Broad Bean Super Aquadulce
Broad beans grow thick and fast, making an impressive and delicious addition to any plot.
Black Fly is the only major issue to contend with. They can make your plants look pretty messy, but it's amazing how they'll recover once you've pinched out the tips as we describe below.
Time from seed to plate: 20 weeks
Sowing Calendar
Sow
Get your broad beans going earlier than most veg - anytime from Febuary to April. Rootrainers are best - for getting your plants growing quickly and avoiding risks of the beans rotting in the soil. Fill twenty cells with compost and push a bean in each one, about an inch deep. You only need sixteen plants, so this will cover you in case a couple don't come up.
They're not affected by the frost, so you can leave them outside, but watch out for mice that will gobble up the beans. I leave mine on a windowsill where the little critters can't reach them.
Broad Beans can also be sown in October/November. They'll grow quite happily through the cold weather, and reward you with a crop of beans as early as May the following year. Sow these direct into the soil, about 2in deep.
Sowing method: Rootrainers
Grow
Plant out in your plot about a month after sowing, leaving 12in between plants, and 2ft between rows.
Broad beans will grow to a whopping 5ft tall, but it's best to stop them getting
this big by pinching out the growing tips when they're 4ft high. This will
encourage them to bush out and you won't need to worry about staking them on
all but the windiest plots. (In which case push in a bamboo cane next to each
one and tie in a couple of times as they grow)
Pinching out the growing tips will also deter the tiny Black Fly that you'll
probably find living around on your plants. They're after the sugary growing tip,
and when it goes, they go too. These tender tips are great in salads, but make
sure you soak them for 10 minutes in salted water first to remove all the bugs.
Harvest
If you sowed in February, your first beans should be ready towards the end of June. Start picking when the beans are the size of a thumbnail. Feel the pods with your fingers to get an idea of the bean size inside, then use two hands to pick, one to hold the plant and one to give a sharp downward twist to the pod. Keep picking 2-3 times a week to encourage more pods to form.