My Broad Beans have moved on to the next stage of their lives. They had got too tall to fit under the cloches.
The catch-crop of Radishes is beginning to swell now, and I expect to be picking the first ones within a few days.
Broad Bean plants never seem very robust (though I suppose they must be), so I always give them some support. This is my method: I put a stout stake at the end of each row and tie two lengths of soft string to them.
I then arrange the beans so that one string goes each side of the stalk, like this:
As the beans grow taller, I put in more rows of string - usually about 3 or 4 pairs.
The final part of the procedure at this point is to put in some aluminium rods topped with balls from the "Build-a-Ball" kit, and drape a net over the whole thing.
The net will protect the bed from the foxes / badgers, deterring them from nosing about in the moist soil in their search for worms.
Looking closely at the plants, I see that flowers are already forming:
This means that we'll be eating Broad Beans in about a month's time.
My broad beans haven't shown themselves yet. And I too support mine. I typically use a grid, but then I don't grow them in rows, I block plant them.
ReplyDeleteOur broad beans were started in pots and are now due to be planted out, I hope you can find 3 identical blemish free radishes to prove you are a good gardener as specified in The Big Allotment Challenge.
ReplyDeleteSue, yes, I watched that first episode and was appalled by it. I particularly noted that one couple admitted sowing over 500 radishes and still managed to get only 4 that met the "three identical blemish-free" criteria. I thought it was a very poor programme, and not likely to encourage anyone to take up gardening / allotmenteering as a hobby.
DeleteYour broad bean ahve strong potential... Unfortunately i Cannot eat them becasue of a genetic disease. I will study them through your blog!
ReplyDeleteWonderful looking broad beans I admit to mine being under cover still. With regard to your reply to Sue I thought the show was huge fun, as far away from real gardening than you could get. I watched the show with Mike who thought this gardening lark was easy, I believe there will be some very disappointed newbie gardeners out there soon.
ReplyDelete