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Grow to eat: the broad bean gold rush starts this weekend

Pasta with fresh broad beans, asparagus and peas - www.alamy.com
Pasta with fresh broad beans, asparagus and peas - www.alamy.com

I started growing vegetables properly one cold winter in a tiny raised bed in our local community garden. The first seed I pushed into the soil was broad bean ‘Aquadulce Claudia’. When I finally ate them it was a revelation – how could this home-grown gold have been hidden from me? Little nuggets of green, tasting fresh and nutritious, warmed gently in butter, served with roasts or fish – nothing compares.

Sow broad beans now in small rows or a large pot in full sun. ‘Superaguadulce’ from sarahraven.com is perfect. They’re so easy to grow.  To direct energy to the beans, pinch out the tip of the plant when in flower. Watch out for blackfly and squash or wash them off.

Broad beans 'Masterpiece Green Long Pod' - Credit: gapphotos.com
Broad beans 'Masterpiece Green Long Pod' Credit: gapphotos.com

I aim for three sowings: ‘Aquadulce Claudia’ in October for early spring beans, a second sowing now of ‘Masterpiece Green Longpod’ (suttons.co.uk), followed by a third sowing in late March or April using leftover seed or another variety. 

I’m trialling ‘Oscar’ (thompson-morgan.com), a dwarf plant with big pods suitable for small spaces. It can be picked small to eat the whole shebang like mangetout. A magnet to colour, I should be drawn to ‘Crimson Flowered’ but the flowers and pods are too small for me. Ornamental value can’t come at the price of my lunch. 

Tedious preparation of the beans is the small price you pay for easy growing and flavour. Remove fully grown beans from the pod then, after boiling, pinch off the tough “jacket” around each bean. Picked younger, the jackets will be soft enough to eat, too.

Broad beans may not be glamorous on the plot but they’re heavenly on your plate. Join the gold rush, sow this weekend.

  • Find Jack’s Garden Blog of the Year at jack wallington.com. Follow him on Twitter  @jackwallington and Instagram @jackjjw