Kitchen Garden Forum

Do you burn or compost your Sweet Pea and Runner Bean plants?
I usually burn them but I seem a bit short of compost this year so when I stripped the Sweet Peas today I layered them up with weeds and grass and will give the heap a good soak tomorrow but still wonder if they'll break down. Runner Beans haven't finished yet but they are even tougher to consider.

Morning Geoff, now I have gone over to using compost bins, instead of large open heaps, I burn all my Runner Bean tops, as I have so many of them….but I will compost the Sweet Peas! When I used to compost them, I found they rotted down really quickly, if mixed with grass cuttings.

Thanks for that. Runner Beans are still in full leaf but the wind and rain destroyed all the flowers so there are only a few beans left. It sounds as if I compost them soon rather than letting them dry I shouldn't have any trouble.

I compost everything - runner bean vines, brassica stems, the lot. I find it all breaks down in the end, and I get some really lovely compost every year. In fact I’ve just finished emptying both my bins and I seem to have more compost than I’ve ever had before. Just mulched half of my growing area with it and my soil and plants seem to love it!