Dating back to the late 19th century, this heirloom variety is justly popular for its flavour and its heavy crops of round, stringless pods. With consistently good results over a long cropping season, this prolific climbing French bean produces clusters of fleshy pods that have a superior texture and taste and are rich in vitamins and fibre. As well as being easy to grow, 'Blue Lake' makes an attractive feature whether grown in the veg garden or nestled amongst herbaceous plants in your beds and borders. They look particularly good when grown up a trellis or 'wigwam' of canes, not least for their pretty white flowers. Plant them with sweet peas for a pleasing contrast of colours. 'Blue Lake' is generally grown as a green bean for cooking. In fact, they should not be eaten raw as they contain toxins that are destroyed in the cooking process. The pods are best picked young to increase yields, and steamed or boiled rapidly to make the best of their flavour and texture, as well as to ret