tell me about broad beans

[red]

I've never grown them. are you successful at BBs? if so.. tell me what you do, what makes it work. autumn or spring sowing?

[agapanthus]

I would go with autumn planting...that way the plants are already established in the spring and hav'nt got too far to grow until harvest. Don't forget to take the tips out....probably between 4-6 weeks before harvest. This does help deter blackfly and they taste absolutely yummy steamed and a bit of butter added at the end! ;)

[Plotter]

I used to absolutely detest broad beans when I was growing up, and the parents always grew loads. I would try them from time to time but they always tasted vile to me.

Since I started doing my own veg however I gave them another chance, and now of course I love them! Young and fresh that is, Totally crave them these days.

Have had mixed success with them though, you will probably get away with autumn planting but I have not tried it so far (although come to think of it I might give it a go...)

Course the best thing is successional planting, to keep em coming... so you should plant some winter, some spring, think you can keep planting for months.

[Rod in Japan]

Autumn planting works well. It's also good to strip off branches so that you have only 5 ~ 8, and also pinch of flowers so you limit the number of pods on the branches. This gives you nice big meaty beans (of the kind that I too used to find utterly demoralizing when I was a kid. I think if somebody tried to serve them to me with parsley sauce like the old days instead of say, a glass of beer, I'd probably be thrown into black despair over them again).

[contadino]

I plant ours in November. 3 beans in spot, about 50cm between spots on the row, 70cm between rows. When they're about 30cm tall, I earth them up around the base of the plant. They're very easy to grow, and so far have been pest-free.

[ina]

I used to absolutely detest broad beans when I was growing up, and the parents always grew loads. I would try them from time to time but they always tasted vile to me.

I was the same - maybe it's a child thing; not suited to the young palate. And like you, now I love them. Have tried both, autumn and spring planting - lost a lot of plants when planted in the autumn, but maybe I did get them in a bit late; so this year I'm trying again.

[Merry]

I plant both spring and autumn. I put them in root trainers until they`re quite big and that seems to foil the mice who used to dig the seed beans up all the time. I`m going to put mine in their root trainers today in fact.
Then I plant in spring so that I have a crop to follow on. I grow lots because they actually freeze quite nicely.

[Odsox]

I put them in root trainers until they`re quite big and that seems to foil the mice who used to dig the seed beans up all the time

The only way I've found that works 100% in stopping mice eating broad bean seed and peas is now taboo.
It's the old way of washing the seed in paraffin before sowing, the smell apparently foils them.
As I said, totally ecologically taboo.

One thing I would add to others suggestion about autumn sown beans Red is to protect them from the winter winds.
They can put up with a fair amount of frost, but salt laden West Country gales will burn them off at ground level.

[red]

thanks for the replies so far - keep em coming.

i hestitate to go for autumn planting as it does nto necessarily suit the mild conditions we have here - some bulbs like tulips etc tend to rot. on the other hand i did both autumn and spring planting for garlic and autumn was much better.

we are on the edge of the moors too, so can be a tad stormy...

[Odsox]

They grow OK here Red, and I'm probably even milder than you.
I sow them in November and shield them from the gales with windbreak ... I tend to cluster all my overwintering veg in one place and then surround the whole lot.
It gets a tad stormy here at times too.

[Birdie Wife]

They are great! Many experienced growers I know reckon there is little difference in time to harvest from autumn or spring sown though (on average 2-3 weeks) and often the yield isn't great from autumn sowings. However, if you have a mild area you may not have that problem, as the bees will be out by the time your beans are flowering. They are excellent green manure too, fixing nitrogen in their root nodules so provide an excellent boost to whatever you want to sow after them. You can pinch out the tops of the plants once three sets of flowers have set and that will deter blackfly, and these leaf trimmings also make a yummy soup or steamed vegetable in their own right.

Can you tell I'm a fan?

[Millymollymandy]

I'm glad you asked Red cos I have bought some seeds to try next year for the first time ever.

I've always completely loathed the horrible bitter tasting things but once upon a time I had some in a veg/pasta dish at an Italian restaurant and they were delicious. I had some in England this summer (well, one actually, nicked off my Mum's plate) at an expensive restaurant and it was vile and bitter with a horrible skin.

So I guess you need to pick them when they are tiny and very fresh.

Anyway will do a taste comparison with borlotti because I loved them only you get a very small amount of beans from each plant compared to the kinds of beans that keep on producing.

[Rod in Japan]

So I guess you need to pick them when they are tiny and very fresh.

I think the freshness is more important than the size. Even big fresh ones are sweet rather than bitter.

[red]

I think you have to pick them small for them to be nice. orrrrr you have to peel that bitter skin off. but small is better. so home grown is the way forward.

they are still nto my favourite veg - hence why not growing them already,but we get so few borlotti for the space they occupy, that I thought i would try somethign else.

[Chocobed]

I did the successional growing thing this/last year. Started in November, then followed in December(I'm in a south west coast bay) and more in spring. Eventually had so many I was making great compost from them. Will try fewer but just as often this time.It is very tempting to plant too many when the ground is empty and it's cold and you know they will be something that works. Also agree on taste. Was served them big, tough and very strongly flavoured as a child. Now only harvest the small ones and cook them italian style.