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Broad beans
Has the cold weather been getting you down? Fed up of the wind, the rain and the cold? The recent spell of blue skies has started me looking forward to spring, and for me, there's nothing quite so promising of warm, sunny days around the corner as sowing the first veggie seeds of the year. Have you done your broad beans yet? As the first seeds suitable for direct sowing, there's something lovely about this vegetable, something so satisfying about raking that seed bed or filling those pots and doing the first early sowing, dreaming of the glorious gardening days of spring and summer to come.
Broad beans are the first of the beans to crop - and with succesional sowing, will give you a long, productive harvest, from late spring until late summer. They're also one of the easiest beans to grow, as they will tolerate poor soil (though enrich the soil with well-rotted organic matter for best results). Add to that the facts that, with their nice chunkiness, they're good seeds for children to sow, and, with their sweetly scented flowers, they're good for attracting pollinators, and that they're nitrogen fixing, so they enrich the soil for future crops, and you have a good all rounder that's a pleasing addition to your pottager.
You can direct sow seeds in February. Sow 5cm (2in) deep, 20cm (8 in) apart. Dwarf varieties like the Sutton can be sown closer together, 15cm (6in) apart. I like this variety, as it's reliable both in terms of germination and cropping. Being a dwarf variety, it's also easier, as it's self-supporting, so doesn't need staking, and is less prone to wind damage.
Some people suggest sowing extra seeds to replace gaps left by any non germinators. To skip this additional step, I like to simply sow 2 or 3 seeds per plant. Non-germination is thus not a problem, and if all of the seeds germinate, you benefit from a lovely robust, chunky plant.
As an alternative to direct sowing, you can sow into small pots, either outside or under glass, in general purpose compost. This will bring the plant along more quickly, but if bringing them on under glass, be sure to harden them off (for 1 - 2 weeks) before planting outside, to toughen them up.
Water in after sowing and water generously throughout the plant's life. This is important during the warm, dry spells we enjoy over here, and is especially important during flowering and pod set (when the bean pod is forming), to encourage heavy cropping.
As such a useful vegetable for the kitchen (they're high in protein and fibre, are, of course lovely when eaten fresh, but also lend themselves well to freezing) I like to extend the cropping season with successional sowing. Do the next sowing when the previous plants have grown to 15cm (8in) high, and as you can sow all the way through spring, right up to July, you can do as many sowings as you like (I normally do 2 or 3).
The one downside to this plant is its susceptibility to pests and diseases, as it is prone to infestations by aphids and fungal infections of bean rust.
To guard against aphids, pinch out the growing tips to protect the young shoots. Pinch out the top 7.5 cm (3in) of the stems as the first pods start to form. Don't waste these tips though - they are excellent for eating - either raw or lightly steamed or sautéed. You can also try companion planting with Satureja hortensis (Summer Savory), a hardy annual herb, which is believed to repel blackfly when grown next to your beans. It has a mild, peppery taste, and is good for the digestion, reducing fevers and soothing bee stings. It also goes well with broad beans, so harvest and cook them together for a healthy, tasty dish. To treat a blackfly infestation you can spray the plants with diluted washing up liquid. Of course, be sure to wash the crops well before eating.
To guard against rust, be sure to adhere to the recommended spacing as this maximises air flow around the plants. Also avoid growing plants such as Lathyrus odoratus (sweet peas) nearby, as these are also prone to rust and could thus cause contamination. There are currently no effective fungicides for rust control on broad beans.
Your broad bean crop can be harvested approximately 10 weeks after sowing, when the beans begin to be visible through the pods. Some people double-pod the beans (peeling off each individual bean's shell after taking it out of the main pod). If you have the time and patience for this, you'll be eating the sweetest, most tender part of the bean, but if you can't quite be bothered with all that messing about, then just pick them young rather than leaving them to grow old and tough. Harvest from the base of the plants and work upwards and be careful not to uproot them as they have shallow root systems.
It may still be cold outside, but there's a hint of spring in the air - time to use up the last of those winter squashes - pasta primavera here we come!
