Thanks Johnboy, no not teaching grandmother to suck eggs thanks - will consider the direction of the wind!

Also - don't know what you think, but seen few pics recently (Joy Larkom) where they plant in a circle instead of a block - thinking might try this as also take up less space.

Thanks Beryl - just i left it too late last year (June 6 for Runners) and didn't get any beans - tho lots of dwarf french (first time for climbing french beans) - have some just through now, and some more in a freezer bag covered with moist compost in the airing cupboard...so fingers crossed. But yo...

Despite earthing up like I've never done before, the tops are growing just too fast, so I've been a bit slack the past week. Noticed yesterday brown dead dry crumbly leaves on some tips of my early potato 'rocket'. Looked it up in RHS book, but although says causes extensive cell damage blah, doesn'...

Thanks. Just read somewhere the dwarf beans don't crop for as long as tall varieties, so if you sow them first and tall one's later, they're ready to take over when the dwarf one's have stopped producing, to lengthen the harvest period. Will take on board comment and not plant the dwarfs near the wi...

Moonlight is the new one isn't it too. You should tell them your findings - all very well setting in cool summers blah blah - but if you can't get the seed to germinate in the first place...

Thanks for the tips - not sure if they'd cope with Northumberland weather outside!?? If so, would they be better in a container (if so what size?) or in the ground? - Tomatillo's and melon pear. Thanks

I have lots of lovely tall/dwarf bean varieties to try this year. Mainly from heritage seed library. Few questions... I've sown some sonesta dwarf beans and these are now 3 inches tall. should I have sown tallest varieties first? If not, should I sow all the different varieties together now? Can you...

Anyone know if white flowered varieties are harder / take longer to germinate? Put white lady and czar in tubes in the propagator. czar have completely rotted - and didn't water at all after sowing. White lady had put down roots, so picked them out and replanted into new pot. Have tried with fresh c...

Have you checked if the beans are still there?? Isn't it a bit early to be sowing them outside (I realise you said you have other beans come up ok) - I always plant mine into loo rolls first - first lot have come up great. Maybe you have a mouse with a penchant for the dwarf variety you are trying!?...

Mine doing that too. Experimenting this year and risked putting them in borders mid april - as a relative always does who lives close by and she always has earlier crop than us. Fleece on stand by - but just think they're probably still in shock- it is still quite cold at night. But as most of mine ...

should I be nervous?...but gold nugget tom plant has first truss flowers open and I have 2 teenie tiny cucumbers bout the size of my little finger on a burpless green plant that is not quite 2 feet tall. These were planted out into an unheated greenhouse 2 weeks ago. Should I leave the cucumbers on?...

Thanks realfood & John for your suggestions - arh yes thanks John, I'm well aware how tall they grow - as I don't have any problem growing the plants themselves - have had beautiful sweetcorn plants past 2 years, just no sweetcorn...shame you can't eat the stems. Minipop - although rather tastel...

no takers then. shame.

our garden on really windy site - but had great success with minipop sweetcorn last year. Last try this year for the big cob variety tho. was going to try seville - but found Marai in local garden centre and apparently good for short seasons and our pathetic weather.

Thanks everyone! Some great tips - and since posting have finally gotten around to pulling Joy Larkom's growing veg book off of the bookshelf. Found a brilliant chart with square metre veg growing suggestions - and crucially what to replace spent crops with for every square metre - plot much bigger ...