March 2, 2011

Fava or broad bean

Vicia fabaImage via WikipediaUp Plants A-Z

Field bean = Vicia faba

This is one of my favorite crops to grow. Ah, how nice and sweet their flowers smell! When the winter is long and you're waiting for spring and you can finally jump into your garden, this is one of the first vegetables you can start with. They can handle frost so you can sow them already in February, in a greenhouse or inside in front of a window to plant them out later, or directly outside. With this plant, you have very little risk that things go wrong. Don't use fresh manure and apply the tips below. For my special Dutch speaking friend who is interested in gardening: the Dutch name is: tuinboon.


Articles

Medicinal properties
Sowing distance
  • 4 x 30 inch - 10 x 80 cm
Recipes
Seed time
  • III-IV (it is possible to sow them in late autumn)
  • Broad bean plants started under glass or over-wintered in a protected location are ready for harvest in mid-spring.
Tips
  • Sow together with dill against blackfly
  • Take out the tops when the plant is blossoming. This will prevent blackfly to eat up your plants. You can stir fry the tops in hot oil or butter. Very delicious!
  • The field bean subspecies is an excellent plant for green manure
Videos


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