Loads of aphids all over broad beans and their pods

[Peggy Sue]

Horrible grey bitter things sounmds a bit like school dinners! Theya re so sweet when they ar young and straight from the plant. They freeze really well too (but none left this year for that)

Your beans are quite late...mine are just about over, I'm surprised France being generally warmer?

[Odsox]

Your beans are quite late...mine are just about over, I'm surprised France being generally warmer?

It all depends when you sow them as I sow mine in succession and have bean plants at all stages of growth (plus 2 rows finished and replanted)

If you have older beans that you missed picking then I what I do is simmer them for 10 minutes or so, skin them when cold and purée them with a little water.
Makes a wonderfully tasting spread and not really beany at all.

[Millymollymandy]

Horrible grey bitter things sounmds a bit like school dinners! Theya re so sweet when they ar young and straight from the plant. They freeze really well too (but none left this year for that)

Your beans are quite late...mine are just about over, I'm surprised France being generally warmer?

I sowed them on 24th March - I've no idea how long they should take to mature.

We never had broad beans at school. The last time I had a horrible grey one with nasty bitter white skin was last year in a posh fish restaurant near Bridport, Dorset. I tried one off my mum's plate and it was vile. That's always been my experience of them (they rank alongside brussel sprouts for bitter disgustingness ) which is why I am trying them to see if they can be better home grown and younger. I probably won't bother again with all the faff with the aphids and will stick to Borlotti which are much nicer tasting - in my opinion of course!

Oh and they still had an irritating skin on them though but I couldn't see that skin until they were cooked. And there was still an underlying bitterness to them, albeit a mild one.

[Peggy Sue]

See I sew 2 lots, one in autumn one in Spring (Feb/March) which normally means I can eat them May/June- before any of the climbing beans are ready. Then by now they are over, a short break to get over being beaned-out and start again with the runners in a few weeks (hopefully).

If I was you I'd have asked for my money back if a restaurant served me anything vile and bitter- but I have to say the current trend in posh restaurant (not that well surveyed by me I have to say!) is very little veg at all, and if you want more it cost about £2 a spoonful (a V small spoon at that!). I had a celebratory meal at one fairly recently and just like those Masterchef programmes when I ordered beans a teacup full arrived, they had been sauted in Chile which was strange and cost ££££.

What a terrible shame when veg can be so lovely.

[Peggy Sue]

Bit of everything! I grew pole & dwarf varieties- I ate some just as 'French beans' and let some grow more mature and pod them for borlotti beans, then dried some from pods gone crispy. Some varieities are better at one end of the scale than the other, my pole ones were really versatile and great at all stages, the dwarf variety seemed better as French, and a bit harder work to pick....all that bending over

[Millymollymandy]

I have that variety SusieGee and found the downside is that they take up a lot of space if you want a big crop off them, as you don't get that many pods off each plant, and they take up more space than French beans. They do need some support and they are rather sprawling.

I only ate them as podded (shelled?) beans - first when they were a bit immature (lovely) and later when the bean inside had coloured up to that lovely red mottled colour (that it prob shows on your seed packet). Later on I left a few to dry out (the pod starts drying out and going yellowy so you can tell) but never got round to cooking those ones. In fact I don't know where I put them as I think I decided to keep them for sowing, but don't need to as I've still got lots in the packet!

[Millymollymandy]

See I sew 2 lots, one in autumn one in Spring (Feb/March) which normally means I can eat them May/June- before any of the climbing beans are ready. Then by now they are over, a short break to get over being beaned-out and start again with the runners in a few weeks (hopefully).

If I was you I'd have asked for my money back if a restaurant served me anything vile and bitter- but I have to say the current trend in posh restaurant (not that well surveyed by me I have to say!) is very little veg at all, and if you want more it cost about £2 a spoonful (a V small spoon at that!). I had a celebratory meal at one fairly recently and just like those Masterchef programmes when I ordered beans a teacup full arrived, they had been sauted in Chile which was strange and cost ££££.

What a terrible shame when veg can be so lovely.

Trouble is I never know if we're going to have a mild or harsh winter, so it's probably a good thing I didn't sow any last autumn because the winter was so awful! Anyway my runners and French beans are flowering but it'll be a few weeks yet before I get any of them so hopefully we'll have the rest of the broad beans during that time.

Getting a bit bored of lettuce with every meal actually!

[Peggy Sue]

See I sew 2 lots, one in autumn one in Spring (Feb/March) which normally means I can eat them May/June- before any of the climbing beans are ready. Then by now they are over, a short break to get over being beaned-out and start again with the runners in a few weeks (hopefully).

If I was you I'd have asked for my money back if a restaurant served me anything vile and bitter- but I have to say the current trend in posh restaurant (not that well surveyed by me I have to say!) is very little veg at all, and if you want more it cost about £2 a spoonful (a V small spoon at that!). I had a celebratory meal at one fairly recently and just like those Masterchef programmes when I ordered beans a teacup full arrived, they had been sauted in Chile which was strange and cost ££££.

What a terrible shame when veg can be so lovely.

Trouble is I never know if we're going to have a mild or harsh winter, so it's probably a good thing I didn't sow any last autumn because the winter was so awful! Anyway my runners and French beans are flowering but it'll be a few weeks yet before I get any of them so hopefully we'll have the rest of the broad beans during that time.

Getting a bit bored of lettuce with every meal actually!

How harsh do your winters get? I'm told minus 8C is no problem for broad beans- does make a lovely May to have fresh beans

[Millymollymandy]

About that but the last winter stayed cold for a long time and my lake was frozen solid for 2 weeks which was quite unusual. Maybe I'll try sowing some this autumn, it just means I have to be organised and work out where everything is going in advance!

[Peggy Sue]

, it just means I have to be organised and work out where everything is going in advance!

Oh the worst bit!

[Millymollymandy]

We've removed the beans because I think they succumbed to chocolate spot - I need to read up a bit more about this! The beans had come to the end of their life anyway but suddenly noticed the leaves and pods going black/spotty.

I only got enough beans for 8 portions from 11 plants. Is this normal because it seems pretty rubbish, but then again dwarf borlottis don't produce a lot from one plant either.

Oh well it was interesting to try, and as long as I take off the outer skin of the bean I quite like them! They're just a faff!

[Peggy Sue]

I only got enough beans for 8 portions from 11 plants. Is this normal because it seems pretty rubbish, but then again dwarf borlottis don't produce a lot from one plant either.

That might be about right, I plant loads, about 40 autumn and 40 spring plants and I guess they keep me happy for about 6 weeks. They are nowhere near the productivity per space that runners are but then they are alot earlier....and compared to potatoes per sq yard for instance not so bad. You have to grow the stuff you love though, thats what it's all about

[Millymollymandy]

Thanks Peggy Sue - it's hard when you grow something for the first time to know what to expect! At least they don't take up too much space so I will try some autumn planted ones this year.

[Peggy Sue]

MMM, when you ar buying sed try to get Aquadulce Claudia for autumn sowing, everyone seems to agree they are the best for that job and have done well for me.

[Millymollymandy]

That's the seed that I have!!! I will do the jam trick as well as soon as I see the blackfly too which did seem to work. From what little I learnt about choc spot it is more likely to affect less healthy plants so it is not surprising as mine were truly ravaged by the aphids.