I found that every one of the beans I planted in the main row had germinated, and two of the spares at one end of the row as well. That gives me 16 plants - and maybe the other two will eventually germinate also.
If you think that the row of beans is covered in weeds, then you are wrong. Those are not weeds, they are Radish seedlings. The idea is that the Radishes will mature long before the beans, thereby giving me two crops from the same space.
In the next photo you can see the spare plants at the end of the row. As it happens, it looks as if they will not be required, but I'll leave them in place until I'm sure that all the plants in the main row are OK and growing strongly.
I have had a lot of trouble with animals digging ("excavating" would be more accurate!) in my raised beds, so since the cloches have come off I have had to erect a net to protect the beans.
The seemingly empty bed in the foreground of the photo above is actually the Asparagus bed. No sign of any spears coming up yet. When I was at the Garden Centre the other day (buying the flowers I wrote about a couple of days ago) I was fortunate enough to find some Asparagus crowns for sale - of the same variety as my well-established plants - and they were only £1.99 for a bag of two crowns. I bought a bag and I have put both plants into the vacant space which was the result of the death of one of my plants. Well, to be more accurate, its failure to establish when I planted the original batch of 10, some years ago. The variety is Gjinlim F1.
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P.S. My laptop failed this week - so I wasn't able to do much blogging/commenting for a while. Back in action with a new laptop now...
Looking healthy!
ReplyDeleteMy broadies mostly suffered with the weather (they were overwintering Aquadulce) - from about 8" tall and strugglingI cut them to ground level and now they are just re-shooting from each base.
Impressed with how tidy your plot is compared to mine; raised beds certainly look smart.
Will you have room for the spares at the end, or perhaps you could transplant them in to containers? I hate to waste healthy plants. Sorry to hear about the laptop but glad you managed to get sorted with a new one so quickly.
ReplyDeleteJo, If all the plants in the main row do all right, I will be ruthless and get rid of the spares (perhaps offer them to my daughter). I really don't need any more containers!
DeleteI've noticed that birds, maybe blackbirds I'm not sure, have been rooting out seedlings in the cold frame during the last week. They seem to be looking for wet or damp nesting material. Will have to try to catch the culprit on camera.
ReplyDeleteDo your beans suffer from bean weevil? Ours are growing on in pots at the moment.
ReplyDeleteNo problems with weevils yet... long may it stay that way!
DeleteLooking good Mark, its nice to see a bit of fresh greenery in the garden.
ReplyDeleteI saw that my broad beans were just coming up today. I can't see them all yet. I hope I don't have holes in the grid.
ReplyDeleteThey look very sturdy! I appreciate the inter-planting technique.
ReplyDeletemy broad beans are about that size too. i sowed orache seeds alongside them. im hoping to create a small wind break with the the two plants on the s.w. side of the garden
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