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Post by Admin on Mar 31, 2017 14:09:20 GMT
This is going to be controversial.... When we were planning our Seedling Swap Sunday (14th May - see Calendar for more details) wilbarra mused that the old rhyme he knew went "First of May Runner Bean Day" or sometimes Crawley Fair Day. But wilbarra's chum Kenny, said that no, south of Crawley the custom was 8th of May/Runner Bean Day, and perhaps that was related to fairs in Haywards Heath, perhaps even the origin of the Dolphin Fair. However, a little bit of Googling reveals the following from this source www.plant-lore.com/1370/runner-bean/1. Taught to me by the farm manager when we lived at Rothamsted Experimental Station in Hertfordshire from 1958-60 … Fred Burton used to say ‘The 14th of May is runner bean day’, and I remind my husband every year as he rushes to plant them earlier! [Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, July 1997]. 2.. In our area the time to plant runner beans was 23 May [Lower Quinton, Warwickshire, October 1993]. 3. [Ashford area, Kent] Runner beans planted on May Day [Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, February 1991]. So we have varying dates, significantly the earliest being at the southernmost location, all through May. Does anyone else know of any other variations?
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Post by wilbarra on Mar 31, 2017 16:54:12 GMT
the rhyme would relate to sowing of seed rather than planting . this being the plants would not appear until the danger of frosts had gone. hence the reason that runner bean day comes ealier in the south than it does in the north. runner bean day also seems to correspond with the date and day of country fairs when people had the day off to go to the local country fair. in the one i am familier with the men would sow their runner bean seed go home. change into their best and with wife and children in tow head off to the nearest local fair where a good time was had by all. as murray says: anybody else with tales of "runner bean day"
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