Runner Beans or French????

I have grown Runner Bean ( Scarlet Emperor ) for several years and they have proved to be very reliable and as long as they are picked young very tender, I also grow a climbing French Bean ( Blue Lake ) which are stringless and a heavy cropper, I prefer the taste of Runner Beans myself you can't beat the taste of the first pickings of the season.

 

Hi Honeybee,

Try growing in a different area of your garden or planting a bit later maybe. One thing I found this year was that runners planted a bit late in the same bed that the new potatoes were in went crazy and cropped really heavily. Might have nothing to do with each other but we couldn't keep up with them and only had 6 plants.

 

I've grown R/B Enorma over many years, the wife has been very happy with them. A few years ago I had some spare space and someone recommended the climbing french bean Blue Lake. The wife now insists that the french beans take preference over the runners. Over the season both give about the weight of beans. The F/B can be left on the vine too dry when the freezer is full, then the haricots can be used in stews during the winter.

 

Runner beans for me - you can keep your frenchies. I am lucky to have seeds that were collected and sowed every year for 65 years so dont know the variety, but they crop really well as long as they are picked early ! I may have some spare if you want some.
Interestingly , when I collected the seeds this year, some were white, and some were jet black, as well as the normal purple and black. I have no idea why this was and would appreciate if any one knows why this might be.