Allotment update - Beans, beans and brassicas

Another trip to the plot, this time it's bean planting, I've put in two types of beans, borlotti and dwarf beans along with some russian kale, sprouts and one lonely spinach plant.

Things are doing well, we've got loads of radish coming up and I harvested more rhubarb and the gooseberry bushes are loaded with berries so it should be a good year for our fruit crops this year.

It's hard to keep up with everything that's going on on the plot now, amazing what a bit of rain and sun will do, but we're getting there, things have moved on a fair bit from this video.

Here's the video -

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Propagating goosberry plants...

A quick how to guide on layering gooseberry plants for propagation, it's probably the easiest way to get new plants, simply pin a low stem to the ground and leave it to form roots, this works for many other plants, it works well with climbers and I've had good success using this technique to propagate wisteria plants.

https://the-shed-and-beyond.blogspot.com/2017/06/propagating-wisteria.html

I haven't dug the new plants up yet, I'm waiting to make sure they have roots first, but they usually take quickly and once potted up grow fast.

Here's a video of me starting them off, at this stage they are still attached to the main plant -

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How to build a bean frame...

A quick guide on building a bean frame for climbing beans, I've used normal bamboo canes for this frame (I've been using them for years) but any straight stick would do, like hazel, or even lengths of timber just as long as it's relatively straight and the right height, for climbing beans you'll want canes at least two metres (about six feet)

Here's the video -

And in case you don't have time to watch the how to I've attached a few basic diagrams of how to make a simple climbing bean frame.

Step 1 -

Step two - 

Step three - 

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How to remove rhubarb flowers and why...

Growing rhubarb? has it started to flower? have no fear, it's easy to remove the flowers, all you need is a sharp knife, trace the flower stalk down to the base of the plant and cut it off as close to the crown as you can, and that's it.

Letting the flowers grow and produce seed won't hurt the plant, but it will affect the harvest you get, plus it takes a while to get a good sized crown at the very least a couple of years from seed to a plant you can get a small harvest from, it's quicker to get a crown and divide it, people often give divided crowns away so keep an eye on free websites (like freecycle etc) and if you have an allotment see if anyone has some spare, maybe swap some plants for a crown.

Here's how to remove the flowers should you already have rhubarb -

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