As I wrote earlier, it looks like we may have a glut of runner beans (Phaseolus coccineus) this year, the first time for many years. Runner beans are borderline here and last year we only managed to get a few beans before the first frosts. This year, we could have made a first harvest a week ago, but I wanted to keep the first beans for seed for the next couple of years. Yesterday we had bread dough ready and therefore made a pizza with runner beans and a mix of fungi picked in the woods (separate post). The dough was 100% coarse whole grain rye, spelt and emmer (sourdough)! Delicious as always!
Slicing the beans with a runner bean slicer, commonly found in kitchens in the UK where this could well qualify as the national vegetable!
This summer we’ve experienced a big swing in temperatures from one month to the next…from a record cold May to a record warm June followed by most of July being also record cold. The warmth in June straight after planting my runner beans on 11th (later than normal) resulted in quick growth and by the end of July the earliest variety, two-toned Painted Lady was already in flower, a month earlier than a normal year (if there is such a thing as normal anymore)….so maybe we are heading for a record crop, where runner beans are marginal and almost never give a good sized crop:
My courgettes (zucchini), planted out on 14th June on my shady composting area (no more than 2 hours of direct sunshine) also started cropping very early at the end of August:
Finally, I was surprised when folk told me last year that their Worcesterberries (a selection of Ribes divaricatum) ripened in July. I’m usually eating mine from the middle of September to the first frosts late in October, but they are also turning colour already:
Runner beans (blomsterbønner) are always ripening at the end of september to early october here before the frost stops them. They made a delicious whole grain rye/barley/oat sourdough pizza (bread dough).
I always grow many different types of peas and broad beans (favas) (erter og bondebønner). Peas (Pisum sativum) rarely if ever cross so I grow them very close to each other. Broad beans do cross, but active selection I do manage to keep several varieties true to type (such as crimson flowered with its distinctive beautiful lime green beans ).They’ve been lying around the house on windowsills drying for two months and I finally got round to sorting them, saving some for seed, and saving extra of good ones for Norwegian Seed Savers’ yearbook. The rest I just mix to make mixed bean falafel and pea soup later in the winter!
Mixed peas
Marbled broad beans
Salmon flowered peas, one of the most beautiful peas (an edimental) and also productive here. Itis a crown pea with clusters of beautiful salmon pink flowers! See http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?attachment_id=13085 and http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?attachment_id=13086
Close-up detail of a salmon flowered pea, See http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?attachment_id=13086
Pea diversity
road bean diversity
Pea diversity
Pea diversity
….and runner beans (Phaseolus coccineus)
Perennial vegetables, Edimentals (plants that are edible and ornamental) and other goings on in The Edible Garden
