Love Your Legumes

Whether you are working in the garden or just strolling around it, there can be few greater pleasures than picking and eating young peas as you pass. The first broad beans of the season are among the earliest of your new season’s crops, and are all the tastier for being so. No vegetable garden is complete without beans and peas.

GENERAL CULTIVATION

Even in the smallest vegetable plot, it is wise to practice crop rotation. This avoids the build-up of pests and diseases, and contributes greatly to soil fertility. Peas and beans have a very important role to play in crop rotation, as they are all legumes, and legumes are nitrogen-fixers.

Which is to say that, while most crops, particularly leafy crops like brassicas (cabbages, etc), draw large quantities of nitrogen from the soil, legumes actually manufacture nitrogen and put it back. Therefore, in a rotation, you are best to plant your cabbages this year where your peas and beans were last year.

I’ll admit opinions vary a little on this point, but I find my peas and beans do best in a heavily manured soil. And I do mean real manure, from real farmyard animals. Lovely stuff, but it has to be mature. It must pass the finger test. Pick it up, crumble it in your hand, and it should trickle nicely through your fingers. If it is a sticky mess, and takes hours to wash off, it’s not ready, and you’ve probably contracted some horrible disease.

Dig in some of this good stuff in the Autumn. The winter frosts will help to break it down.

Peas and broad beans are pretty tough, although in an exposed location you are better with dwarf varieties. Runner beans do need a sheltered spot, because a strong wind can reduce the foliage to tatters. Given a bit of shelter, though, I can produce a good crop even here, on the exposed north coast of Scotland. I can’t say the same for French beans, even dwarf ones, although I always try. They need a really good summer this far north, and I get a modest crop maybe one year in three. So I always grow some dwarf French beans in the polytunnel, with excellent results.

SOWING

If you choose to start early, the indoor sowing method for all peas and beans is pretty much the same. For the earliest crop, sow seed in individual cells under glass or plastic (polytunnel, greenhouse, or windowsill). Deep cells are essential, as all legumes are deep-rooting. You can buy sweet-pea cells or root-trainers, but the DIY option is to save the inner cardboard tubes from your toilet rolls.

Set them on end in a seed tray, fill them with compost, and sow two seeds in each. Sow two, so that you can nip out the weaker of the pair, or at least you’ll still have one if only fifty per cent germinate. There’s nothing more disheartening than a lovingly-filled loo-roll full of compost, and nothing growing in it!

Grow them on, harden them off, and plant them out in their entirety. The roots will push through the cardboard, which will break down in the soil. 

PEAS

For outdoor sowing, wait until the soil has warmed up in spring, and cultivate it as you would in preparing a seedbed. Take out a drill approximately one inch (25mm) deep and six to eight inches (150–200mm) wide. Sow your peas in a staggered row, 2-3 inches (25-35mm) apart. If you are sowing more than one row, keep the rows at least three feet (900mm) apart, to allow room for the support you will have to provide later. But be prepared. Plan all this the night before, and give the peas an overnight soak in water. This will speed up germination.

Mice and slugs can sometimes pose problems, but in my case the biggest threat to the seedlings comes from birds, especially pigeons. You can net the peas, but if you plan to use chicken wire to support them later, use it now as a temporary protection by laying it over the row, raised slightly above the seedlings. 
    
Even dwarf varieties need support, and whatever method you choose, weed them thoroughly before you erect the support. Weeding afterwards is much more awkward. The traditional method of support is twiggy sticks, but you can use garden canes and a tangle of string, or chicken wire. You can splash out and buy plastic pea support netting from the Garden Centre, but if you do that, remember it will probably only last one year, because the peas get so entwined there’s no way you can clean it up and use it again next year. So you end up burning the lot in the autumn, and having to buy more next spring. It costs you more, and it doesn’t do your carbon footprint much good. But if you have willow or dogwood in your garden, cut some small branches from these and use as pea supports. By the end of the season, most will have rooted, so not only do you have free pea support, you have free plants as well.

When the pods begin to fill out, harvest them regularly. Not only does this encourage them to keep cropping, but the young ones taste better!

If space is limited, I personally don’t reckon it’s worth growing maincrop varieties, unless you plan to fill the freezer. Sow a small quantity of an early variety perhaps three times at three or four week intervals, and you will have a continuous supply without a glut. You’ll still have a surplus to freeze if you wish. If you want a freezer full of peas, though, a maincrop variety will give a bountiful harvest, generally with more peas per pod. Unlike virtually all other vegetables, peas don’t need to be blanched – they can go straight in the freezer from the pod. Do, however, spread them flat on a tray to freeze them, then bag them up once they are frozen. That way, they won’t freeze together into an indestructible lump.

BROAD BEANS

I must confess I only grow dwarf varieties of broad beans, and that’s not just because of the gales which are the bane of my life. Tall varieties need staking even in sheltered locations, because the weight of the crop often takes them over. Okay, you get more beans per plant with a tall variety, and that may be a good reason to use these where space is at a premium, but otherwise I think it is fair to say that even with dwarf varieties, we all end up with more broad beans than we can cope with!

My other confession is that I don’t do autumn sowings. This far north, even hardy broad beans would need cloche protection over winter, and in these parts, cloches are prone to taking flight. But that’s not to say autumn sowing is a bad idea. It is a great idea anywhere south of the latitude of Moscow. Sow in October, or even early November in milder areas. The best location is following your potatoes, because you will have dug in plenty or manure for those, and it will have decomposed nicely.

