Sowing Broad Beans

Last night I sowed some Broad Beans (Aquadulce Claudia) into small pots made out of recycled newspaper. This is the first time I've used a Paper Potter to make my own biodegradable pots. It's really easy and seems like a great idea. You just cut lengths of newspaper, use the Paper Potter to form minature pots, then fill them with compost and add a seed. The idea is that when the seedlings are ready to be planted out, you just bury the newspaper pot in the ground and the roots will push through the bottom and the pot will disintegrate. That way you don't disturb the roots when you plant them out. I'm a little worried that the newspaper will just get too wet and collapse before I get around to planting them out - but we'll see how it works. If it's successful I will probably use these kind of pots for all kinds of seeds next year.

I sowed 60 beans, one per pot, and then placed the pots in seed tray inserts - just as a convenient way to keep them upright. I've then placed the trays in my plastic mini greenhouse on the patio, zipped up to keep the cold off them. Assuming they succeed - I will plant the seedlings out on the allotment in a few weeks time when they're big enough. Hopefully this will give them a good head start and provide some early Broad Beans in the Spring.