Warm boot recommendations please

[Madchook]

I have never grown them before and have no idea how productive they are - How many should I sow do you think? We are a family of 4 but the kids a little so wouldn't eat many (haha, if any!). I don't want mega amounts, but equally would like to be able to actually have a meals worth at a time (my french beans last yr came in dribs and drabs to the point where they weren't worth eating!).

Thanks in advance!

Maddy (with fingers itching to get at the compost!)

[chickencam]

They have a tendency to all come at once, so successive sowings are worth a try a couple of weeks apart, having said that we still seem to get them all at once.

 

They do freeze well if you pick them and freeze them when they are nice and small and tender.

 

We have a family of 5 and we always have a couple of 30 ft rows, probably with about 45-50 plants per row and we get loads.

 

My OH has gone a bit mad this year, we have about 20 overwintering plants and he sowed about 50 more seeds yesterday in the sort of blue trays with holes in that you see with spring onions in at Lidl etc. I think that we will be freezing quite a few this year.

[Tiggy]

you need to keep picking them once the pods are ready & full of beans to keep them productive, even one ripe pod will slow the plant down, we had 10 plants last year and we love broad beans and even then I had to freeze some

[Cinnamon]

It actually always amazes me the sheer volume of plants you need to grow to get a decent crop for a meal for an average family.

And some things, like cabbages, take up a huge amount of space too - I really need double the amount of raised beds I have