From our local wholefood shop we have been purchasing 1kg bags of beans: fava and lima beans, as well as bags of peas and broad beans. Slowly we are making our way around the garden and planting them out. The aim is to enrich our soil and ensure better crop rotation. After planting out each garden bed, my three year old, Artemisia and I are now looking for patches bare where flowers once grew and placing our beans there. We dig them in lightly into the soil and then cover them with some thick old straw from the chicken run. We water in very well on the day of plating and then pretty much let the rain do the rest. We will feed our beans with compost and worm juice once a fortnight to make sure they receive the nutrients they need.

Artemisia with fava beans soaking in water.

Fava and lima beans in the garden beds.

Straw from the chicken run thickly covering beans.