runner beans

Hi, my runner beans have been doing well but have now stopped flowering, I thought they keep going till the frosts, can you tell me if they should have kept going please

 

Hi Blacksmith,

Have a good rummage around to make sure there's not a sneaky pod thats matured. They'll stop producing if they feel they've set seed.

Well, thats the advice i'd give in a normal summer, but with this up & down weather they may have just got fed up.

Good weather coming up soon though, so don't give up

 

It got really cold here on Thursday night down to 7°c . I was wondering if it would effect my French beans ? I am getting wonderful crops from the Blue lake and Cherokee beans kindly donated by Alex-Adam . I was hoping they may crop to mid September ?
I also grew Cobra beans which has a 5 star review everywhere, these seem to be struggling.

 

How many!!????

 

He eats them all himself too

 

They say that if you eat too much of the same thing, you end up looking like it?

Your new Avatar shiney?

 

That's you? Blimey, you've changed you hair Shiney

 

I tend to sail close to the wind with runners, leaving the pods to mature and using the beans like Broad Beans. I do seem to have had a lot this year, although when I tried some of the young pods before they started producing beans, they tasted awful and woody.

 

My runners stalled completely this year, but I now have my first runner bean and I'm undecided what to do with it, but will probably let it go to seed to try and recoup some of my expenditure on seeds. I planted 3 different varieties and they all failed to thrive.

My first plantings of french beans were completey eaten by slugs, and I'm only now getting some decent pickings of fine french beans (safari) - delicious partially cooked then fried up with loads of garlic. (does that work with runners?)

 

My French Beans got ravaged as well. I got maybe half a dozen pods if that.

As for runners, I tend to cook the whole beans like Broad Beans. Boil them for a few minutes, then pop them in a pan with warm olive oil and garlic. Warm them through, turn into a dish and put grated parmesan over them and freshly ground black pepper.

 

I save seeds from my runners, tending to plant a lot of extras every few years to ensure some plantings can all be left to go entirely to seed (maybe a quick pick first), but appear to have had some contamination with a variety I don't grow as some pods have contained a flattish, white, almost butterbean type seed.

I've been keeping these seperate and wondering if they'll come true (good job I didn't blow them out this year). Perhaps when I grow/crop these I'll try some whilst fresh (rather than from dried).