Less than legendary legumes

The legumes family includes broad, French and runner beans, mangetout and peas and asparagus peas.

I have discovered I like broad beans and these are the earliest to harvest. Their one drawback is that you seem to need a lot of plants to get a substantial crop. They also suffer badly from blackfly which is a bit gross. I definitely plan to sow some in November to get a great harvest early next year as the Hungry Gap hits. If you pick them young enough you don't have to faff about with taking the inner membrane off.

Peas are definitely off the cards next year after yet another lacklustre performance. The purple flowering mangetout will be repeated (if I remember to save the seed) if only for their lovely flowers. Asparagus peas were something of a novelty and grew well but were rarely eaten as they taste of neither asparagus or peas. Not convinced.

Runner beans are just now coming into their own and even though I only have 6 plants they provide more than enough for two without us suffering overload.  They are nice lightly boiled and served with red pesto.

The dwarf french beans are slow taking off but should be OK and I frankly have not idea what to do with the Borlotti beans which looks pretty but I think I have to dry and then cook later (why bother? Canned beans are great).

Whatever variety you grow, once the plants have stopped cropping, cut them down but leave roots in ground so they can give back nitrogen to the soil.

Mangetout - the perfect crop for greedy growers

Today is a rare day of rain among amazingly sunny days. In fact the are predicting 21 degrees tomorrow.

In the mean time I hope it rains enough to penetrate the ground today. Sometimes rain showers can mean the earth looks wet but it isn't where it matters - at the roots of plants. In periods of dry weather and if you water little and often rather than giving it a good long soak, plants will send their roots to seek water in the shallow soil (and become unstable) rather than anchor itself deep into the earth with strong roots.

On the windowsill at home the plants are doing well. The mange tout (purple flowered) are looking spectacular. They are so big that I am considering planting them out. First I will harden then off with a couple of days in the cold frame. Then I will pinch out the tops to encourage side shoots.

Use some twiggy sticks as support and off you go.

Question: do pea sticks become mangetout sticks if you change the plants?

Spring forward

Top tip: sow potatoes with plenty of soil on each side to retain water well and make earthing up easy later on.

Last night the clocks went forward and our evenings will be lighter for longer.

We defied the weather gods who had predicted clouds and rain and had another glorious weekend. Even though the plants would welcome some rain I relish this early sunshine as it encourages me to get down to the allotment and sow more crops.

This weekend, in went peas kevlon wonder (as a border where the sunflowers were - trouble for later?) and beetroot boltardy - which I persist in despite it not being popular at home as beetroot is amazingly healthy and also trendy in the food world. I also sowed broccoli raab 60 days which I believe is a true broccoli not a calabrese and as the name suggests is fast growing so I fully expect a crop at the end of may. I sowed both the beetroot and broccoli side by side in blocks on land where potatoes used to grow as you should avoid planting brassicas in the same place two years in a row. Oh and I also sowed some salsify next to the shallots - an experiment as they are supposed to have a subtle oyster-like taste. Let's see.

Looking at Bernie's plot, I was mightily impressed by the beautifully piled up mounds of earth where he has planted his potatoes. Slightly concerned though as my potato section is flat as a pancake. Wonder if, once the tops come through I can fake it by adding compost on top?

One hopeful shallot is already peeking through and the broad beans are looking lovely though very immature compared to a neighbour's autumn sown ones.

Peas, planning permission and publicity

Top tip: look ahead to early crops in 2011

I am very excited as my plot has not only featured in an article in Eat Me, a funky new food magazine, but also won a photography prize for 'Best Arty Shot' in Kitchen Garden magazine - they liked my bright poles apparently and called it zany.  Apparently I will get a lot of garden goodies - can't wait to see them though a subscription would have been grand too as it's a good magazine for foodies and growers alike.

Now is the time to sow overwintering peas and broad beans.  The experts recommend sowing peas in a gutter. This apparently allows them to develop and get strong before the spring. This means earlier crops and better resistance to blackfly. Broad beans in particular suffer from black fly - in fact it can be so bad thatit can be frowned upon to grow them on the plot.

Meanwhile the shed saga continues. After finding out we needed planning permission to have it in our front garden we took it down. Well, actually we got our neighbour who put it up to take it down again. Despite not wanting have a shed on my plot and this one is really too big I don't want to waste it so the idea was to rebuild it on the allotment. It would take up the space of the compost bins at the moment and I will revert to using tardis ones dotted about the plot - all the easier to reach when weeding.