June: French (or Green) Beans

Tip: If you are using growbags, make sure you have shaken them well to decompact the soil, and water thoroughly to get them fully wetted before you use them. Don’t use them flat, but turn them on their sides before you cut holes for planting, and that way to get a slightly deeper planting area. Alternatively split them in half completely and use them upright like two tall pots, although they need propping up against each other. This works particularly well for chillis, peppers and aubergines.

It is not too late to sow beans. I have tried sowing French beans in loo rolls in the (unheated) greenhouse around the beginning of May, and directly into the ground around the end of May, and the later ones catch up so fast that there is little difference in when you start picking the beans. They do like a rich soil though, so dig in some compost, or if you are feeling energetic, dig a trench where the beans are going to grow, fill with well-rotted manure, then cover over again with your soil.

French beans come in two varieties – the dwarf type, which stay low to the ground and have a pre-programmed amount of flowers and therefore bean production; and the climbing type, which scramble up anything in their path and carry on fruiting until it gets too cold for them at the end of the summer. There are plenty of named varieties to choose from, including the purple podded ones, although somewhat disappointingly, these turn green when cooked! The most important thing is to pick them young and tender, whatever the variety!

So if you haven’t already sown French beans, soak them in a bowl of water for about 15 minutes, then push them into the ground with your forefinger, to a depth of 3-4cm. Brush over any holes you’ve made, and cover the sowing area with holly twigs if you have them, or with branches of peppermint/mint – this will stop the mice or birds from digging them up again. If the soil is dry you might want to water the seed in, and keep watered while the seedlings are growing, but beans put on deep roots, and I don’t water mine again all summer, unless it is exceptionally dry. If you sow climbing beans they will need a structure to climb up, and it is worth encouraging them to twine by gently pushing them in the right direction.

That’s it, sit back, let them grow and pick them regularly! At the end of the season, do not pull the bushes out of the ground, cut them back to just above ground level, and the nodes on the roots will carry on fixing nitrogen into the soil – good for next year’s brassicas!