The rough guide to beans by Real Men Sow

Climbing bean ‘mixed’ from T&M

This mixed bean collection adds colour to the vegetable plot as well as the plate
Image: Climbing Bean ‘Mixed’ from Thompson & Morgan

To help you produce an abundance of beans this year, we turned to an expert grower for practical advice. Jono, the original founder of the ever-popular gardening blog, Real Men Sow, is a man whose own hard-won experience has taught him how to get the best from his beans. Here are his top tips for sowing and growing bean seeds in your garden or allotment. 

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Why you need to grow Raspberry ‘Ruby Beauty’

Summer-fruiting Raspberry ‘Ruby Beauty' in container

Summer-fruiting raspberry ‘Ruby Beauty’ can be grown in the ground or containers
Image: T&M

If you’d love to grow raspberries but lack the space in your garden to accommodate rows of towering canes, Raspberry ‘Ruby Beauty’® is the solution you’re looking for. This space-saving raspberry has all the deliciously sweet flavour you’d expect from a modern variety, but you don’t need a veg patch to grow it – in fact, this little beauty grows to just 1m in height and is perfectly happy in a container on your patio or balcony.

Being compact makes ‘Ruby Beauty’ easy to net to protect the fruit from hungry birds. And because its stems are thornless, the fruit is easy to pick too. This plant requires little, if any, support but you may choose to add a few canes around the pot to help hold up the fruit.

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Best interiors Instagrammers to follow

Colourful backdrop for interior design from @poppyrobin_myhome

Follow these accounts and get interior design inspiration
Image: @poppyrobin_myhome

Do you want to give your home a stylish new makeover and change things up a bit? Here are some of the best Instagram accounts to provide inspiration. Not only do these clever creatives offer a peek at their truly lovely homes, they share top tips to help you achieve the look yourself. Whether you’re hunting for ideas or just enjoy having something beautiful to admire during your coffee break, these are the Insta accounts to follow…

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Top 5 favourite hedges

Ornate hedging in garden

Hedges are a great way to partition different areas of your garden
Image: Stephanie Braconnier/Shutterstock

A hedge is an integral part of any garden, providing privacy and security while supplying wildlife with food and shelter too. A practical way to partition your outside space without the need for a fence, a hedge is undoubtedly a beautiful thing in its own right too. Here are five of our favourite hedge plants to provide ideas and inspiration for your own garden.

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How to store vegetables

Storing onions against shed wall

If done correctly, storing vegetables means you can enjoy the taste of homegrown veg in the depths of winter
Image: Floris Verweij/Shutterstock

If you’ve grown a wonderful harvest of fresh fruit and vegetables but don’t know how to store it correctly, you’ve come to the right place. Learning how to prepare and store your fresh produce stops good food from going to waste and helps you to enjoy eating it for a greater portion of the year. Here are some of the best ways to store your homegrown veg – you’ll be amazed just how long it can last if you get it right.

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