Whether sowing in autumn or spring, take out a shallow drill, and set two seeds together at six inch (150mm) intervals. If both germinate, remove the weaker seedling. If you have made an autumn sowing, another direct sowing in spring will provide all the succession you need. If, like me, you don’t risk autumn sowing, make a first sowing indoors in late January or early February as described above. You’ll have sturdy plants to set out around the same time as your outdoor spring sowing. These will be a few weeks ahead, and give you that all-important successional cropping.

As with peas, pick them young and often.

Broad beans are prone to infestations of blackfly, but these congregate on the tips. At first sign of these pests, pinch out the tips complete with blackfly and dispose of them in a suitably ruthless manner. Having lost their growing tips, the plants will produce sideshoots, and therefore more beans. But beware – the blackfly may return, so repeat the exercise as necessary.

The inevitable surplus can be frozen very successfully, with a three minute blanch. Like peas, I recommend freezing on the flat, then bagging.

RUNNER BEANS

If I had only two square metres of garden, I would grow potatoes. That is probably down to tradition here, to climate and to historic necessity, and perhaps to a deeply rooted concept of a “staple”. I have friends in the south east of England, who would, given the same two square metre plot, grow runner beans. Recently, I was helping a new neighbour, who had just moved up here from the deep south, plan her new garden. “I need somewhere to grow my beans,” she said. Not “my vegetables”, but “my beans.”  Pretty much, I guess, like I would need somewhere to grow my potatoes.

My point is this. Runner beans are unusual here in the north, but considered as one of the principal things to grow in other parts, and therefore I may not be the most qualified to discuss the cultivation of runner beans. But that has never stopped me before.

In most parts of the UK runners can be sown directly into the soil, but I have too short a growing season for that. I always start mine in cells in the polytunnel, as described above. But whether sowing direct, or planting out, erect a supporting structure first. Runner beans are climbers, with a tendency to twine their stems around a support. They are therefore ideally suited to growing up bamboo canes, or more traditionally, hazel poles. It’s canes for me, of course, being too far north for hazel coppice (although the hardier bamboos thrive here!). Either way, the best bet for a smaller garden is a wigwam of five or seven canes or poles brought together and tied at the top. Set out a plant at the base of each, or sow two seeds and remove the weakest. As they grow, they will need some encouragement to begin twisting around the support, and I tie mine in initially until they learn to do it for themselves.

Runners are greedy, so a well manured soil is essential. They are also thirsty, and plenty organic matter helps in that respect. They will also appreciate a mulch of garden compost or well rotted manure once they are established, but only apply it when the soil is wet, when it will help retain the moisture. Applying a mulch to dry soil has the opposite effect – it keeps the moisture out.

Stringy beans are no fun, so at the risk of repeating myself, harvest young and often. To freeze the surplus, string and slice, and blanch for two minutes. Freeze on the flat.

FRENCH BEANS

I will lump the two together – Climbing and Dwarf. I have only intermittent success with these. Neither like my climate. I once had a cracking crop of climbing French beans (yes, once!),  several years ago in an unusually good summer, but I have had so many failed crops that I’ve given up with them now. You must work with Mother Nature, not against Her. Cultivation, support and harvesting are just like runner beans, but remember they are not so hardy. So sow or plant out a little bit later than runners, and give as much shelter as possible.

Given a sheltered spot and a decent summer, I can sometimes get a crop of dwarf beans outdoors, and being an optimist, I always set a few plants out long after any danger of frost has passed. But these are one of my favourite vegetables, so I devote some precious space in the polytunnel to them. They grow vigorously and crop abundantly in the protected environment, and they are always one of my earliest harvests. Their cultivation requirements are just like those of their relatives, so I won’t repeat myself. If you grow them under polythene or glass, watch out for grey mould (botrytis). You do need good air circulation to keep this at bay.

To freeze the surplus, top and tail, cut or leave whole as you wish, and blanch for two minutes. Again, freeze on a tray, then transfer to bags.

VARIETIES

Peas – good early varieties to try are Kelvedon Wonder and Greenshaft. Kelvedon Wonder is particularly useful in more exposed gardens, growing only to about 18 inches (450mm). I like Little Marvel, and Early Onward and Feltham First are other early varieties worth growing. If you want a maincrop variety, go for Onward or Senator.

Broad Beans – the traditional pick of the dwarf varieties is The Sutton, but give Optica a try. For taller varieties, go for Aquadulce Claudia or Imperial Green Longpod.

Runner Beans – Painted Lady and Scarlet Emperor are both tried and tested favourites, and if you want to save seed for next year, leave a few to ripen, and dry them off in the polytunnel or even the kitchen windowsill. Store them in a cool frost-free place, in a paper bag or envelope. It is so easy, Mother Nature will often beat you to it. If you don’t harvest all your beans, and some fall to ground, there will be a crop of beans there next year. If you want to try a stringless variety, give Galaxy a go.

French Beans – Algarve and Cobra are popular climbers, while the old variety Masterpiece is still my favourite dwarf. Ferrari is another dwarf variety which has done well for me, even outside!

So from rampant climbing runners to dwarf broads, that’s the long and the short of it. Enjoy your leguminous feast!

© Mike Clark 2007

Published in Country Smallholding January 2008