Climbing Beans

[Dorothyrouse]

Because the various beans I have were slow at germinating, I planted a few more, now have about 4 at the base of each cane, is this a mistake? Or will I have a bumper crop?

[peanut]

I've only done a max of two when pushed for space, they do get very tangled and messy. Could you pop some in to climb up somewhere/something else, cottage garden style, in a flower border etc?

[nrmartin8798]

I don't have too much experience, but I would stop short of four! Last year i did two at the bottom of some of mine as I was tight for space, and even then they were quite crowded. The biggest problem I had then was the weight and size of the structure because of the number of plants - when we had a windy spell it all blew over - something I am trying to avoid happening this year by spacing the beans out better and strengthening the cane supports.

[Dorothyrouse]

Unfortunately, I only have an allotment, no garden, and all my beds are now full. I’ll just keep an eye

[Snoop Puss]

Why not consider an experiment, Dorothy? Limit some canes to two beans and others to four and see what difference it makes? You'll know for next year what to do in your environment.

[Bren In Pots]

I grow runners one to a cane then tall french beans I have put 2.

Oddly when I've over wintered my runners they each throw up 4 or 5 stems and I do get a good crop from them.

[Dorothyrouse]

Thanks all, it really it strange, last year I planted several courgette plants around the base of bean canes, and guess what, some seeds must have survived the winter and up they’ve popped! Yet trying to germinate courgettes this year has not been easy!

[Mr Bones]

I used to sow five beans per pole Dot and they did alright. The only reason I now sow less is because we don't need that many beans.

[bikermike]

I suspect that you will be very fed up with beans by the end of the summer!
I think they will grow fine, but keep an eye on the weight.

[Dorothyrouse]

I’m sure friends etc will be grateful to receive a ‘bean gift’!

and they freeze well

[peanut]

and they freeze well

Do you blanch them first?

[Dorothyrouse]

No, I just clean them and loose freeze

[peanut]

Dorothy rouse That's really good to know, thank you

[Bren In Pots]

I’ve got some left in the freezer from last year and they taste fine.

[ameno]

I've found French beans suffer greatly in texture (although not taste) when you freeze them. I tried blanching and freezing raw, and in both cases when I cooked them they developed what I would call a "squeaky" texture (that is, they squeak unpleasantly on your teeth as you chew them).
The way I found to solve this is to almost fully cook them before freezing them, then just cook them for a short time when you come to eat them. This seems to get rid of the squeakiness.