Enjoy a real bean feast
I LOVE beans but in a small city garden like mine stick to those suitable for containers, namely dwarf french beans. These fast-growing wonders form bushy, 18in (45cm) tall plants producing masses of roundish pods that can measure up to 10in (25cm) long. Some are brightly coloured or have showy flowers, which adds an ornamental touch.
Sow them in pots until July, for pickings into October. I’ve sown a variety called ‘Primavera’ into a 12in (30cm) pot filled with multipurpose compost. All I had to do was fill the pot with compost then make a series of 2in (5cm) deep, 4in (10cm) apart, holes over the surface and drop a seed into each.
There are plenty of other good ones to try. ‘Purple Teepee’ produces cylindrical purple pods on bushy plants and ‘Sonesta’ has attractive white flowers followed by 5in (12cm) long, yellow pods. Although not as pretty, the green pods of compact ‘Nomad’ are renowned for their fine flavour.
Water plants sparingly until they’ve established, increasing the amount you give them after the first flowers appear and until the last of the pods have been picked. Plants don’t usually need supporting, but push a few twiggy sticks into the pot if you’re in a windy location.
The beans will be ready to harvest about eight weeks after sowing. Those that are small, young and tender taste best – if you leave them for too long they’ll become tough and lose their flavour. Snip them off every couple of days with a pair of scissors to encourage plants to produce even more pods.