This month, I am writing about one of my favorite vegetables – Runner Beans.  Many of you will be confused; most US seed catalogs carry only Scarlet Runner and then only in the flower section.  In England, every tiny back garden has a “teepee” of poles covered with bright red or pink flowers that grow into masses of long flat, rather rough textured beans.  Now is the time to extend your horizons and grow this wonderful and prolific bean.

Roland Evans
Organic Bountea     

Transplants outdoors: tomato, cucumber, eggplant, melons, gourds, peppers, pumpkins, winter squash, summer squash.

Ornamentals: plant tender annuals

Seeds Outdoors: Regularly plant bush and pole beans (see article), radish, lettuce, and all salad greens every 2 weeks or so. If you have a cool shady spot, sow some summer spinach.

• Make sure your irrigation system or hand watering keeps the soil consistently moist
• Mulch between the growing plants to conserve moisture and keep plant roots cool
• Do not let your weeds grow too big or go to seed.  Keep on top of them.
• Harvest any salads or greens that seem to be growing leggy or starting to seed
• Clear spent plants fast.  Replant the space with a different crop or green manure
• Start more seeds indoors or undercover for continual replanting

 
Bountea Compost Tea:  Keep with a regular  schedule of applying Bountea every 2-4 weeks.  When plants begin to set flowers and fruit, add B3 to the Bountea instead of M3.  If you need to keep the nutrients going between brews of Bountea, simply pop a SuperFood Plant Tab into your watering can.
  

I love runner beans.  They are probably the most productive crop for the least amount of space you can plant in your garden.  In a 3′ x 3′ square area you can grow 25 lbs of beans on a pole teepee.  The beans are long (up to 18″) and get rather rough textured
as they age, but eaten small and tender, they have the most crisp, intense bean taste.

Runner beans are a little different from the normal bush or pole bean species – they are Phaseolus Coccineus rather than Phaseolus Vulgaris.  They grow well in the UK, so unlike our standard beans, they prefer slightly cooler weather and do not need a lot of sun.  In a hot US summer, they will often stop setting pods until it starts to cool down in September.

Seeds:  If you want to plant a variety other than Scarlet Runner, you may need to order seeds online from a UK company such as Thompson and Morgan, Unwins or Marshalls.

In the UK you can find up to 20 different varieties of runner bean including: Scarlet Emperor (an old favorite), Enorma (long pods), Polestar, St. George, Hestia (dwarf variety), Painted Lady (with pretty pink flowers), and Moonlight (with white flowers).

 

Cultivation: Cultivation is similar to pole beans but the plants tolerate more shade and can be grown inside and planted out earlier in the season after frost.  Sow seeds 3″ apart in soil rich in humus with moderate amounts of nitrogen.  Use poles or strings at least 8′ tall with 3-6 seeds planted around them.  Many plants will grow over 10′.  Mulch the soil and shade plants from the hottest sun or the flowers may drop off.  Keep soil moist and spritz the flowers if it gets too hot.

Harvest: Pick beans constantly as soon as they are 6″ long.  If you prefer a strong bean flavor, let them grow as long as 12″ and slice them up before cooking.  Blanche and freeze beans to store over the winter.

Soon you too will be hooked on growing this neglected yet amazingly productive vegetable.

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