Runner beans

I am just planning where to grow everything and the spot I want to put my runner beans in doesn't get a huge amount of sunshine, probably about 2/3 hours a day of early morning sun.  Would this be enough or do they like a lot of sunshine (don't we all!)  In the past I've grown them on a west facing site but this is east facing.

A tough one to reply to.  I reckon that they'd be about 40% under compared to a really sunny spot.  However, have also noticed that runners grown in the maximum sunny area, sometimes grow too quicky, so you end up with shorter but mature beans, this happens after the initital first 2 or 3 weeks harvest.

My shaded area beans are really welcome at the end of the season, as due to less indirect sunlight they grow slower, albeit less plentiful, but runners at the end of the seasonal glut always taste the best  

Suggest you try some french beans, eg Cosse Violette in a wigwam of 12 sticks to keep you going (that will do a family of 2 - 4) until the runners kick in.

Before I built myself a "permanent" Munty frame for runner beans I used to grow them in the traditional double row, which ran more or less north-south. I noticed that when the row was near my 6' hedge (on the east side) there were far fewer beans on that side compared with the west-facing side. Siting the row in the middle of the plot produced an even crop (but of course cast a shadow over part of the plot for half the day!)

On the other hand Jodie A might well have a point about extending the picking season by holding back the growth, although I also agree that the total crop would probably be less.