Broad Beans - plant now?

Hi pete,

Just had a check through my gardening notes and the cultivars that I've tried have included Perla (Green beans and great flavour) and Medes (White beans and it cropped well). I'm trying Aquadulce and Masterpiece Green Longpod this year. I was very happy with the taste of all the beans that I have tried. I tend to swap and change a bit, just for the interest of trying new varieties.

I suspect we may be straying off thread here!

 

@pete I found Aquadulce to be good for flavour, I pick the beans fairly young, if they get too big the skin gets tough.

 

Some time later...




Worth it just for the fragrance alone!

 

Thanks for your post misterQ. They look great! When was the photo taken? I've got Aquadulce outside now and standing at about 12" in height. I started them in root trainers, which proved very successful. It may be a tight squeeze to get two crops into the season though! I'll maybe start in the autumn of this year, this time.

 

The photo was taken on the 28th March, a day before posting.

The bumble bees were out early so I should be expecting the flowers to die back and revealing tiny pods in their place soon.

 

I was taking minimal preventative measures against blackfly by placing a mature hybrid lavender next to the beans and it worked...




But, the crafty blighters congregated at the opposite corner furthest away from the lavender.




So, I took remedial action (the less favourable option, preventative is better) by placing pots of lavender and mint at the opposite corner. However, at the time, the lavender cuttings had just taken root and the mint was just about in leaf so spraying with dilute washing up liquid was also needed.

This slowed the blighters down a little but they have now reached critical mass where they are beginning to encroach on the mature lavender.


The good news is that...


it won't matter...


because:





Because they will all be harvested within the next two weeks.

Boil the whole pods in salt water, leave to cool then pop them open and eat them like snacks - that's the way I like them.

 

Thanks for the update misterQ. I'm in awe! I'll go for an October 2017 sowing of my Aquadulce beans this year and hope to squeeze two crops in next year. My early 2017 sowing is doing well with pods developing nicely now and, touch wood, no sign of blackfly so far.