Alternatively, see the quick and easy chutney recipe below.

If you end up with a glut of Runner Beans, they’re easy to freeze for use later in the year. It’s important to keep harvesting every 2-3 days – the more you pick, the more it encourages the plant to produce more beans. Don’t let the beans get too large before you pick them, they’ll be stringy and tough to eat. Runner Beans are one of the most productive crops around and can be harvested from July onwards when the pods are about 20cm long. This will encourage the plants to send out more shoots below and divert their energy into producing more beans, rather than growing taller. When the runners have reached the top of the support canes, pinch out the growing tips. A home made plastic garden cloche should do the job nicely. To boost your crop, you should apply a liquid feed every 2-3 weeks after the plants start flowering.īe very careful to protect young seedling from slugs and snails in the garden who will regard them as an irresistible delicacy. Runner Beans need regular watering for optimum growth, particular once they start to develop flowers. For container plants, a wigwam offers the best support. The bean plants will twine their stems naturally around the canes as they grow. Better still, construct an A-frame of garden canes to create a tunnel. In an open vegetable bed, you can use garden canes, string and netting.

They can be grown against walls and fences, perhaps with the help of horticultural mesh or trellis for support. Runner Beans grow upwards, meaning they need good, tall support. Sow them 5cm deep and 30cm apart in rows that are set approx. Once all risk of frost has past (May onwards) and the seedlings are fully rooted in their pots, you can plant them out into the ground.Īlternatively, if you wait until May to July, Runner Bean seeds can be sown directly into the ground. Keep the seeds well watered and they will germinate and grow quickly – you should start to see results within a week. Make a 5cm hole in the middle and drop a Runner Bean seed into the hole before backfilling and watering in. Growing from seedįrom April onwards, you can start sowing seeds in pots filled with seed compost. Once established, it helps that the seedlings grow at a fast and furious pace. This nugget of knowledge alone should be enough to entice children to help with the beans’ planting, growing and harvesting. Runner Beans are, of course, the original magic beans – the ones that Jack’s mum so carelessly threw out of the window, with unpredictable consequences. Runner Bean seeds are large and kidney shaped, handy for any little hands who may wish to help with the planting. The best place to source them is from specialist online suppliers such as Seed Parade. They’re a cool-season crop, which means the UK is the perfect place to grow them. The good news is that Runner Beans are a doddle to grow, even for the beginner gardener, and they will reward you richly for your efforts. Rather than serving them plain boiled as an uninspiring side dish, these green beans are versatile and lend themselves to a range of exciting dishes, some of which can be found below. For whatever reason, their use in the kitchen is wildly underrated.

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