Down on the Allotment

Matron grows vegetables and fruit in a Hampshire garden. I've been growing veggies since I was knee high to a grasshopper. Some traditional varieties and old favourites as well as new ideas. I share my garden with my allotment assistant Daisy the Labrador. On Twitter as @MatronsVeggies

Monday, July 04, 2011

Peas and Beans

Absolutely no problem getting my 5 portions of fruit and veg every day! My favourite eating pea is Hurst Greenshaft. Here I find I get plenty of peas in each pod, and they stay tender and sweet even if you can't pick as regularly as you'd like.


And here are my first pickings of my Buddy Morris memorial vegetable patch! You might remember that I am growing a selection of veggies which have 'black' in the name. Well, here are the first pickings of my courgette 'Black Beauty'. Buddy adored eating courgettes! Happy memories!


These runner beans 'Salford Black' are nearly ready as well. I've not grown these before, but they have a dark strip on the outside of the bean. When the beans develop and dry they are jet black and beautiful!


These dwarf French beans 'Royalty' are just starting to set. They are very heavy croppers and you can see here they have beautiful purple flowers. There are masses of flowers on these plants. It's going to be a good year!


Now, I tried the 3 Sisters in earnest this year. Three crops which you can plant in the same spot and do not compete with each other, having different growth habits - these are squash, sweet corn and runner beans. Well, I have found that these runner beans don't know where to run! I thought they would find their way up the sweet corn stems, but they have run all over the patch! I had to poke some tall bamboo sticks in the ground this morning to show them where to go! The sweet corn is about 3ft tall, but the runner beans are 5ft already!


These lovely leeks are flowering all over the place! From the same packet of leeks, F1 hybrid Oarsman, have come two different colours of flowers, purple and white. I wonder if The F1 crossing is between these two varieties? Whatever the reason, the bees adore them, and they are flying into my veggie patch just in time to pollinate the pumpkins!

14 Comments:

At 10:18 PM, Blogger Martin and Amy said...

I have always wondered about that with the 3 sisters technique. If you plant them all at the same time then the runner beans will quickly outgrow the sweetcorn.

Looks like it is all thriving though!

Martin :)

 
At 12:59 AM, Blogger Hazel said...

A question for you, Matron - how many peas to a pod? I see packed pods of about 11 at the Hill (var. Robinson) but do you have more?

Am so jealous of your courgettes - ready already! Certainly here in the Midlands we are a couple of weeks behind you there - and I have flowers on my dwarf/runner beans (& courgette), but nothing like the ones that you show!

 
At 1:06 AM, Blogger Gingerbreadshouse7 said...

Your garden and Harvest is an absolute envy :o( Every thing just looks so grand and healthy...today the Deer really did me in :o( so I'm pretty sad.

 
At 2:41 AM, Blogger Dan said...

Everything looks great! Hope those beans get climbing. Always wanted to try the 3 sisters planting plan.

 
At 6:33 AM, Blogger Matron said...

Hazel - my peas are usually between 8-9 in a pod.

 
At 6:37 AM, Anonymous liz said...

fab, I'm running out of ideas of what to do with my courgettes?

 
At 7:43 AM, Blogger Rob said...

Hi Matron, I've grown Hurst Green Shaft for years for just the same reasons. The thing you are doing with the beans and the sweet corn reminds me of my dads garden last year where he had a runner been growing up a sunflower although I'm not sure if that wasn't just by accident.

 
At 8:03 AM, Blogger Celia Hart said...

Looking good Matron!!!

Those Salford Black beans will get much much bigger - and stay tender and stringless until the beans inside start to swell.Yes, try some while they are small but leave more to get long, 30cm or more.

BTW I stuffed a load of the beans in the soil of my 3 Sisters bed and they are germinating. Previous years I have sown them later and direct in fairly dry soil. Maybe that's what they prefer rather than being cosseted in pots?

Celia

 
At 8:23 AM, Blogger RobD said...

From what I've heard about the 3 sisters technique is that it's a bit of a nightmare if you want to pick them fresh (because you can't get near them for the squash), but is OK if you just want to grow them for drying (beans and corn).

I'm sensing a softening on the flower stance in this post - LOL!

 
At 9:13 AM, Blogger Kelli said...

Your veg and fruit look amazing. Something for me to aspire to. Kelli

 
At 9:46 AM, Blogger Sue Garrett said...

We grow Royalty too - I love the flowers.

I think when the Iroquois used the three sisters method that they used the old fashioned sweet corn like that seen in fields in France. It grows much higher and is sturdier than the varieties we grow in our vegetable plots.

 
At 11:11 AM, Blogger LindaG said...

Your garden looks fantastic, Matron! :)

 
At 11:19 AM, Blogger LindaG said...

P.S. As I understand it, you plant the corn first, then when it is 3-4 inches high, you plant the beans and squash.

But as I said, your garden looks great! Congratulations. :)

 
At 1:15 PM, Blogger melsanford said...

Those peas look fab!!!! I'm really chuffed with the few I've had so far :-) Mel xx

 

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