It all rather depends on how long you think you'll be growing beans into the future, as to how much effort you want to invest. I can forward full info via nickatipixnetdotcom which will illustrate my own set up that is about to enter its eighth year of use - and counting. However, the basic idea is to have a central pole, on top of which is a wheel of some sort with 'sticks' poked into the ground and tops tied to the wheel. I get 12 sticks around mine with two plants per stick = 24.
The beauty of runner beans is that, as long as you put enough nutrition underneath them, you can 'crowd' them together and they'll happily climb up each other. I dig a simple circular pit, about a foot deep, in the centre of which is inserted my pole. All year I save newspapers and line the pit liberally with them to act as a moisture reservoir. I also have a plastic barrel down the garden into which I put kitchen waste, and its contents go in on top of the newspaper before I back fill the soil.
My 'sticks' are designed to be permanent, as are all the other bits, and, by saving seed at the end of each season, I have beans for life (if the virus don't get me!)
If you want to minimise the time spent looking after these plots I would plant stuff that doesn't need much attention after planting but will give you a good crop. A few early potatoes, perhaps, and later on courgettes and a tripod of climbing French beans such as Monte Cristo...loads to eat and the only real work is the picking, once you have prepared the soil. As you don't have time to make compost, dig a pit and fill it with comfrey and vegetable peelings, cover with a good depth of soil and plant over the top. It sounds a bit primitive but it does work for courgettes and beans.
Posts
It all rather depends on how long you think you'll be growing beans into the future, as to how much effort you want to invest. I can forward full info via nickatipixnetdotcom which will illustrate my own set up that is about to enter its eighth year of use - and counting. However, the basic idea is to have a central pole, on top of which is a wheel of some sort with 'sticks' poked into the ground and tops tied to the wheel. I get 12 sticks around mine with two plants per stick = 24.
The beauty of runner beans is that, as long as you put enough nutrition underneath them, you can 'crowd' them together and they'll happily climb up each other. I dig a simple circular pit, about a foot deep, in the centre of which is inserted my pole. All year I save newspapers and line the pit liberally with them to act as a moisture reservoir. I also have a plastic barrel down the garden into which I put kitchen waste, and its contents go in on top of the newspaper before I back fill the soil.
My 'sticks' are designed to be permanent, as are all the other bits, and, by saving seed at the end of each season, I have beans for life (if the virus don't get me!)