The treatment for all varieties of bean is fundamentally the same; a
well drained soil, not too much animal manure, but plenty of phosphates
which can be supplied in the form of bonemeal or superphosphate are
their main requirements. Some of the more tender types may be limited to
the southern counties, unless cloche protection is given in the early
stages, due more to the shortness of the northern growing season than
for any other reason. Elaborate and deeply dug trenches are sometimes
made for beans, but if the soil is in a decent condition this is
unnecessary. In fact on heavy clay soils unless a trench is well made
and drained it may become a grave for the plants. Beans being legumes
have the capacity of producing nitrogenfixing nodules on their roots
and actually add to the manurial value of soil, a fact which is used
advantageously by the practice of cutting off tops after the crop has
finished and following it with a leaf producing crop which enjoys the
extra nitrates.
Broad Beans
Broad Beans are the hardiest of the beans, but do not enjoy the
popularity they deserve because the pods are often allowed to stay too
long on the plants, whilst beans bought on the market can give the
beginner little idea of flavour of young beans boiled in the liquor in
which bacon or a ham shank has been cooked. In the southern half of
England seeds may be sown in autumn and the resultant plants allowed to
stand outdoors all winter to produce an early crop. This practice is
designed not only for earliness in cropping, but so that they will reach
a stage where black fly, the worst enemy of the broad bean, can do them
no harm. It is often recommended that seeds of broad beans be sown at
six inches apart in a double row, but as they make an excellent
windbreak and are one of the first vegetable crops to be sown, four
rows instead of two provide more beans at a time when they are most
welcome and give protection to any other early crops.
Not beans
The actual sowing date will vary with the district
and soil, but it can be generally be reckoned that for all practical purposes
the first sowings can be made in the south in February and about a month later
in the northern half of the country. There are two types and many varieties, the
types are Longpod and Windsor. The Longpod being the hardiest is the type which
should be sown in autumn for overwintering. The Windsors are better flavoured.
Good varieties include: Longpods-Longfellow, Exhibition Longpod and Gillett's
Imperial Longpod. Red Epicure is a distinct Longpod type, the rich
chestnut-crimson seeds making it distinct, although these change to straw-colour
when cooked. WindsorsI mperial Windsor, White and Green Windsor. The easiest
way to sow the seed is to make a shallow trench 2 inches deep, scatter some
bonemeal on the bottom of trench and work it into the top inch or so with
a fork. Tamp the surface of the disturbed soil with the head of a rake held
vertically and sow on the levelled soil. Mice and slugs sometimes attack the
beans when they become softened after a few days in the soil. Subsequent
cultivation consists of keeping them free from weeds, and in windy districts it
may be necessary to put in a few stakes and stretch string along each side of
the row. A close watch must be kept for black aphis which appears on the tender
new growths and it is for this reason that it is advised to pinch out the top or
growing point. This top, by the way, is an excellent vegetable and can be boiled
and eaten like cabbage or other green vegetable. A certain care in timing is
necessary for this, for if pinched out too early or too low down some of the
blossom buds may be removed as well. On the other hand if delayed too long the
fly may get established and be difficult to get rid of.
Runner Beans
These are a prolific crop and have the advantage that any
surplus Runner Beans beans can be preserved for winter use either frozen, salted
or bottled. They can be used as an ornamental screen. over a trellis or up a
wall or grown as clumps in a flower border like sweet peas. Not nearly enough
use is made of this f1ower-cum-vegetable arrangement, as in the case of runner
beans some varieties have brick red flowers, one called Painted Lady is a
bi-colour white and red, and Blue Lake an excellent stingless variety has bright
blue flowers For ordinary use any well-drained soil will suit them,. but for
exhibition purposes extra manure should be dug into a strip about 2ft. wide.
When planted near a wall care must be taken to see that they do not dry out at
the roots or they will not set the beans. dropping often occurs during ~
period of dry weather, but a spray over the foliage in the evening will help to
cure this tendency. Runners are not so hardy as broad beans and consequently
cannot be sown until danger of frost is past and in the north ~his is a great
disadvantage. Fortunately, it is easy to overcome this by sowing seeds thickly
in a box of equal parts soil, peat and sand, placing them in a greenhouse, cold
frame to germinate and then plant them out in their cropping positions III May.
They may be sown in single or double rows / clumps, and as they will grow up
thin poles, pea sticks or string they are very adaptable. Three sticks or 7ft.
canes may be arranged wigwam fashion and the tops tied together or two single
rows planted 2ft. apart and the stakes inclined inwards. The advantage is that
the beans Will hang straight and clear of the supports. and will not become
blemished, an important matter for the exhibitor. . Where
no sticks or only short supports are available-say 2ft. high, allow the plants
to climb up these and then cut the tops . off. If they are allowed to just be on
the ground, the beans are badly curled and in a wet season will rot.
During the growing season they, like all other crops, respond to a weekly
application of liquid manure, but except when grown for exhibition, seldom get
this. They must have moisture at the roots, however, hence the advice to add
more manure to retain it. A mulch of manure, compost, peat or grass mowing's
along each side of the row and close up to the stem will greatly benefit the
crop.
Climbing French Bean
This is a variant of the ordinary French or dwarf bean,
it is not so vigorous as the scarlet runner but has the merit of producing about
three times the number of beans to a given area as does the dwarf variety.
Particularly useful in a cool or unheated greenhouse it crops earlier, more
heavily and over a longer period than the dwarf French. Climbing beans can be
grown in large pots and boxes or in the soil houses, cold frames or under
cloches and should have much the same treatment as dahlias. They will, of
course, go ahead then and in a normal season almost as well as in the warmer
counties. Seeds are sown directly into the ground in double rows and spaced
about 9 inches apart, a few extra being sown so that the resultant spare plants
can be used to fill in gaps caused by losses.
Dwarf Beans
Are an excellent and profitable cloche crop as the plants
are much larger with longer beans than when grown wholly outdoors, and anyone
who has had difficulty in getting a worthwhile crop should give partial or
entire protection. They revel in warmth, provided there is sufficient moisture
at the roots, an attribute which makes them ideal subjects for growing for early
use in a warm greenhouse. Six plants can be accommodated in a lO-inch pot sowing
the seeds directly into the soil or as previously advised thickly in a box and
transplant when the first leaf is formed. One of the most tender and probably
the finest in flavour is the golden wax pod bean and I find this makes an ideal
edging to tomatoes when they are grown on a raised bench. Simply press in the
seed about 2 inches deep, about 9 inches apart, and when they grow allow them to
hang downwards over ~he edge of the benches In this way they will not interfere
with the main crop, in fact the tomatoes will benefit from the association. It
is convenient to grow all the dwarf beans in the same way, i.e. to take out a
shallow drill about 2 inches deep and the width of a spade in soil which has
been previously well dug and manured. See Scarlet Runners. To exhibitors and
those who like to grow something different and appreciate the subtlety of
flavour available, I commernd the following types, all of which are obtainable
in this country and can be grown easily in the south and with partial or
complete protection in the colder districts. The Shelleasy, dwarf, early, red
mottled pods and seed, use green as french bean, dry seed for winter use. Tiny
green snap bean, miniature bean, the whole pods being used. The best varieties
for general use are Masterpiece, The Prince and the selected strain of Canadian
Wonder. A new variety named Glamis raised in Scotland is proving particularly
suitable for the northern part of the British Isles and is also useful for
freezing. Blue Coco is more or less of a novelty having deep blue pods and
flowers. Of excellent flavour the beans can be cooked whole.
