This post will be updated as the runner beans grow and the frame collapses lol.
I know runner beans like to climb so I had to build a runner bean frame. My great nan used to grow runners beans in her garden, when I was a kids she would make me hold the washing up bowl whilst she fills it with long tasty beans. She’d cook them up for dinner and they were always lovely.
The Bamboo Frame
I remember the bamboo frame she had made and it seemed like it was 10ft tall but I was only about 6 years old at the time, everything in the world seemed tall and big back then!
Now it’s my turn to make a runner bean frame, it’s simple to do but, I have a problem! I wanted to build it today so, that meant I’d have to make it from short 1 meters bamboo canes.
I know I should have purchased the longer canes but I’m impatient, that’s just the way I am. I didn’t think it would be a problem but the truth is I ended up creating a disaster lol
What I ended up making was the worlds must unstable, tacky looking, crooked and bent runner bean frame in the world.
it’s so wobbly I’m not sure it’ll make to the end of the summer! I lashed the canes together using thin twine rope. Joining 3 in a row to create enough height was a challenge because the twine doesn’t hold strong. I then tried using twisted wire but as I twisted it tighter broke.
So, using twine “lots of it” was my only way forwards.
I tried to arrange the twine for the runner beans to climb. Keeping it tight as I went but as I did, the frame started to kink and bend. The more I tried to fix it the worse it got.
I did, in the end, complete the frame and it’s looking a right mess with twine going in all directions, weird knots and a frame that’s looking as stable as the UK government.
I’m not feeling too confident with my creative efforts. But at the end of the day it’s functional and that’s what matters for now.
31 March 2026 Planting the runner bean seeds.
I planted the runner beans seeds next to each bamboo cane and where to twine meets to soil.
let’s wait and see what happens when they start to grow.
