[Eblana]

My OH has built a pea/bean frame for me (like I asked him to do😄😄).  The only problem is that it is attached to the sides of the raised bed and can't be moved.  I don't want to hurt his feelings as only for him I possibly would have lost my plots this year so I was wondering if it would be ok to use this bed for peas and beans without rotating it?  I know I will lose the benefit to other crops of the nitrogen that they fix but are there any pests or diseases that could build up?

[mumofstig]

The leaving of nitrogen after peas and beans is often mentioned but modern research has shown that unless the whole plant in dug into the soil, it actually makes very little difference.

When the grain from a grain legume crop is harvested, little nitrogen is returned for the following crop. Most of the nitrogen fixed during the season is removed from the field as grain. The stalks, leaves, and roots of grain legumes, such as soybeans and beans, contain about the same concentration of nitrogen as found in non-legume crop residue. In fact, the residue from a corn crop contains more nitrogen than the residue from a bean crop simply because the corn crop has more residue left after the harvest of corn.

A perennial or forage legume crop only adds significant nitrogen for the following crop if the entire biomass (stems, leaves, roots) is incorporated into the soil. If a forage is cut and removed from the field, most of the nitrogen fixed by the forage is removed. Roots and crowns add little soil nitrogen compared with the aboveground biomass.

http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_a/A129/

Many of the OBs keep beans in the same place every year by opening a trench where the roots grow and filling it with waste over winter, then capping it with soil before planting time.

[AnneB]

I have a rather large A frame arrangement for my tall peas that has been in place for the last 5 years.  Also kindly constructed by my helpful OH.
It is far too cumbersome to move every year, so I leave it where it is.

I did worry about not rotating, but I asked a local expert, the much missed late Joe Maiden about this, and he said, provided the plants were thriving each year and there seemed to be no pests, leave it where it is, which is what I have done.  No problems so far and peas do well each year.  I add manure to keep fertility of the soil up.

Here is a picture of it.

[victoria park]

I have always understood that nitrogen is fixed from peas and beans as long as the initial growing is done in the "Summer" and the plants cut and dug in before they start setting seeds/peas/beans. In other words, treated as a green manure. This seems to be backed up by the root nodules that are plainly seen on early plants but not the old stagers. Obviously old plants that have flowered, done their thing and are dying won't have anywhere near the same goodness, just like anything. I have always understood this applies to comfrey as well..... cut leaves for tea before they flower. That makes sense to me.

[Goosegirl]

I've read somewhere that you don't need to rotate either peas or beans so I agree with the others.

[JayG]

I agree that it's probably not necessary to rotate runner beans, and possibly peas too, but the next best thing when re-digging the trench before filling with green waste or compost is to chuck the excavated soil a couple of feet in front of you, and then use the soil nearest the trench when you fill it back in.

Some small part of me feels better for doing it that way (if not my back!)

[trunk monkey]

Pea and Bean weevil might be a problem if you are unlucky.

[Salmo]

Pea and Bean weevil might be a problem if you are unlucky.

It would not be good practice to grow peas continuously.

Pea moths pupate in the soil so may emerge inside your cover.

Peas also have various stem rot diseases that can be carried over.

Runner beans are probably OK, and a lot of people do grow them every year in the same place. I would still be wary and raise plants rather than sow direct due to bean seed fly.

[Eblana]

I will leave it for this year but we used scaffold planks to build the raised beds originally and they are now starting to rot through so we will have to change the boards in the next year or two so will move it then.

[madcat]

Our munti frame has been in the same place for 8 years now, growing a mix of runners, french beans, borlottis and sweet peas.  It gets a lot of compost/manure forked in at the beginning of the season and keeps on cropping!

[Growster...]

The bean frame we have has been there for about twenty years, and the one on a neighbouring plot has been there since the early eighties...

As long as the soil is enriched each year, then we reckon that's fine.

They've romped away this year after a slow start, and we're fed up with them now, as brussels etc are on the way!

[victoria park]

I must get around to a static frame for my beans, as it would allow me a bit more semi permanent landscaping.
This year I was a bit lax/arrogant/lazy and didn't do the greatest job of framing, hence the runners nearly blew over twice in gales, and have had to be propped up for the last 3 or 4 weeks. A permanent frame will stop all that.

Nevertheless, a great crop hobbled through, and now being eaten as nature intended, without pod. Will save most for dried beans through the Winter and also seed next year.

[Auntiemogs]

It is a bit of a faff having to move mine, as it's screwed into the garden fence.  After reading this post, I just cut the plants down, threw them on the raised bed with some manure, and covered the lot cardboard.  No idea if it will break down, but I'll find out next year. 

[JayG]

No idea if it will break down, but I'll find out next year. 

Don't ask me why because I've no idea , but one year I buried an old pair of denim jeans in my bean trench (along one side rather than at the bottom in case they didn't rot down.)

Digging the trench out the following winter the only parts remaining were one zip and a couple of copper rivets! 

[Auntiemogs]

Digging the trench out the following winter the only parts remaining were one zip and a couple of copper rivets! 

My mind is well and truly a'boggle Jay (and is now swimming with visions of denim-clad worms)!