[yummy]

Plenty of beans to scoff then  

I bought french beans about 10 days ago and sowed em in peat pots. It tipped it down for 7 days and they have gone rotten. Meanwhile I put up my wigwams ready for em, then decided to sow some more direct. Read packet and realised I'd bought dwarf ones  :oops: Going to sow those in one of the raised beds tomorrow.

[Sadgit]

I've been to the plot this morning to pick my 10th harvest of mange tout.... I never knew we would get so many from them!! Next year I will make a far superior climbing frame for them as I didn't realise they grew so tall and mine are all over the shop

[diggerjoe]

My mangetout have been the opnly thing to really do well sofar - I'm growing the golden ones from T&M birds left them alone and they look really good - although levaing plot just before it got dark you could see them from some distance sort of scary in a way  :shock: - Peas were not bad but not enough next year its the DD way for me - has anyone else ever grown peas that you can over winter Ive some you can start off and poly tunnel over winter for early crop

[yummy]

2ft high now but no flowers yet. When I get flowers, do I need to take the fleece off to allow bees to pollinate? Or do mangetout just do it themselves?

thanks

[peterjf]

hi there , when we are growing peas we protect them by running derris netting (scaffolding mesh) we leave the mesh in place until  the peas are about 1 ft high , protected from pigeons , wind ,just watewr them every day until they get established

[Bernard]

DD's picture of his peas leaves me wondering as always, how does anyone eat all that? I have a row of mangetout just 3 feet long and I am picking them faster than this family of 4 can eat them.

The disappointing thing about mangetout and sugar snap is that they are not good when frozen. I just tried some without blanching to see if it made any difference, but no - when they are thawed they are just revoltingly soggy bags of water.

[yummy]

hi there , when we are growing peas we protect them by running derris netting (scaffolding mesh) we leave the mesh in place until  the peas are about 1 ft high , protected from pigeons , wind ,just watewr them every day until they get established

Thanks. I'm to scared to remove the fleece  :oops:  We have a real pigeon problem and I'm worried they might just come and peck them all off their stems. Plot next door keeps finding their runner beans severed across the stems so dead and useless.

[Caddi fuller-teabags]

We grew mange tout for the first time this year.  I did about four foot ling by about 18" in a diagonal pattern as it said on the   packet.  They grew to about three foot high and were absolutely covered in flowers, all at once, then full of pods, some of which we picked, and itwas still flowering.

They were absolutely delicious and I looked forward to the next load which were clearly ready.  We were unable to get to the poot due to the rain.

But when we did the whole lot had turned yellow and the pods went hard.

Was it overwatering?  we had a heck of a lot of rain and wind?  Or had we just left them to long?

They were our most successful crop so far (apart from the spuds) and were just so tasty that I really wanted to pick and freeze them.

[Bernard]

whole lot had turned yellow and the pods went hard.
.

I don't know about yellow but once they start fruiting if I don't pick every 2 days the pods will have grown too big & hard. They crop fast & furious and have to be picked.

[DD.]

You had simply left them too long.

Some of mine look like that, but I've deliberately left them for next year's seed.