The Sutton grows only about 12" (30cm) high, making it an excellent choice for smaller gardens, hoop houses, and anywhere space is at a premium. The Imperial Green Longpod produces huge 15" (40cm) pods, each containing several big beans and are noted for their flavor. Stero are compact plants that produce heavily if picked regularly. The Stero beans are so sweet they can be eaten without cooking. Red Epicure produce vibrant red beans that can offer a distinctive and exotic alternative to regular favas or broad beans. Aquadulce Claudia has been around since the 1850s, winning awards for its flavor and hardiness. This variety is noted for being particularly good to overwinter. Plant Aquadulce Claudia in the winter or late autumn.
Temperate zones: In most regions, you’ll want to start broad beans in the early spring to ensure a late summer harvest. Broad beans like to be planted between 60℉ and 65℉ (15-18℃), and struggle in temperatures higher than 80℉ (27℃). Warm Mediterranean climates: Let plants winter-over in areas with mild winters. Fava beans can stay healthy down to temperatures of about 15 °F (−9 °C), making them a good candidate for overwintering in some climates. Because of the long maturation period, planting broad beans in late autumn can ensure that you’re harvesting in early spring. Cold or very hot zones: Start beans indoors in regions with sudden shifts in temperature. If you live in the American Midwest or the Southeast, the transition from winter to summer is often sudden enough that it puts a strain on broad bean varieties, making it a better choice to start your plants indoors, several weeks before putting them in the ground.
Pick a spot with good sun, away from any plants in the onion family, tilling the ground in the area you’re planting several inches deep and working in compost.
Wet the seeds lightly and put them in a coffee can or a cup with the inoculant, then shake them gently to coat the seeds evenly before planting. Do this just a few minutes before you’re ready to put the seeds in the ground.
Use your finger to poke a hole about 2" (5 cm) deep in the ground. Place them 8" (20 cm) apart in double rows, with the same distance between the two rows. If you’re planting a variety known for growing quite large, you might plant them with a bit more space between. Find the dark spot–the “eye” of the seed–and plant it downward. Some gardeners recommend planting twice as many seeds as you want plants, to allow for non-germinating seeds. [1] X Research source
Stand the tubes in the tray, fitting snugly. Fill the tubes ⅔ to ¾ full with potting soil. You’ll probably spill some in between, but don’t worry about the mess. Place one bean on top of the soil in each tube. If you have already germinated the seeds by soaking, place the seed root-down. Water the tubes gently from the top to compact the soil a bit, then fill each tube with a little more soil, covering the beans. Keep the tray at room temperature until the beans sprout, then move the tray to a sunny place. Cool temperatures are fine, just as long as the temperature doesn’t dip too much below freezing for long.
Use small dowels spaced every foot or two along the row, with twine tied between, to give the plants something to lean on. You can use twine, or old strips of bed-sheet to gently tie the plants and keep them upright and keep the pods off the ground. Don’t wait until you’ve got a huge plant and it’s flopping over to stake them. It’s very easy to damage the roots and promote mildew if the plant spends too much time flopped over on the ground before getting staked up.
Avoid overhead watering, which is watering the tops of the plants and letting it drip down into the soil. This will promote mildew and other problems. Water the soil.
Pinch out the growing tips when you see young beans appearing at the base. Remove the tips with two leaves attached from the tops of the plants. If you don’t want to eat them, compost them.
Row covers can also be a great idea if you’re planting in the autumn, because it will help trap the heat near the ground and protect the plants from frost. If you use a row cover, leave the rows uncovered for a while in the middle of the day, maybe while you’re weeding to let the air circulate more readily. Watch for fungal disease and wet rot at the base of the plants. If you see any whitish or yellowish patches, water them less and expose the plants to more air.
Look for a narrow pod that’s bright green. The pods should be thin and narrow, showing none of the bulges that are the sign of mature beans on the inside. If beans are showing, let them mature fully. Don’t over-pick your young beans, since the full-grown variety is where the flavor’s at. It’s ok to pick a few from each plant if you can’t wait, but save the majority for full maturation.
Depending on what variety you’re growing, pods can be anywhere from 6 to 15 inches long, with several large, fat beans on the inside, with several pods per plant. If you pick them regularly throughout the season, you should open up space for more production as well, if you’re had a good growing season, weather-wise.
Again, depending on the variety, each bean should have 5-10 large beans in each pod, which have a thick waxy shell that needs removed before eating. It takes some work, but getting organized can help to make the process go fast. [2] X Research source The easiest way to do this is to blanch them, dropping the beans in boiling water for a count of five, then removing them immediately with a slotted spoon and putting them right into ice water. This will loosen the shells on each bean.
