[juliec]

Hi all you seasoned growers.  my questions today are:

I know that beans like you to put organic material in a trench under them before you plant them, do peas benefit from this as well?

Also last year my green beans were very wide ( I grew painted lady and desire) but they were very wide and some where stringy.  I know the stringy ones were probably left to grow too much, but my grandchildren are used to eating the long slim ones (that you see frozen) so I want to grow some like these not ones which become nearly an inch wide.  Any one know of a type that is long and thin?

Many thanks yet again.

Juliec

[JayG]

Yes, peas like organic material in the soil too, but they are not as deep-rooted as beans so you don't need to dig a trench.

Even "stringless" runner beans will get stringy if allowed to grow as big as you describe - there are many stringless varieties, although some think that some of the traditional flavour disappeared with the stringiness!

White Lady seems to be a popular choice, including for me!

[mumofstig]

It's French beans that get frozen rather than runner beans 

There are plenty of varieties, climbing and dwarf,  that are small and slim - but you have to pick them young, before the seeds swell 

[savbo]

I have given up on runners as we don't really like them that much, so just grow lots of Blue Lake french beans, with another variety for novelty if I fancy it. Loads of lovely sweet beans, and then leave some to use as white beans in soups and stews....we tried drying them the first year but they went off, so last year just part-cooked and froze them in batches

asv

[juliec]

It's French beans that get frozen rather than runner beans 

There are plenty of varieties, climbing and dwarf,  that are small and slim - but you have to pick them young, before the seeds swell 

well now I know why the kids didnt like them, I grew the wrong ones!  Thanks very much.  I really love this site and all of you who put me on the right path.

xx

[bayleaf]

As MoS siad you need to grow French beans. Try Cobra - a climbing French bean - crops like mad and produces just the sort of pods you want. You'll have to wait until it warms up a bit to plant them though!!

[Wiltshire Worms]

I agree, Cobra is super.  they do climb like runner beans so they do need sticks either in a row or wigwams...or you can grow dwarf varieties that do not need sticks to climb

[richy]

I grew ferrari dwarf french beans last year, very heavy cropper, im growing ferrari and speedy this year along with my runners(batcombe bean) and peas feltham first.


Edited to correct spelling of varieties for search purposes