Allotments 4 All

what are best runner beans, climbing french beans or dwarf french beans and what variety  ???

peas what are best first early, second early or main crop what will give me more peas

been looking at the seeds today so many varieties!

np

I expect beans and peas are one of those vegetables that have a huge number of varieties. And also one that brings out a huge amount of discusion as to which is the best in terms of taste, yield, fertility, keeping, etc.

I myself do not bother with peas, prefering very good frozen peas instead.

Beans on the other hand are far better home grown and offer better taste and value for money.

I grow runners and french beans. The french can be dwarf or climbing though I err more towards dwarf than climbing.

This year I am growing Desiree as a Runner and Opera as French. I also like Painted Lady for Runners and Sprite for French.

Others will have other ideas.

Jerry

We are growing Enorma runner beans and Annabel dwarf french beans both from Kings. We will have to let you know about taste etc as this our 1st year  :)

I'm not growing peas as my Dad-in-law reckons that they take up a lot of space for the yield and frozen are quite good. And he is my Guru when it comes to matters of growing veg.

TimJ

This year the runner beans I am growing are Wisley Magic and White Lady which are new to me.  I have had good results in the past with Enorma, Polestar and Scarlet Emperor.  I don't bother with French beans these days as we much prefer the taste and texture of runners when sliced thin and not much more than shown the boiling water so they are nice and firm. 

I always try to get a couple of rows or Kelvedon Wonder peas in as they are low growing [18"] and can be repeat sown for a late crop.  Flavour is as good as any I've tasted.  Can't be bothered with those fancy ones you eat in the pod - might have some maggots in if you don't spray and as for mangy toos, stir frying is about all they are good for apart from feeding to the pigs! ;D

As with most vegetables, it all depends on your soil, the part of country where you are and the type of season you get as often a variety that does well one year may not the following.  If you are into freezing, then for the runners some seed catalogues highlight ones that are good freezers.  If you go for stringless type beware, as this title sometimes only applies to immature beans.  I strongly recommend blanching the runners if freezing for long term storage - over a week or two - but make an allowance when cooking them [from frozen] as they are already part cooked.  We slice them - some people snap them into bits which I think is an insult to the bean - blanch them and put them and put them in 4oz or 8 oz lots in small freezer bags which are then bunged into larger bags and put into the chest freezer until we need them.

With peas if you grow too many to eat fresh and before they get corny, you are sowing too many.  You might as well buy frozen ones as you won't know the difference except the bought ones might well be better.  Eating them raw on the other hand is too much of a temptation to be missed.   ::) ::) ::)

No No No!  You must grow peas!  Wow, there is nothing as sugar sweet and yummy as freshly picked and depodded peas!  Wouldn't be without them, especially as the kids pick them and eat them on the plot leaving less for the pot, but a happy mum!

I am going to grow more French beans than runners this year, more versatile, no stringy and geroovy colours!  ;D  Of course, can't remember what varieties I plan to grow, have a bright yellow one, and purple queen I think one is called.

can i tag along on your question, newpotter? :)

my question is more along the lines of: what makes good dried beans? i am very much into pulses when it comes to cooking, and though i am planning on having some french dwarfs for eating fresh when ripe, i would very much have a yield of beans (and peas?) for drying and storing this way. also chickpeas. has anyone seen seeds of those in any catalogues?

anyways, what would be yoiur suggestions for good 'drying' pulses?

cheers
svea

Barlotto and Cannellinni are excellent, also flageolet ( french beans ) and Desire runner dries well and is very like butter beans.

If your soil has a good structure and is not acid you will have a good crop of peas. I think, fresh peas are so much better than froozen ones.
Runners I have this year Desiree and Enorma and french beans Purple green.
I also will try a few Dutch varieties. Lots of people grow beans here so there is a big choice.   

thank you djbrenton.

just to clarify, i do intend to eat fresh produce, of course, but we are only two people in the family (hubby and i) and don't have a big freezer, so any 'overproduced' stuff will have to be preserved, such as dried (or made into preserves :))

hence the question on what dries well - i assume those varieties are yummy fresh, too?

cheers
svea

I'll try drying any bean!   And couldn't reallly tell the difference between them when dried  :o .

Ah - and dried broad beans.  Truly gorgeous - meaty and full of flavour :) :) :)

I like french beans better than runners (don't grow 'em at all!) - any French bean.

And peas - I do like the old tall varieties like Alderman; 5-6 foot tall, crops over a long period, and wonderful peas.  Can't go without picking them fresh from the vine - and eating them straight ----- nothing like it!

All best - Gavin

thanks gavin - by the way, i do read your diary now and then. very informative for a beginner like me :)

now, can anyone give me a clue where i might obtain chick pea seeds from? the only mail order place so far is vivaverde.co.uk - however, they produced a chick pea for popping like popcorn. hmm.
just 'ordinary' chickpeas will do. or should i just plant literally what i have left over in the larder, i.e. supermarket fayre? (i did grow a few plants last summer in a pot - just as an experiment - not a great yield, but i think the pot was not big enough....)

svea

PS: sorry newpotter for having hikacked your thread  :-[ :-[ :-[

oooooooooo I have Alderman pea seeds this time Gavin thanks to your recommendation, and Stephans I think way back when.  Happened across them and thought, they will do for me!  ;D

Quote from: Lady Cosmos on January 26, 2005, 09:36:17
I also will try a few Dutch varieties. Lots of people grow beans here so there is a big choice.   

