How to Grow Broad Beans

Broad Beans
Remains of Broad Beans have been found in Israel which date back to 6,500 BC. This makes the humble bean one of the earliest vegetables to be cultivated.

They are extremely easy to grow and produce a crop as early as mid-June. Useful, because not many vegetables are available in the garden at that time of year.

Fresh broad beans are extremely nutritious and high in protein. The Egyptians believed that when a person died his soul temporarily resided in a broad bean prior to passing into the next life.

BROAD BEANS QUICK GUIDE

Latin Name
Vicia Faba

Type
Hardy annual.

Site and Soil
Good draining soil. Full sun

Plant to Harvest Time
14 weeks.

Yield
Average of 5kg (11lb) for each 3m (10ft) row.

Favism
Favism is a disease where the intake of some beans (Broad beans included) cause the red blood cells to die quicker than normal. Around 20% of the population of Africa have this condition as do many of the Mediterranean population.
Click here for a site that explains this disease in much more detail.

SOIL AND SITE
Broad Beans are very tolerant of the soil they grow in. They prefer a deep free draining soil. Most soils however are perfectly adequate for broad beans although they will not stand being water-logged.

They prefer a sunny site which is not exposed to high winds. Most varieties will grow to about 1.2m (4ft) and they form a dense barrier of foliage. So consider the impact that the shade they will cast will have on plants growing nearby.

HOW TO SOW SEED
Broad beans are very frost hardy and will germinate in a soil temperature as low as 2�C (35�F). Sowing time is around late March in . However if your soil is free draining they can sown in early autumn when the weather is cooling down. This will give a crop about three weeks earlier than a spring sowing.

A week or so before sowing the seed add a nitrogen feed to the soil. Although Broad Beans produce their own nitrogen in little nodules along the roots, this does not happen until the plants begin to grow strongly. So a little extra nitrogen at the beginning will get them off to a good start.

Dig out a drill in the soil to a depth of 6cm (2in) and 20cm (8in) wide. Sow the seed in two rows, one row down one side of the drill, the other row down the other side. Each bean in a row should be spaced 25cm (10in) apart from the next bean. The simple diagram below illustrates.

If more than one double row is required, leave 60cm (2ft) between each double row. Cover the beans with the soil and water in well if conditions are dry.

NEXT PAGE, BROAD BEAN VARIETIES