This week we desperately needed to get our beans and peas in or else we would have nothing to munch on when summer comes… Not ideal!

So I carried on digging up nettles, bindweed and brambles and hoped to high heaven that it was making this better.

Next year I am trying no-dig.
My back hurts.

Last year MrFlatcap showed me how to make a bean tipi, so this year I decided that 3 towers of green beans might just keep MrT happy for a week or two!

Mid-build!

The hardest part of this whole day was stringing the poles together without letting go of one and smacking myself in the nose. That happened a lot.

I deliberately put them up by my new lawn area because there is a dipped area by the slabs which will be easy to get through to weed. It also means we can have a bit of shade for the dogs when the sun finally comes back again.

Please excuse the mess!

Beans will curl around and grow up one single pole, whereas the peas are a little more fussy.

For these we decided to build a wall. It needs a little more support when I manage to dig out the last of the bamboo canes, but until they grow and get heavy this will be ok.

Pea Wall 

The wall consists of three canes at either end in a pyramid, with two canes set a regular intervals down the row to hold the strings taught.

Pea wall!

The you just get to go crazy with the ball of string. MrT cannot abide the feel of twine. It sends him all squiffy and his face makes an odd expression… he’s like a little kid sucking on a lemon!

That meant that the stringing up was left to me so that’s why it isn’t as beautiful as it could have been.

I cant wait for my little seeds to start growing and the beautiful flowers to appear. I often think that peas and beans are at their most beautiful when those pretty flowers are out. As much as I love eating the peas as I wander around the plot, I do wish that the flowers would last a little bit longer!

Now it is just a case of nicking one of MrT’s beers to stop those slugs from munching my shoots… little slimy buggars…