Stenner Runner Bean (organic)

£3.00

11 in stock

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Named after the late Brython Stenner from Cefn Cribwr in south Wales, who reselected it from ‘Enorma’ to produce this famous, prize winning exhibition variety which was king of the show bench throughout the 1970s and 80s. Fantastic in the kitchen too, the Stenner produces an abundant crop of delicious, deep green, slender pods that can grow over 40cm long. Like the Enorma, they grow nice and straight too….far easier to slice than curly beans! Plants are tall and bushy with the striking red flowers so associated with this species of bean. Like most runners, to avoid them getting stringy, pick the pods before the beans inside get too big. Any that do get a bit chunky, don’t just compost them, leave them on the plant until the end of the season, and you can then harvest and dry the seeds, using them in soups and casseroles over the winter.

Approx. 40 seeds per pack.

Original seed kindly provided by Adam Alexander, “The Seed Detective”.

Botanical name: Phaseolus coccineus

Grown by: Carolyn Moody

Not quite as hardy as French beans, start your runners off indoors in late spring and don’t plant out until early summer as the soil won’t be warm enough before that. Sow in modules with some seed compost and if there are mice around, cover them up before they germinate, as rodents love the seeds. One hardened off, they’ll need a need a slightly larger spacing than French beans – about 9” to 1ft. Dig in plenty of organic matter initially, and water regularly throughout the season. Plants can get quite heavy towards the end of the summer, so will be susceptible to strong winds – a good, firm support structure is therefore vital, with canes or string to wind themselves around as they climb. Most will find their own way up, but if any get a bit ‘lost’ you can simply wind them up yourself to begin with. Make sure you wind them anti-clockwise though, otherwise they’ll just unwind themselves! Pinching out the tops once they have reached to top of the structure will stop them getting too top heavy, and will encourage bushier growth, so more beans!