(25/May/2012)
Just before Christmas I managed to plant a couple of rows of broad beans and against the odds I’ve just harvested them.
The “against the odds” refers to the past winter which was the coldest around here for 60 or so years. We dropped to –18C and were well below freezing with snow lying on the ground for over a week which I covered in the previous post.
The beans were severely frosted. The exceptionally cold winter was then followed by a record breaking warm March which brought out all the insects too early and then a record breaking wet April that was also 5C below average temperature too. This resulted in a very low pollination of the fruit trees and of the beans. Most of the plants only had 2 or 3 pods on them. I still managed to harvest these:-
I’m hoping that the early spring sown row will yield a few more but even they look as though they’ve been having problems.
The sunset on the 25th was spectacular with the towering clouds being coloured glowing pink and orange. Again the camera rarely captures what the eye sees.
2 comments:
Our fruit trees were badly hit by the frost and snow, too. And I read the area's lost about 80% of its strawberries. Here's hoping for bountiful crops all round...
Dear Deborah - i grew broad beans last winter but am not growing any this year (it is winter here right now).
Should you grow them again then try using the pods (after "de-beaning") as the base for a veggie stock. I eneding up drinking all of the stock as it was, because it tasted so good!
Sending care, huggles and love to you and all the felines,
Michelle xxx (Zebby Cat is sleeping on the bed)
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