian times as a vegetable. Their proper Latin name is Phaseolus occineus. Runner beans are almost always a climbing plant with only a couple of bush varieties but you may have to hunt around to buy these as they are not so common. The other beans most commonly grown in this group of plants are French bean, broad bean and bean sprouts. You can also grow the soy and lima beans but these are not well suited to out climate, yet.
Runner beans are incredibly easy and quick to grow and for these reasons are great for children. There is a lot written about soil preparation but I just dig over, plant and go, but books recommend the digging in of compost or manure in preparation to sowing.
The actual beans you plant are about 2cm long and a kidney shape and are a brown colour on the inside of the curve and a pink and brown speckle on the outside of the curve. They can be bought in any garden centre or similar for a couple of pounds for a pack of about 20 beans. Just press each bean about 2” deep and cover with soil and sow them about 6-9” apart depending on how generous you can be with the space. If planting more than one row then the rows should be space about 18” apart.
They can be sown outside when the danger of frost has past. This would probably be mid May in southern areas and possible June if you live further north. It is quite a good Idea to plant a second row a couple of weeks later to give a slightly later crop so you don’t have to eat them all at once. It will take about 7-14 days for the bean to germinate depending on the weather conditions
It is also possible to buy the seedling plants from shops and garden centres. If you have the space, you can sown indoors on a windowsill – but you have to remember to harden them off before planting outside in the garden other wise they will not be happy plants!
Mine this year came from a friend who had too many to plant out. I therefore only have three plants but this will probably produce enough beans for us to eat although, as can been seen in my picture below, the plant on the right hand side has been partially eaten by something. The plants will need some type of support to grow up. This can be bamboo canes either individually or in tripods. I am growing mine up a trellis which is on one edge of my veggie patch. They may need tying although they are great at just winding their own way up so I don’t think they need much help. They can grow to about 10 feet but if you think yours are tall enough just pinch off the growing tip. Dwarf varieties are available which only grow about 18-24” These can be grown about 6” apart and in rows about 18” apart. They can also be grown in pots which are great if you don’t have much space. Also, and I say this with a lot of veg, there is no reason why they can’t be planted in a flower garden, their lovely red flowers are very pretty and look very similar to a sweet pea.
The plants will need regular watering if it doesn’t rain, particularly once the first pods appear. Mulching around the base of the stems will help to conserve moisture.
Once the pods have grown to about 6-8” long they need to be picked. This will be about 4months after sowing. It is far better to pick them when they are much more delicious when they are still fairly small. They are also far less stringy.
To cook, wash and cut off the tops and tails and, if you prefer, also remove the stringy piece running up both sides. In my house we give the tops and tails to the hamsters. Cut in half and boil in salted water for 5 minutes. Drain and serve.
Runner beans are a good source of vitamin C, folic acid and fibre. Unfortunately it is very easy to destroy the vitamin C by over boiling so you may prefer to try steaming or stir-frying your beans.
If you find you have too many beans to use at one time they are very easy to freeze. First wash and trim the pods, slice into chunks if you like them like that and blanch for 2 minutes, drain, cool and freeze in portion sizes in polythene bags (Blanching means dipping into boiling water and then removing straight into cold water to stop the cooking).
Pests. Well most gardens have them. Slugs particularly like the young shoots and I said before one of my plants has already been munched and aphids can like the larger plants particularly when the flowers come. It is possible to spray against the aphids but I don’t like to use chemicals so mine just have to take a chance. Ladybirds are very good for controlling aphids so maybe you should encourage them towards your beans.
Advantages: easy to grow Disadvantages: slugs like them
Runner beans Phaseolus coccineus
Tiss the time to get planting those runner bean seeds.
There are many varieties of runner beans with scarlet red or white flowers there are also dwarf beans that do not grow so tall and also French beans. I am going to tell you about runner beans.
Runner beans are grown as an annual climber they grow to about 3 metres/10 feet tall. Mine grow well past the top of the canes I have to twine them round they have a ... ...to chew.
Runner Beans like moisture so prepare the area you are sowing them into by digging and putting in compost. Before planting put your beanpoles in they need to be in firmly and fairly sheltered from the wind. Time to sow the seed April if indoors. Outdoors May, June after the frosts have gone.
I start my seeds of in pots indoors as the slugs and snails love them. I have a lot of Slugs and snails in my garden this year, sadly I put some of ...
mumsymary 03.11.2002 (21.04.2003)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Runner beans
Advantages: make a good show , taste great Disadvantages: Can be stringy , towards the end of the season
Runner Beans are a great crop to grow in the garden . They are a cheap and easy way of feeding the family with a fresh and nutritional veg.
The plants are easy to grow in a garden , in tubs or on an allotment - and no special skills or tools are needed .
They are not hardy and the biggest enemies are slugs and frosty weather . Runner beans will tolerate neither very well .
They are legumes . That is to say they manufacture their own nitrogen and ... ....
I grow my runner beans on the allotment where they thrive every year . Runner beans are in fact perennials ( not a lot of people know this ) . Indeed in warmer climes they don't wither and die like in Britain . It's the cold weather and frost that get's to them over here.
