runner bean 'Enorma'

runner bean

• Position: full sun
• Soil: deep and fertile with reliable moisture
  
  A big, sturdy runner, scrambling quickly up supports before smothering itself with beautiful scarlet flowers and incredibly long and slender green beans. The pods can grow to 50cm if you let them, though their superb flavour is at its best picked young. If you're after a prize for longest bean, though, this is the variety to choose. The flowers are edible too and make a colourful garnish.
  
  
• Growing Instructions:Choose a spot in full sun with the richest soil you can provide: dig in plenty of well-rotted organic matter before planting. From late spring sow seeds direct 5cm deep and about 20cm apart and support with sturdy hazel bean poles. Protect seedlings from slugs and squash blackfly as soon as they appear on shoot tips. To give runner beans the rich soil they need, dig a 'bean trench' the autumn before: line with newspaper, fill with kitchen scraps and top with compost before sowing into the top.
  
  
• Sow: April-June
  
  
• Harvest: July-October
  
  
• Approximate quantity: 45 seeds.