After pre soaking i have my early peas, runner beans, sugar peas and mangetout planted outside. The peas had already germinated a few days before i added the runner beans as there sharing a large bucket and climbing frame.
The rain and occasional sun showers are going them the world of good.
Do protect the runner beans! Night frosts are still a possibility until mid May. The peas should be absolutely fine, but French and runner beans are not frost hardy. Broad beans should also be fine.
I haven't yet started runners, nor french, maybe will do so this week.
I do have peas coming up in pots (patchy germination/critters on plot in previous years).. so we'll see how they'll do this year.
Will need to transplant my broad beans; started them off in loo roll inners... Looking good so far. Not notched yet...
Sweet peas, only one pot of them have germinated and I've planted them out.
It's a good time to start French and runner beans indoors or possibly even outdoors after soaking or chitting perhaps.
It's a cold week in England but I don't know whether it's the same in Wales. In eastern England the ground is still quite dry and this week's predicted rain will be useful.
Peas can be started much earlier. They can take a bit of frost. So can broad beans. French beans and runnerbeans are warm weather only crops. The slightest bit of frost and they are gone. Likewise I haven't planted any French beans outside yet either. But my French beans in little pots are hardening off in the greenhouse where they are safe from slight frosts. If we get a harder frost (anxious look at the weather forecast daily!) they can come indoors again for the night.
My peas have been out for weeks and they are starting to scramble up the supports. Hope none of us will get a damaging late frost.
My peas (Blauschokker), have been out a few weeks and the tendrils are grabbing anything to climb upwards!
My CFB ( Viola Cornetti) are just beginning to break the surface and are in my south-facing potting shed, so I'll transplant them out of their loo rolls and into pots as I'm going on holiday next week
It's a busy time, trying to get everything organised before hols ... not helped by wrens who have built a nest inside my potting shed, which has at least 3 chicks inside - so I'm creeping around to avoid disturbing them 🫣