Beans & beans. And beans.

After a trip to the Hill to pick some TOMATOES - which are rather lovely, I must say - I may have to concede a small point with regard to French beans. There are, in fact, rather a lot of them.

Lots & lots & lots.

There is a good reason – of sorts – for this. Last year we had a 20’ row of canes with runner beans up the one side, & they went absolutely bananas. This year we have a 5’ row of canes with runner beans up one side, & that’s been great, & a late sowing of another 5’ row should keep us going till the frost arrive in a couple of months. Fabulous.

However, with the French beans this year, instead of having one 20’ row, we have a 5’ row of each of the following dwarf or climbing beans – early warwick, borlotto fueco de lingua, bird’s egg, tendergreen, barlotti, purple giant, firetongue, boston & black turtle. That’s the equivalent of a 45’ row. Oh – over twice as many as last year then.

So, next year, it is more peas & fewer beans. Not that I’m complaining about the French beans, really – they have benefited an awful lot of people of my acquaintance, & I’ve had a session of chopping & blanching this evening, so I’m filling up the freezer for the months ahead.

I won’t be salting beans this year – that was one experiment that didn’t really go that well, if I’m honest. Although, I must keep some beans aside for making runner bean pickle, which was a rather surprising hit last year…