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Runner Beans, Mangetout, Climbing Beans and Peas

I aspire to be a fine weather gardener. Today was more like an endurance challenge, wind lashing up the garden from the fields beyond, and heavy rain showers soaking me! I’m trying to finish off a new raised bed for the rapidly flourishing legume jungle of climbing peas and beans in my conservatory. Their tendrils have wrapped themselves round each other and anything else they can anchor to. I’ve been hanging back from planting them out for fear of frost and I’d not yet built the raised bed they are to move to! So I’ve had to get on and finish their bed and pop in some bean poles ready for planting.

I really enjoy building the bean pole structures; they transform a kitchen garden giving it added height and character. I try to avoid using bamboo canes as I prefer the more rustic look of coppiced hazel or chestnut, their irregular shape adds an extra dimension to the garden. I’ve used the coppiced hazel we harvested earlier in the year, making two different shaped structures, a traditional long tent shape for the runner beans and wigwams for the mangetout, borlotti beans, climbing peas and french beans. To ensure successional cropping I will sow extra seeds directly to the new beds as well as planting up the indoor sown plants.Runner bean, climbing pea and bean structures

The finished climbing bean & pea raised bed

Runner BeansThe Runner Bean poles

Mangetout plantsMangetout planted out and being battered by the wind

 

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The plan and raised beds

Kitchen garden plan Jan'15

The plan (sketch) from Jan ’15. This is the theory, it will be interesting to see how much I alter from it a year down the line!

Kitchen garden 'before'

Before.

Veg beds 1-5

Veg beds 1-5. Stage one complete!

I started mulling over plans for my kitchen garden between Christmas and New Year (a luxurious period where no jobs need to be done, just relaxing with the family, slowing down and having time to think!). I was keen to have raised beds for the vegtables and annual cut flowers. Past experience of weeds jumping from grass paths to veg beds, then replacing grass paths with wood chip, leaving me trying to keep the edges tidy, firmly steered my plans in the direction of raised beds. Keeping them them at a 1.4m width means they can be reached accross easily from each side, never needing to tread on and compact the soil. Raised beds are an easy contained area to give a quick hoe once a week preventing weeds, they look tidy and easily designate different growing zones, aiding crop rotation. The theory sounds fabulous, lets see how they work in practice over the next year. Stage one of the plan (building and filling veg beds 1-5) has been accomplished and I have already planted garlic and broadbeans in the first bed.

Stage two is digging out the existing soil in the greenhouse (just in case it carries blight) and replacing it with fresh enriched top soil from elsewhere in the garden. I plan to plant tomatoes and cucumbers in there this spring. More on this project soon.