Runner Beans - Wrong time of the Year ?

Hi,

Around now is normally the time plant out Runner Beans, but it did make me wonder if its worth growing them... ?

Typically we eat them with a hot meal yet their harvest period is usually around the hottest time of the year, when cold dishes like salads etc are more usual.

Although we can freeze some, (only a modest fidge/freezer) , even our small row of 6 plants means we have to give or throw away half the crop when they peak.

Seems a pity they cannot crop later in the year... any thoughts ...?

 

I used to find they cropped best in September and October, they do start, I know in late July and August, but often the plants are still making vegetative growth at that time of the year and the flowers often fall off.
Never worked out if it was due to that, plants still young and growing fast, or too higher temps.

And old bloke next door to me used to swear it was sparrows, but never could explain why they didn't peck the flowers off later in the season.

 

My second sowing are about 6" high and have just been planted out.

When there's a runner bean glut, in addition to heaps with hot meals, I eat them cold with pesto sauce in salads.

 

@JWK We grew winter Broad Beans which Mr Kandy sowed in November and when we came back from our holiday the other week they were infested with blackfly which we don’t normally get on winter beans.The infestation was so bad it was too late to do much about it and we didn’t want to spray with chemicals although we are getting a bit of a crop.

The blackfly Have now found my runner beans that we have had to sow for the third time and they are well away from the broad beans.Despite me washing the blackfly and ants off of the leaves with water then spraying with a soapy water solution we still have them so are now going to try adding garlic cloves to the water that Mr Kandy found in the freezer yesterday and see if that gets rid of them.We have also noticed some of the leaves on my flowers on the allotment also have blackfly on them now

Plenty of ladybirds and their larvae about but not enough to nosh all the blackfly as they are breeding too fast