Runner Beans - My Guide

Variant being grown is called Moonlight.

Time to start:            Early spring under cover
Starting needs:         Individual 3-4 inch pots, or in seed tray
Seed depth:              1", 2.5 cm
Germination temp:
Germination time:    7-14 days
Potting on:                Not needed for pots, as required if in trays
Planting out:             Harden off after risk of frost has passed
Position:                   Sunny or light shade
Soil + prep:              Incorporate plenty of organic matter before planting,
Spacing:                   18 by 8-9 inch
Watering:                 Water well while flowers are setting
Feed:                        Occasionally liquid feed during cropping
Temperatures:
Frost Tolerance:       No
Weeks to harvest:    12-14 weeks
Ready when:            Up to 10 inch long before beans start to swell

Additional care:

• Plants will need canes to grow up
• Young plants will need protection from pests
• Remove growing tip when plant reaches top of cane

Grower's notes:

• Keep picking to encourage more flowers and and fruit. 
• Can plant out directly in late spring, once temperature is above 10C
• Dig in roots and stems at end of season

Liked variants:

• Moonlight was given a RHS award of merit, still not tested on our plot

Trivia:

Tomatoes - My Guide

All varieties chosen are indeterminate
Cherry - Current gold rush
Standard - Moneymaker
Beefsteak - Pineapple

Time to start            Early to mid spring

Starting needs: None special
Seed depth: 1/16", 1-2 mm

Germination temp: 18-24C

Germination time: 6-14 days

Potting on: Once big enough to handle transplant to 3" pots
Planting out: When 8" tall

Position: Sunny

Soil + prep: Well fertilised
Spacing: 18-24"

Watering: Keep well watered

Feed:                   Regularly with tomato feed

Temperatures: Warm

Frost Tolerance: No

Weeks to harvest: 3 - 20 weeks

Ready when: Refer to variant for size and appearance of ripe fruit

Additional care:

• Remove growing tip once 4-5 fruit bearing trusses have formed
• Remove suckers where necessary to maintain air flow around plant to prevent disease 
• Indeterminate varieties require support

Grower's notes:

Liked variants:

None tested yet

Unsuccessful Variants:
None tested yet

Trivia:

A long over due up date

So its still winter, but even so we have had a couple of warm, dry enough weekends to finish the digging. We have some really cold days as the pictures show. 

Along with the digging we also got the green house and the grow house built.

Although the grow house got moved into the potting shed to give our seedlings a little more protection from the frosts that soon followed. And the green house got destroyed by storm Doris (the same name as my cat that lives with my mum). 

Speaking of seedlings we have sown 2 batches. The first batch is shown in the pictures here but the second batch didn't get photographed. 

The first batch consisted of:

Cabbage - golden acre

Flower sprouts 

Broccoli - summer purple sprouting

Leeks - all season mix

Shallots - zebrune

Radish - rainbow mix

Lettuce - gourmet loose leaf mix

The second batch consisted of:

Tomato - pineapple

Tomato - moneymaker

Tomato - current gold rush

Basil - purple ruffle

Beans - runner

Beans - marvel of venice

Cabbage - greyhound

Spinach - red kitten

Beetroot - rainbow mix

Borage 

We also planted some sweet peas, and Bill planted some other stuff too. 

Its an exciting time, seeds sprouting, got to build a fruit cage, and soon it will be spring, and that is going to be wonderful.