Growing beans this May

Beans

Were you on time with sowing your broad beans last autumn? If so then hopefully you may soon be seeing some flowers.

Pinching out

Once this is the case, remember the importance of pinching out the tops of the beans. This is essential to keep away the aphids. You can make this job a little more rewarding by keeping the tips that you remove to steam and enjoy with a dash of lemon juice and olive oil. Delicious!

Too late to sow?

If you haven’t jumped on the bean bandwagon yet there is no need to worry. There is still plenty of time for you to plant several varieties of beans that can be enjoyed cooked or in salads this summer. Many varieties can still be sown in a greenhouse or conservatory. You can also buy young plants in 6 packs from our Exeter based garden centres to save you the hassle of sowing them yourself.

The end of May marks the best time to plant out your French beans and you can even wait until early June to plant the family favourite runner beans. Runner beans are sensitive to the wet and cold and a prone to rotting in these conditions so require heat to succeed.

Call ahead

We grow our vegetable plants from seed so they come in batches and availability fluctuates each week. To avoid any disappointment, we recommend you give us a call before making a specific journey to check we have the plants you want. Please give our plant teams a call – they will be pleased to help and you can contact them on either 01392 876281 (Old Rydon Lane) or 01392 876281 (Clyst St Mary).