This is a bit of a random post from me this week, but so many people comment on my runner bean slicer that I have begun to realise that it’s not a very common kitchen gadget and maybe some of you are painstakingly slicing up your runner beans and missing out on the brilliance of this magic tool!
The very first introduction I had to growing veggies was my mother’s love for runner beans. She didn’t grow a huge amount of veg, but always always sowed runner bean seeds. Every year we’d go out with her and harvest handfuls of runner beans, and then the job of ‘running them’ was given to me or one of my siblings probably because it kept us busy while she got everything else ready for a Sunday roast.
As an adult, I’ve always had a runner bean runner in the kitchen drawer, and guests always comment on it when they see me running my beans. I have also discovered its use for dealing with those French beans that I let get a bit too big before harvesting, and for Borlotti beans that I want to harvest young. They’re so easy – you just top and tail the bean, then push it through and pull it out the other side, instantly sliced and with the stringy bits removed too. Wonderful!
I’ve only just started using my runner bean slicer this year because my first runner bean harvests are only just coming through now. I am really really hoping that I can enjoy a few more pickings before the frost gets them – I’m nervous about the clear nights over the weekend, but hopefully warmer temperatures will return and I’ll get away with it.
It has been such a strange season this year that I’m actually thinking about covering one of my raised beds with a mini polytunnel next year for some of the more tender crops, like beans, squashes and sweetcorn perhaps. More on that next spring I guess, we’ll see how things go.