Runner Beans 

This is one crop that I have perfected, though I will expand the page during 2020. I have 3 different bean varieties selected for the colour of their flowers, red, white and a combined red and white.

The seeds are germinated in compost at the beginning of April. Keep the compost from drying out but do not add too much water as the seed will rot. Once a few leaves are established I transfer to the cold frame for a week or so.

The best advice I can give is to place fleece material around the beans when planting out around 7th May. This is to protect the delicate leaves from the wind which can still be cold at this time of year. The fleece is a metre high and I only remove once all the beans have climbed beyond the top.

I have never had a bad crop using this tried and tested system.