WITH autumn-sown varieties ready now, and even certain seed varieties started off this week managing to crop come September, the humble broad bean (aka fava bean) has more growing potential than you might think. Here’s how to make sure you are getting the most from your selections.
Grow a bean feast
If you’re like me, you’ll be eyeing up a bed of autumn-sown ‘Aquadulce Claudia’. But there is still time to sow and plant broad beans if you choose the right variety.
There are four main types of broad bean: Seville (autumn-sown types), longpod (such as ‘Exhibition Longpod’, with seven or so seeds per pod), Windsors (such as ‘Green Windsor’, the standard spring-sowing types); and fan-podded (such as ‘The Sutton’, with multiple pods on compact plants).
Seed colour varies, too. Green-seeded varieties like ‘Imperial Green Longpod’ are, by some (not me) claimed to be tastier than white-seeded types such as ‘Witkiem Manita’. OthersEpicure’ and ‘Karmazyn’) yield eye-catching red beans. Look out for the heritage variety ‘Crimson Flowered’, too.
