Taken from Lynne’s weekly column ‘Green Scene’ for the Western Mail
13th June 2020
Almost Has Beans
Boy, have I been given the runaround by my runner beans this year.
The first lot of seeds failed to germinate – I think they were probably from Noah’s Ark with hindsight; I don’t throw much away and I mistook them for last year’s seeds.
The second lot germinated, plus I was given some ‘extras’ by a neighbour. Due to not being able to ‘forage’ for my preferred hazel bean sticks this spring, I used what I had around the cottage and although it looks more like a fence from the Grand National racecourse, I managed to cobble together a very rustic and robust row of bean sticks.
I narrowly avoided putting my beans out too early and losing them to the late frost (which aforementioned kind neighbour unfortunately did) and so at the end of last month my cherished seedlings were finally introduced to their new site and rustic poles.
Then I had a mole, which undermined them all. Unimpressed but undeterred, I replanted them all and replaced the unsalvageable ones with healthy newcomers from Abergavenny Garden Centre.
I must have bought the only runner beans that are afraid of heights. They just would not climb and, even worse, obviously warned my own raised seedlings about the dangers of reaching the end of their poles! So, patiently I spent several evenings tying them into the rustic poles, trying not to snap fragile leaves and tips and talking to them nicely to encourage them to leave the soil surface.
The ground has been unhelpfully dry this spring, so a substantial amount of time has also already been invested in watering them well and trying to stop the south-facing soil turning to dust. I have ‘bean’ dedicated.
Yesterday two of the beans had started to climb. Hooray. Little pleasures I know, but we had turned a corner – or turned around a pole, at least.
And then this morning, three sheep from the neighbouring field broke through the hedge into my garden and yes, you’ve guessed it … they ate half of the young bean plants. I bet Terry Walton doesn’t have these problems – and nor did Jack with his magic beanstalk! “I’d ask for the cow back if I were you,” advised my brother, unhelpfully.
It is a reminder that nature is always in charge and you mustn’t take these set backs personally (note to self). I often say that I wish my veg grew as strong and quickly as the brambles and nettles do.
Another neighbour texted me last week to ask if I saw any purple sprouting seedlings for sale, could I pick some up for her as hers had been eaten by rabbits. It’s what happens – to most of us.
So if you are having a few setbacks, especially if it is your first year of growing veg, don’t despair. Keep on keeping on, the good news is that nature is pretty lax with deadlines. Plant new veg seedlings out now if you have to (most garden centres still have stock) and you should still have something on your plate by the end of the summer.
Allbut Blue
At least my sweet peas are more enthusiastic than my runner beans and are already heading up their wigwam support with gusto.
And being regularly inspected by Head Gardener, Yogi.
I was delighted, after a shortage of the seed, to be able to find the ‘Allbut Blue’ variety.
They are extremely fragrant (what can I say?) and are good cutting flowers, so fingers crossed even if I don’t have anything to put on my plate in a few weeks time, at least I’ll have a vase of lovely sweet peas for the table.
Fox’s Gloves
There are some stunning foxgloves around this year – in hedgerows and gardens. I love the tall, confident plants and have let them self-seed (with the ox eyed daisies) in my own garden. I love the common pink ones but there are some stunning cultivars ranging in all sorts of sizes and shades. I always help mine self seed by shaking the seed heads over the back of the borders and under hedges. If you don’t want to increase your stock this way then remove the old flowerhead as soon as it fades and you may well get another flush of flowers later in the year.
Do bear in mind that whilst the cardiac glycosides they contain have been used to make a heart stimulant drug, in fact all parts of the foxgloves are toxic to humans and pets – hence the lesser-known name of ‘dead man’s bells’.
An old Welsh legend claims that the Welsh physicians were the first to ‘be given’ the knowledge of it’s properties and to therefore prescribe it.
Folklore has it that foxgloves got their name as the bell shaped flowers were as gloves by foxes to keep dew off their paws and/or put over their paws so they could creep quietly into chicken coops.
The foxglove is thought to be a favourite plant of the fairies and a lovely old story explains that foxgloves bob and sway, even when there is no wind, as they are bowing to the fairy folk as they pass by. That’ll do for me.
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