First Harvest Of The Year

Broad beans by R MAURINS, on Flickr

 

My Broad Beans aren't exactly setting the world on fire either. Mange Tout in the same area are full steam ahead and I could supply Tescos atm. Dwarf French Beans ditto but not the Broad...must be something to do with living on the East coast of Scotland! I have some beans but the plants aren't that healthy looking. Not our favourite legume so think I won't bother next year. Think I only grew them as it reminded my of Biology lessons at school many moons ago when learning about how plants grow.

 

Are your dwarf french beans doing well @silu ? What varieties are you growing . I am growing Slenderette and Safari this year. As in the onion thread , I need to look at them tonight.

 

Hi @HarryS, I'm growing Unwins Poweron and Top Crop. Friend who is a prossional gardener recommended to grow the dwarf varieties and reckoned the yield was pretty similar without the hassle of staking the tall growing types. So far I would say he was right. The Top Crop are a little better than Poweron but happy with both. They don't grow more than about 2 to 3ft and sort of support each other. Both started cropping about 2 weeks ago and family is getting a little overwhelmed with these plus Mange Tout. Don't like Mange Tout that have been frozen so think much of the French Bean crop is freezer bound!
Because of where I live I started mine in a heated propogator and the grew them on in pots in my unseated greenhouse before planting in about the middle of May when things were heating up outside.

 

There are some beans at the bottom, but just not as good as last years so far, patience is something I'm lacking I think.

 

@burnie if you have no flowers on your plants then I think they are lacking in nutrients that would produce the flowers.Have you tried feeding the plants at all?I add compost from my tonne bags that I spread on the ground and then Mr Kandy rotavates it in in the spring and then when the plants are growing I give them a good feed with chicken pellets which I water in and I find that helps.

As you are further up North then your growing season will probably be behind ours and you gain this time of the year by having more hours of daylight.Or it could be that bees are few or far between up where you are due to whatever sort of winter spring you had so you might be getting a few flowers which haven't been pollinated so they have dropped off.

On our allotment I grow flowers as well as the fruit and veg and find that the bees come in their droves to pollinate the broad bean flowers as the scent from them is a great attractant.

If like you say you don't have any luck with them this year,then try something else which will suit your growing conditions,although looking at your plants they all look fairly healthy to me

 

Thanks for the help Kandy, yes they've been fed and I have had flowers and the garden has several bumble bee nests, so no shortage of pollinators. The beans are coming, just small and not so many of them, the seeds are "the Sutton", which I've not grown before.

 

That's your problem @burnie the Sutton is a variety that doesn't grow very tall if my memory serves me correctly.My late Father in Law used to grow them so we gave them a try over thirty years ago and because they didn't grow very tall and the pods were on the small side I felt they were a waste of space so changed to Bunyards Exhibition for Spring sowings and Aquadulce Claudia for November onwards sowings and these two varieties for us grow quiet tall although this year they have grown very well so the weather must have been just right for them

 

Thanks Kandy, I chose them thinking as I'm growing in a raised bed, basically a large container, I thought small would be better, back to the drawing board on that one I think(though they are growing well now with the sunshine helping)

 

First crop of Broad Beans and Peas picked, taste test to come later today.

 

Got any odd looking beans at all @shiney ?

 

Harvest by R MAURINS, on Flickr