Really it is best to treat them as annuals therefore and start the seed off in small pots in early April . I sow three beans to a 3 and a half inch pot , sowing the seed quite ...
Gardenex 22.09.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Runner beans
Advantages: Good for you Disadvantages: Attracts bees and slugs
...of my favorite greens is runner beans. I worked on a fruit and vegetable farm a few years ago and I used to pick runner beans, raspberries, strawberries and sort the potatoes. It was while I worked on this farm that I started to eat runner beans, fresh from the field, hand picked and tender not stringy and tough. Then when I got a house with a garden runner beans was a natural choice of greens to grow in my garden. Runner beans are a climbing plant ... ...You can either grow your runner beans up against a trestle fence or use bamboo sticks or poles to grow them up. Runner beans like rich soil and you can add things like manure, lime and compost into the ground where you are going to grow your crop, some people grow them in seed trays before planting out. On the fruit farms they are grown in little plastic polly tunnels before being exposed to the open air. I just plant straight into the ground about ...
Sunnysmiles 03.07.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Runner beans
Advantages: Taste good, cheap to grow, low maintainence Disadvantages: None
...and tell you about my runner beans.
I have always grown runner beans for two reasons really, firstly because my dad loves them especially home grown, and they’re dead easy to grow!
The seeds that I use these days are a variety called Lady Di, which were originally recommended to me by my uncle, as they are stringless. I grew them for one year and was so impressed by the crop and the taste that I have used the same variety every year since. ... ...had a conservatory built about 7 years ago (bear with me this is relevant!) and as part of the follow on work I had a new patio laid including planters for shrubs. I also had a planter made which is the full depth of the patio along the fence adjoining next doors property. It’s about 9 feet long and about 3 feet deep, just the right size for my beans.
During the year I maintain a compost bin, filling it with kitchen scraps. In May I empty ...
SusanLesley 25.06.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Runner beans
Advantages: Easy to grow, need little care and attention Disadvantages: Can be "stringy"
Runner beans are perennial climbers that we grow as annuals in temperate and cool climates. Plants grow to over 3m (10ft) tall, with a spread of about 30cm (12in); some naturally dwarf cultivars form bushes about 38cm (15in) tall. They have pink, red, white, or bicoloured flowers.
The flat pods, over 25cm (10in) long and up to 2cm (3/4in) wide, are eaten cooked; immature seeds and mature, dried seeds may also be cooked. With some cultivars, it may ... ...Scarlet runner beans are a temperate or cool-season crop that does not withstand frost. Plants need a growing season of about 100 frost-free days and they grow best at 14 - 29 degrees celsius (57 - 84 degrees fahrenheit). At higher temperatures, especially if combines with high humidity, the pods may not set unless the plants are in light shade. In cool climates, choose a sheltered situation to encourage pollinating insects. Plants are deep-rooting ...
SnowiestElf 23.01.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Runner beans
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Advantages: smell sweet look good Disadvantages: none
Sweet pea Lathyrus odoratus
I am thinking of sowing some sweet peas in the garden soon.
I can put the seeds in the soil in the end of September early October. I could wait till April to sow but if I sow now they will flower earlier. The plants tend to be stronger too.
I will probably start mine off in a pot then I know where the seeds are but you could put them straight into the garden soil.
I shall put the pots in a cold frame. They will be easier to protect against the slugs, snails mice and birds who love them to eat
I shall plant them in the growing place in March April time.
Sweet peas sweet smell pretty, climbing up fences or trellises. The cut flowers look good in flower decorations or in a summer bride's bouquet
I might grow some along side some runnerbeans up a wigwam in the veggie patch. Sweet peas need ...
Sweet pea Lathyrus odoratus
Went into the garden yesterday and noticed the sweet pea seeds I had sown in the autumn. They are now small plants about 1 or 2 inches high.
Sweet peas sweet smell pretty, climbing up fences or trellises. The cut flowers look good in flower decorations or in a summer bride’s bouquet
Seeds can be grown Autumn or spring I have sown mine in a small pot, need to pot then on soon as they are getting to big for their pot.
I think I shall put some in the tub in the front garden and they can climb up the fence others I might grow along side some runnerbeans up a wigwam in the veggie patch.
Sweet peas need support to grow up a fence, a wigwam, pea stick’s or a bush my dad grows his on sticks along a path in the garden where the scent the garden on a summers eve.
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mumsymary 15.01.2003 (30.12.2004)
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There was a spot of sun today and I decided it was time to sow some dwarf French beans.
I have some runnerbeans planted and starting to twine their way up some canes. Dwarf French beans will be an alternate that I can grow in a row they do not grow very tall up to about 45 cm. whereas runners will grow a couple of metres tall or more.
What is a Dwarf French bean?
You may call it a vegetable but it?s really a fruit
French beans are originally from South America there are two types a climber or a dwarf. There are several varieties of dwarf French bean. Some are flat podded most are round podded I think. The pod usually grows up to about 6 inches.
While most French bean pods are green some varieties have yellow pod, and there is also a purple podded one two I have grown this and when cooked the bean pod turns green. Dwarf ...
