Tag: zucchini

Runner beans

I thought they are called ‘runner beans’ because they climb, but perhaps its because of the rate of their growth. Not quite overnight, as in Jack and the Beanstalk, but pretty quick all the same. Today I noticed that there are a few beans ready for picking. I looked back at my photos to see how long they took from the start.

9 Nov – just showing through the soil
12 Dec – reaching the top of the frame
6 Jan – ready to start picking

The dwarf bean plants beside the runner beans were planted on 11 December and they are almost ready for picking now. The zucchini plant went in the ground on 11 December and I have already picked two, with one more almost ready to harvest.

Dwarf beans
Zucchini
Felix

It looks as if the runner beans will have a long picking season as the beans which are ready are lower down the stalks and there are loads of flowers at the top.

These scarlet runner beans come up year after year from the same roots which I planted in 2021. The bean frame has made all the difference as, last year, the beans were ruined by strong winds. In 2022 and 2023, however, I had great harvests.

27 Feb 2022 – a later picking by the look of them
12 Jan 2023 – the first picking
Mar 2023 – with only thin bamboo poles for support, the beans leaned into the trees, forming an arch

Altruistic artichoke

The broad beans have finished and new plants are in the garden. I’m using the four stage rotation system and planted a tomato plant and a green zucchini where the beans were, and dwarf beans where the silver beet was. Beyond them, you can see how much the runner beans have grown since I posted about the bean frame recently (Old school tools, 9 Nov). The artichoke (on the left in the photo) takes up a lot of room in the garden but it is sculptural and interesting, even if I have found the artichokes pretty much inedible (Artichoke, anyone? 29 Dec 2020) or, at least, not worth the effort.

Artichokes are forming on the plants now and give the impression of bobble-headed stick figures throwing their arms upward as they ‘dance’ in the breeze. I’ve posted about their antics before (Wind-ravaged 21 Dec, 2021).

Having this anthropomorphic view in my subconscious, I was interested to see the artichoke had leaned across with one of its leaves as if to shade the zucchini plant from the sun. When the sun moved off that part of the garden, the leaf lifted up again.

Getting Creative with Courgettes

Felix continues to explore outside (despite those warnings from the vet). He has found that birds like to eat the grapes, so he sometimes hides in the leaves to surprise them.

Other fruit and vegetables are ripening or ready to eat: apples, rhubarb, tomatoes, lemons, silver beet, kale, broccoli, spinach, lettuces, herbs, and courgettes, while the runner beans are all but finished. My neighbour brought me apples and grapefruit yesterday and I gave her lemons, grapes and tomatoes, and she met Felix for the first time.

I was surprised to find an enormous courgette the size of a submarine hiding under the leaves. They can really get away on you if you don’t check them regularly. Today I made a Courgette and Carrot Kugel from half of it (4 cups, grated), and stuffed the other half with tomatoes, chopped courgette, chives and parsley from the garden, plus garlic, peppers and cheese.

It’s almost like living off the land.