Summer time means long, hot days and lots of time spent outside. Wouldn’t it be great to have your own hideaway? Somewhere quiet to read a book or have a rest.
Grow a bean teepee and you’ll have a cool summer hideaway that you can eat!
Max grew his bean teepee on the lawn but you can grow one in a patch of soil. Here’s how he did it.
Good idea: Use purple, yellow and green beans for a rainbow coloured hideaway!
What kind of beans won’t grow in a garden? Jelly beans!
What’s the fastest vegetable? A runner bean!
Corn and sunflowers: These plants support themselves so you don’t need to build a tepee first. Just plant a circle of corn or sunflower seeds (or both). Leave a gap for the entrance and a space in the middle big enough to sit in.
Cucumbers and gherkins growing these plants on a teepee protects the ‘fruit’ from spoiling on the ground, but the leaves are bit scratchy so be careful! Gherkins are baby cucumbers, which make delicious pickles.
Baby pumpkins or gourds: Gourds come in interesting shapes and you can turn them into pretty bowls, jugs or little birdhouses when they dry out next autumn.
Hops and nasturtiums: These are climbing plants that grow really fast like beans. You can’t eat hops but you can eat nasturtium flowers!
Dig out a circle shape and add topsoil and planting mix.
Make your teepee with long bamboo stakes and wind string around for the beans to climb on.
Plant your bean seed in the soil and water them.