Home-grown broad beans, Vicia faba, are an early summer treat to which to look forward as one of the first crops of the year. They are easy to grow from seed, yielding pods of beans that can be used in salads, stews, and soups.
They do not take up too much space as they will grow upwards to add vertical interest to the garden. They can be grown in the ground, in raised beds, and even in large pots.
Packed with a whole host of vitamins and minerals including iron, magnesium, folate, copper, zinc, as well as vitamins B and C, eating broad beans as part of your diet can be beneficial to your bones, brain function, and immune system.
From March onwards is the perfect time to sow broad bean seeds outside if the weather is favourable.
Prepare a sunny spot in the garden or allotment with well-draining soil.
Sow the bean seeds about 5cm (2ins) deep, and 10cm (4ins) apart, in rows that are about 45cm (18ins) apart.
Cover the seeds with soil, firm down, and water in well.
Cover the newly sown area with netting to protect the seedlings from birds and squirrels. Seedlings should appear in a few weeks, depending on the weather and soil conditions.
Broad bean seeds are large, so they are very easy to sow which makes them easy for children’s smaller hands to handle.
Water the beans regularly, keeping the soil consistently moist.
When the plants are about 15cm (6ins) tall, they can be thinned to 15cm (6ins) apart.
This is also a good time to put a support structure in place to hold the weight of the plants as they grow, and prevent damage from strong winds. Use bamboo canes to create a wigwam-style trellis, or support in rows with canes and string.
Water regularly once you see flowers appear and pinch out the growing tips as soon as the flowers appear to help prevent attack from blackfly.
Broad beans are hardy plants which can tolerate frost and cold weather, but they may need protection from frost when they are in the flowering stage. In case of very cold weather, cover with horticultural fleece or cloches.
If you live in a frost pocket, have very heavy, clay soil, or a problem with mice who will eat the seeds, sow seeds under cover first, in deep modules or deep pots, placing one seed in each pot or module, at a depth of 5cm (2ins).
Place in a cool, frost-free place, such as a cold frame or unheated greenhouse, and they should germinate within three weeks.
Young plants will be ready to plant out six weeks later when the roots have filled their pot.
Broad beans should be ready to harvest about 10-12 weeks after sowing.
Pods that are very young and small, less than 5cm, can be cooked and eaten whole, much like you would a pea. The fresh pods can also be eaten whole like mangetout when young.
Any bigger than this then harvest when the pods are plump and the beans are visible through the pod. Remove the beans from their outer pod before cooking.
Broad beans freeze well and store for a long time. Simply blanch them, leave to cool, and store in freezer bags.
After harvesting, leave the plants in the ground for as long as possible. Like other legumes, broad beans have nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the nodules on their root system, which boosts nitrogen levels in the soil. As you rotate crops, the ones you grow in this area the following year will reap the benefits.
Blackfly multiply into dense colonies on the soft, young shoot tips in spring, and can stunt growth. Pinch out the tender shoot tips once the first flowers appear to reduce the problem considerably.
Pea and bean weevils are a nuisance but rarely a major problem. The larvae live in the soil and feed on root nodules. When the adults emerge in June and July, they climb up the plants and eat the edges of the leaves. Thankfully, these 4mm-long, brown beetles rarely cause severe damage, just pick off any that you see. The plants easily survive, unless they are very small and seriously infested.