Bean feast?

I like this variety of French bean, Neckar Gold. Apart from being very productive, the pods are much more visible than the green types, which means that they are far less likely to be left behind and set seed, thus reducing the productivity of the bean plants.

I'm not sure how big the crop from this single wigwam of 6 poles has been, having been away. Our neighbour said he helped himself to a few decent pickings, and since returning on the I've picked 2 lbs in less than a week. This batch should continue for a  couple of weeks longer.

My bean schedule did not go to plan. The early runner bean plantings ended up in Swansea, as my father was worried about not having put any in himself this year. They grew weakly, and ironically their fate pretty much paralleled that of his. 

Despite planting several more batches on rushed trips home, very few germinated in the care of my husband, and the odds and ends went into a single wigwam in the front. I did not have enough 'Sun Bright' runner beans (with decorative golden foliage), so I added my only two plants of French Bean Blauhilde to fill the gap. These proved rather more vigourous than their companions and are now up and away onto the pear arches, feet ahead of the runner beans. They are also rather more precocious, having already set a few edible-sized beans. So far it looks a vigourous and productive variety, again with the advantage that the purple pods should be easy to distinguish from the rest of the vine. When the runners finally set a usable crop, they should follow on neatly from the French kinds.