Description
Scarlet Runner Flowers
Flowers from a variety of bean called “Scarlet Runner”
They have large dark purple and black seeds when dried. The bean itself while growing is green and large with a remarkably tough texture but feels smooth and absolutely delicious when cooked.
Scarlet Runner bean
A monster Scarlet Runner bean.
“The soluble carbon exuded into the rhizosphere by perennial groundcover plants and/or transported deep into soil by mycorrhizal fungi, provides energy for the vast array of microbes and soil invertebrates that produce sticky substances enabling soil particles to be glued together into clumps (aggregates).
When soil is well aggregated, the spaces (pores) between the aggregates allow the soil to breathe, as well as absorb moisture quickly when it rains. A healthy topsoil should be ‘more space than stuff’, that is, less than 50% solid materials and more than 50% spaces.” Dr Christine Jones
Sunflowers provide a natural trellis for beans to climb up
Some of the seeds we produce.
That’s a Scarlet Runner seed with the green arrows pointing.
See all our seeds here
Our garden security systems and cover crops during the winter
Temperature is now right to plant bean seeds directly into the ground.
The blue tongue lizard on a bug hunt in the garden.
Even more protection from unwanted pests with Mantis Security Services
Natural Pest Control
A powerful bee attractor and cover crop – buckwheat – even saved some of those amazing tetrahedral seeds for next year.
Buckwheat
Winter chia seed also attracted lots of bees with these beautiful violet flowers.
Chia seed plant
So now summer is on the door step and it’s late october in Armidale and we are waiting for an optimal soil temperature of around 18C to plant the bean seeds.
Soil temperature of 18C is ideal for planting bean seed directly into the soil