Broad Beans - Grow Your Own Wants Your Advice!

[Lesley Jay]

This month Grow Your Own is asking for your advice on growing broad beans. What are your top tips for growing delicious broad beans and which variety is your all time favourite?

As usual the best will be published in the June issue of Grow Your Own. So come on!! This is a big plug for the Grapevine plus you might have your advice published.

[TPeers]

I doubt I'm much use on this one, I am growing Broad beans, variety Sutton but I'm the only one who likes them the rest of the family turn up their noses!

Advice - autumn sow, then you get an early crop before blackfly becomes a major problem.

[Paulottie]

Terry, your family should try them again. I used to hate them too; but my wife grew some and I have discovered they are just delicious young and fresh.

The autumn sowing is a good idea (just love to see that ground being productive in winter). but my lottie neighbour has taught me to resist the temptation to sow too early -really the end of Nov. This is because if they are too tall they tend to get 'blackleg' -rot off at ground level- rocking in the winter winds. A smaller sturdy plant will go just as fast in spring. For the same reason I plant in blocks not rows and any wind break can help.

The Sutton are good choice, nice compact habit, but Aqua dulce grow very well on our light soil.

[TPeers]

Interesting, thank you. We are heavy clay over chalk - not ideal! I'll try them all again in a few weeks - just got flower at the mo, no sign of set as yet.

I think their main objection is the 'tough' skin on each bean. so as long as I remember to pick 'mini' beans I might get away with it!

[Headfry]

Eat broad beans when they are very young!
They get quite bitter when large and old.
I am sure this has put many people off the humble bean!

[bubblewrap]

I planted my broard beans out in late October early November they survived winter & are over 12" tall had flowers mid march

[Cutecumber]

The first year I tried growing vegetables I started with broad beans (The Sutton), in the autumn, in containers. Despite copious amounts of bubblewrap the tips got badly frostbitten a couple of times. By the time spring came, however, they did their thing and grew on up. Not a huge crop, but it showed how tough they can be.

This spring I have sown a few Jubilee Hysor in 3 inch pots - that's how I start everything off - but they're being really slow so far. Last year they produced a small crop in a less than favourable location in the front garden against the wall of the house. Too dry and too late.

Right now, I am wishing that I had had more enthusiasm last autumn and sown the Aquadulce Claudia that I had bought ... but they seem to still be in the seed packet! Whoops!

[Paulottie]

Hi Cutecumber, I have found germination pretty reliable and that they are very hardy (even if they don't like the wind.) Although, like you, I start most things in pots etc. I have never found this necessary with BB's.

I once received advice on blackfly problems with spring sowings. It was to nip out and burn any badly affected growing tips but normally if you catch the colonies early a little derris after the bees are in bed or just rubbing them off seems to work ok. The always seem to decamp to my artichokes though which I find irritating- a real pain to get off those spiky flowerheads.

Tp, Headfry is right but, You can blanche then skin them once they get older.... yet I realise that there only 24 hrs in a day!!!

[pigletwillie]

Witkem Vroma are a quality broad bean. I sow mine in pots in early March and plant them out in April. Companion planting with poached egg plants and nasturtiums keeps the worst of the blackfly off, pinching out the tips and using them in a stirfry before any infestations helps too.

I have found autumn sown beans whilst being earler cropping wise, do so at the expense of yield.

[serenity]

you can also eat the pods whole when small

[goddess]

You don't need a huge space to grow them.i sowed few in loo rolls last spring,put them out around mid april in flower bed and although the crop wasn't huge the kids loved picking the beans ,shelling them and putting them in risotto.the variety i grew was sutton and when it finished cropping ,i cut it above a leaf joint and it gave a mini crop again.the roots were eventually left in ground to enrich soil.g

[Flummery]

For flavour I like Jubilee Hysor and Bunyard's Exhibition. I find here that autumn sown (Aquadulce) beans have patchy germination. Better use of the ground to have something else in you can crop in winter and follow with the beans raised either in the ground in early March or in modules later. The downside is that they are ready when so much else is - the autumn sown ones give you an early crop. Decisions, decisions!

[Don Vincenzo]

Please meet Max and his......

This month Grow Your Own is asking for your advice on growing broad beans. What are your top tips for growing delicious broad beans and which variety is your all time favourite?

As usual the best will be published in the June issue of Grow Your Own. So come on!! This is a big plug for the Grapevine plus you might have your advice published.

Hello L.J.
I am writing on behalf of Max regarding his broad beans and his famous spade. Max is a veteran at growing his own produce and the 85 old spade which he uses belonged to his father and every time Max finishes with it, He will clean it, putting it away as a ritual. Max grows his own saved broad beans seeds which are aquadulce as he strongly believes that over time the seeds would acclimatize, sowed the first week in November at 3 inches deep with a springle of potash. Max says that there is an avarage of once in seven years to loose your crop to severe winters and even less now. Max and his wife are an extremely pleasant eccentric couple who honoured me to allow to take some photos.....Please meet Max and his Wife...more stories to folllow
My best regards to everybody
Don Vincenzo

[nick the grief]

I grow Super Aquadulce sown in the autumn and have loads of flowers on them at the moment and I've got my Crimson flowered ones ready to pot on anyday now. Not sure where I'me going to grw these yeat as I want them for the seed really ..... although the taste excellent.

The SA's I planted out about November in my "Warm Box" which is two lengths of Twinwall Polycarb and two double glazed windows for the ends. I can cover it over with fleece if needed but it's been sooo mild I haven't bothered.

I always start mine off in 3" square pots to stop the mice doing a runner with the seeds

[Happydigger]

As with all large seeds I soak in water for 24 hours prior to planting, generally I have grown Aqua dulce and found they over winter well