Karl Warner wrote:
I live in southwest Washington State, seacoast, USDA zone 8. This summer I
planted a dozen fava beans out of curiosity. Never grown them before, don't
recall ever seeing them before. The bush beans and pole beans are now long
gone but the favas appear to be in full stride. Each stalk has a cluster of
7 to 8 pods of all sizes tho most are the size of sausages! By feel the
beans inside are the size of grapes. How long are these things likely to
keep growing? Are they a cool season crop? They don't look like they are
ready to pick. Should I just wait until the pods turn brown and then shell
them? How to eat them will be yet another new experience.
-- Karl Warner (in a grove of pine trees, in the lee of a dune)

Eaten fresh, they are excellent. Cook them as you would peas, they cook
fairly
quickly for their size (if fresh. If dried, long cooking). I saute a
little garlic in oil, then
add the favas, stock, seasonings, parsley, and cook until tender. They
are a crop that you should
plant in october, because they survive the winter in Zone 7, but do not
like hot summer
conditions where they get attacked by all sorts of pests. My favas, for
example,
this summer keeled over and begged out but for winter zone 8 they are
just perfect.
They also condition your soil very well. They break clay (they love
clay), and they leave
enough nitrogen you should not need to fertilize for the warm season
crops.

Shell them when the pods start to change color and thickness, just like
regular beans. Man,
they are one of two or three zone 8 crops I really miss. Michigan just
is not their place.