Hi Lady, for green beans (sperciebonen), if you like thickish, fleshy beans with the old fashioned green bean flavor, I can recommend Rakker ( a Dutch variety). We grow them every year and they don't get soggy when frozen. It's a climber and a fantastic cropper if you keep them picked.

Svea - last year, we were inundated with our French beans, and when the runners started cropping, I gave up picking the french beans. In September I then pulled up all the french bean plants and podded all the beans - which were then the equivalent of flagelot beans. They were really good and this year I am going to grow those red-streaked beans called something like lingua di fuoco (??) and not pick any at all until I get the whole lot in and put them in a jar for the winter. I also have a packet of "brown canadian drying beans". Not exactly sure what they are..

sb

yes, i have seen these red streaked ones - very pretty :) (gotta have something pretty to look at on the plot, too ;-) )

I know that one, Ina, it is an early one and indeed very good (and wellknown) after defrosting.
Where do you get your veg seeds (f.i. french beans) from?
Have you ever tried the 'Knoebelbuenke'or the 'Dubbele Witte Zonder Draad"? Zijn aan  te bevelen.

Hi all
i am growing the same as last year cause they were great!
Runners - Riley (girlie salmon pink flowers, great beans!)
French Dwarf - Purple Teepee, soooo delicious, really impressed!
French Dwarf - a yellow waxy bean but the name escapes me! lovely beany taste!
Climbing french - flat podded called golden something? yummy!
am growing kelvedon wonder as they can be grown in sucession!

Jemma

Last year was my first  veg growing year and I didn't have much success with my beans - probably because I changed plots mid-way and transplanted them :(

This year however I am going to try French bean Tendercrop which is a dwarf variety.  The 'blurb' on the packet promises that it will produce heavy crops of stringless beans.

Has anyone else tried growing this one before?

If so, did it produce the goods as the packet says??

Debs

Quote from: Lady Cosmos on January 27, 2005, 12:17:56
I know that one, Ina, it is an early one and indeed very good (and wellknown) after defrosting.
Where do you get your veg seeds (f.i. french beans) from?
Have you ever tried the 'Knoebelbuenke'or the 'Dubbele Witte Zonder Draad"? Zijn aan  te bevelen.

Two places I get my seeds: Some via the allotment organization and others from Pum's zaden on internet, he's got a very wide selection also from English companies.

more questions sorry
should i start off the peas in pots in the green house (frost free) if so when?
what the best to support them twiggy sticks canes or net ???
thanks
np

I don't start mine off indoors because my space is precious, and I found last year, by March, they germinated rapidly out on the plot.  I have heard people sowing them in drainpipes, filled with earth, so they can just slide them whole pipe full of earth and peas out into the bed. 

Support, I use twiggy sticks as I have access to MASSES!  Seems to do the trick, so long as you have plenty otherwise they can flop around a bit.  I am a tad generous with my sowing just making a wide 'trench' (not the word but for the life of me I can't think what I want to call it) made by dragging the flat of my spade along the bed, then I scatter the peas...about 5 or 6 in a row, sort of thing, all the way along the bed.  Ooo drill, drill is the word I was looking for! Ha  ;D.  If I were to use canes, I would need loads to tie each pea plant in.  HOWEVER, I am also growing Aldermann this year and they are tall peas, sound similar to bean plants, so I will be supporting them with canes.

does the frost not damage the plants if i sow in march? or do i need to protect them
also can i use any sort of twiggy sticks ???
np

"does the frost not damage the plants if i sow in march? or do i need to protect them
also can i use any sort of twiggy sticks "

Hi np - peas are unlikely to come to harm from frost in the UK when sown in March.  They are not keen on very wet cold conditions and can rot so if you have clay soil in say the more northern parts of the UK and it is wet, put some polythene sheet down for a week or two before sowing and leave it there until you see the green shoots.  Beware of mice though so stick the neighbour's moggy in there as well...........   ;D

The shorter varieties of peas like Kelvedon Wonder grow to about 45 cm [18"] high so you need sticks about 2 feet long and reasonably stiff to hold up the grown peas on a wet windy day.  Taller varieties therefore need longer ones and sticks are infinitely better than netting.  Trim the twiddly side bits back which will help to stiffen them.  I put the sticks in at an angle down one side of the row so that they point along the row and over it.  A second row of sticks is put in along the other side pointing back in the opposite direction and the tops of the two rows of sticks intermeshed to make a rigid support up through which the peas climb.  It's very easy once you twig how to do it.....  8) :D

The "twiggier" the better, and long enough for the expected length of the peas.
 
Birch twigs are good - but anything with lots of branching.  I used branches off a badly over-grown privet hedge one year - worked well, but they all set roots, like well-behaved cuttings should.

All best - Gavin

Hmm - now why aren't my "real" cuttings so well-behaved :(

The best of the lot for pea sticks is elm - if you can find any.  They produce nicely spaced flat branches that are like feathers and make very neat tidy rows. 

Over here pea sticks are made of ash...  they last longer ... any idea what is the best time of year to graft an apple on A4A  ;D

Hello William O - sadly most of our elms were reduced to ash following the devastation caused by Dutch Elm disease.    :'( :'( :'(

Grafting apples is usually done in March and budding in July/August but we use rootstocks such as M27, M9 etc in the UK, not message boards........... ;D