It’s time to shine for beans and tomatoes, says Ruth
The sowing season is well underway and we are now at the stage when it’s safe to start your less hardy vegetables. So this week I have been preoccupied with French and runner beans and tomatoes which are set to go outside on a sunny patio, rather than in the greenhouse.
Tomatoes for the garden are sowed later than those destined for the greenhouse or polytunnel because the few weeks of extra time gives the soil and air temperature time to warm up for them.
Remember that the ancestors of our modern toms came from South America, while runner beans hail from Central America, so the cold, wet start to our growing season does them no favours.
Tomatoes are easy to start (though they can be beset by pests and blight later in the season) and this year I’ve been using a mixture of commercial seeds and home-saved seeds from a few flavour-packed heritage fruits we’ve bought locally and loved. In the column, right, I show you how to save and sow tomatoes. Once the seedlings have grown to 2-3in (5-7cm) high and developed their first ‘proper’ leaves they can be moved to individual pots or large modules.
Grow them somewhere cool and light before hardening them off and planting them in growbags or large pots in a sunny, sheltered spot outside.
Saving seeds
More toms for free
1. Scrape the seeds into a pot of water and leave to stand for a few days until mould develops – this helps remove the slippery pulp.
2. Rinse the seeds thoroughly under cold water to remove the mould and remaining fruit pulp.
3. Set them to dry on some greaseproof paper labelled with their variety.
4. Sow thinly in pots or modules, cover with a little compost or vermiculite and set somewhere light and warm. Keep the compost damp.
It’s time for beans magic!
I am sowing runner and French beans using seeds saved from last year’s harvest.
To make sure they are viable, I’ve soaked the beans in water first, discarding those that float and keeping those that sank. I’ll sow some in 3in (7cm) pots of multipurpose compost and the rest in large modules saved from bedding plant purchases. They all go in around 2in (5cm) deep.
Beans will germinate well in a light, warm spot and can be planted out from late May, when you are sure the frosts have finished and night temperatures are reliably warm. They need to be hardened off first, but once outside in a sunny, sheltered spot, they will be twining their way up your poles before you know it.
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