French Bean Seeds - Eva

25 Seeds.

Other Names - Green Beans, Fine Beans, String Beans, Snap Beans, Climbing Beans...

A very productive climbing French bean producing oval, dark green long pods up to 25 cm in length. Eva has excellent resistance to cucumber and yellow mosaic virus making it especially suitable for the organic grower. The tender flavoursome beans can be grown undercover or outdoors.

• Excellent disease resistance.
• Produces excellent quality tender beans up to 25 cm in length.
• Suited for outdoors, in the greenhouse or polytunnel.

Suitable For - Vegetable plot, raised beds

Sowing Months - April - June

Harvest - July - September

Gardening is about finding the right balance! Try growing Companion Plants close by to help deter pests.

• Amaranth is great for attracting the ground beetle. This predatory beetle eats slugs, snails, slug and snail eggs, caterpillars and weed seed.
• Comfrey can be used to make a nutrient rich liquid fertilizer ideal for feeding beans. It can also be used as a compost accelerator, a slug repelled and a nutritional mulch.
• Try growing sweet peas among the bean plants or grow separately but close by. These beautiful flowers will attract bees which will help to pollinate the bean flowers.
• Calendula (Pot marigold) attracts predatory insects such as lacewings, ladybirds and hoverflies who love to feast on aphids.
• A great flower for attracting bees is phacelia. It also attracts aphid eating insects such as ladybirds and lacewings. At the end of the season it can be dug into the soil as a green manure.

Soil Preperation

Add some good quality compost or well rotted manure a few months before sowing (the previous autumn is ideal). Add some general purpose organic fertilizer 1 - 2 weeks before sowing. Remove weeds from the area. The soil should be a fine tilth.

Sowing Guide

Early Sowing/Module Sowing

Sow 1 bean seed, 2cm deep, in 4 - 6 cm modules or pots in late April or May. As French beans struggle to grow in cold conditions ensure enough heat is introduced for germination. After 2 - 3 weeks plant out. The beans will need to be hardened off for 7 - 10 days before planting out to reduce shock. If the weather is cold cover with horticultural fleece.

Direct Sowing

Do not sow too early as French beans will struggle to grow in cold soil. Sow 1 bean seed, 4cm deep, every 35 cm. Cover the seeds with soil and water well. If after sowing the weather turns cold cover the bed with horticultural fleece until the plants are growing strong. Keep a look out for slugs and snails as French beans are very vulnerable to these pests at the early stages.
A second sowing in early July of a dwarf French bean variety will keep the kitchen in good supply until late September.

Growing On

Climbing varieties need a support to climb up. Traditionally, climbing French beans are sown in two parallel rows about 50 - 100 cm apart. Sink 20 - 25 cm of a 180 cm long bamboo cane or hazel stick into the ground 8 - 10 cm away from each plant. Angle the canes inwards so that the angled canes in both rows meet and pair up. Tie each pair together with gardening twine 20 - 25 cm from the top. This will create a good sized 'V'. Once every opposite pair have been tied together lay horizontal canes on top of the 'V' section. Tie the horizontal canes to the structure with gardening twine.
Other structures such as wigwams, trellises and archways can also be constructed. The plants may need some encouragement to start growing up its nearby cane. Water well especially in dry weather and weed often to reduce competing plants.
Water well during dry summer spells and when the flowers and pods start to form. The plants will benefit from a mulch of well rotted manure or compost in June or July to help keep the soil moist. To stop the plant growing any taller after it has reached the top of the support, pinch out the growing points to encourage side shoots to grow.

Harvesting

Start to harvest the beans when they are 8 - 10 cm long. The pod is ready to eat if it snaps easily when bent. Keep picking the beans every 2 - 3 days to prevent the pods maturing and becoming 'seedy'. The plants should keep producing pods for 5 - 10 weeks. If the pods are left to become 'seedy' they will not be pleasant to eat as they will be very stringy and tough.
These seedy pods can be left to fully mature to produce dried beans (haricot beans). Simply leave the pods on the plant until they turn a light yellow colour. Remove the whole plant and hang indoors for further drying. After a little while the pods will become brittle and some will start to split open. Shell the pods, place the beans on a sheet of paper for 4 - 7 days to dry some more. When dry the haricot beans can be stored in an air tight container for later use.