Hardening off

It's just a leetle bit possible that the demise of my dwarf French beans was my own fault. Not deliberately, you understand, but I am new to this gardening lark and I did say by way of a disclaimer that I hadn't a clue what I was doing!

We had a warm weekend in May and stupidly I assumed that it would remain so. Out went my beautiful French beans and down went the temperature.

Of course I'd heard of the term 'hardening off', I just didn't know what it actually meant. Stupidly I thought that being in the greenhouse with the door open would have been enough. Doh!

It was only the other day when I was planting some replacement bean seeds that I noticed the packet explained exactly how to harden something off (and thank you to the BBC's Dig In site for the packet of bean seeds). Put the beans, it said, outside in the day time for a week and bring in at night.

That's it? I can do that!

Whilst it may be completely obvious to some, it isn't always to us newbies. Thank goodness for a small packet of French beans for explaining what to do!

Now my runner beans are being hardened off and by the weekend will be planted happily outside and will hopefully last a bit longer than their continental cousins!