Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
What to do with fava beans?
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. |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Empty Fava Bean pods | Gardening | |||
Fava bean pods not developing -- any idea why? | Gardening | |||
Runner Beans, lots of flowers but no beans | United Kingdom | |||
Fava beans not producing fruits | Gardening | |||
when can i plant fava beans in Florida? | Gardening |