Collateral damage

Not good news I'm afraid - despite my radish, beets and cabbages all starting to spring up in the greenhouse, I've had a visit two nights in a row from a rogue gastropod. The radishes are being systematically picked off... 

So frustrating - what's more, is I've turned the drill upside down, around, had a good inspection of the greenhouse and cannot spot the slug/snail anywhere - as soon as I do though, there's not going to be any mercy - it's going straight to one of the chickens. 

I've not really had a problem with them before in the greenhouse, but I guess with the wet weather, they are finding it easier to make the climb up the sides to where the seedlings are. It's a battle of wills, and I may pop out last thing tonight with a torch to see if I can catch him in the act...

And now, a few oddities that have arisen in the back garden - a freak show, for your viewing pleasure, if you will...:

My dwarf beans - a couple of plants that I was growing (but failed to train up canes through moderate ineptitude) have developed curled bean pods. They look like those dangly earrings from the 80's! Can't think why they have done this... perhaps keeping their feet out of the mud and mire below...?

I have a couple of mushrooms growing in my old pea plant pot - I'm not going to eat them, but would be interested to know the classification if anyone has any ideas? I guess with the wet humid weather, mushroom foragers across the land are in for some rich pickings.

This mottling has happened each year I have grown broad beans - I don't know whether it is just age, disease or both; or whether they are ant bites, as I seem to have a lot of them around the plants, and they are often climbing up and down them.

Despite the wear and tear, I did manage to pick a respectable handful of the pods from the plants. Remarkably unmarked in comparison to the plants...

 I think I probably picked the pods a little early - the beans were a fair size, but they could probably have waited another week or so to plump up... well, you live and learn.

Still, I made some chicken pittas last night with a vegetable salsa-type filling - to finish them off I fried the broad beans and sprinkled them inside. Rewarding to eat your own produce, however small a contribution it makes to your plate. I'm afraid I don't have a picture of the pittas, because we ate them too fast!

A bean broadside

This is the second year I have grown broad beans... again, not to any great scale (like the peas), but just for enjoyment's sake... I have four plants in a trough container.

I'm growing the Bunyards Exhibition variety - and if I'm honest, I don't know what that means - as long as the plants produce a lot of pods, I'm happy!

I've found both times that I've grown broad beans that I get a lot of flowers, but the ones that open first toward the base of the plant all fall off... It seems that only the higher ones turn into the pods...

Another empty flower stem... why?

I'm in the dark as to why this is... this year especially there has been enough pollenating traffic from bees (we appear to have a nest under our shed), so it's not as though they miss out...

Thankfully, and not like last year, an unprecedented number of flowers higher up the plants are turning to pods, so as long as I keep them watered and fed, I should get a decent batch...!

I've pinched out the top of the plants as you're supposed to - I just wonder whether in order to get some really good beans, you have to thin some of the successful flowers... oh the agony of choice - any practical advice greatly appreciated...

A cluster of pods poking through the dead flower heads

As ever with growing, if you mess it up at least you know not to do it again next year...