EDIBLEharvt
by Elizabeth Olson
The first beans of the garden year are fava beans. Unlike the beans of summer, fava beans thrive in the cool weather of spring. Fava beans are legumes. They are sometimes called broad beans. The beans grow in long pods that form soon after the plants flower. Fresh fava beans are ready to harvest in 65 to 75 days. The pods contain from four to nine beans, depending on the cultivar. Large-seeded fava bean cultivars are grown as annual vegetables and are marketed for that purpose. They have been selected for the size, tenderness, and sweet, nutty flavor of their beans. 8
WASHINGTON GARDENER DECEMBER 2018
Small-seeded cultivars, called bell beans, are grown as cover crops for soil protection and enrichment. The scientific name for fava beans is Vicia faba. They belong to the pea family and are frost-tolerant. The plants are easily started from seed and grow well in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Culinary Uses and Preparation
Fava beans are high in dietary fiber. They are also a source of protein, several B vitamins, Vitamin K, and minerals including iron, zinc, phosphorous, magnesium, and manganese. Fresh fava beans have many culinary
Fresh fava beans are ready for harvesting when the pods swell. Photo courtesy of ReneesGarden.com.
Fabulous Fresh Fava Beans
uses and are often used in soups, stews, salads, and pasta dishes. Other uses include preparing them as a side dish or substituting them for lima beans in recipes. Lance Frazon, general manager of John Scheeper’s Kitchen Garden Seeds, recommends using fresh fava beans as a topping on bruschetta, paired with goat cheese, garlic, basil, and olive oil. Plump, fresh fava beans have an outer covering that is tough, so the beans are skinned before use. “The shelled beans must be skinned, unless eaten very young,” said Frazon. “To skin them, parboil for one minute, cool, then pinch them so that the bean pops out of its skin.”
Availability and Recommended Cultivars
Garden centers rarely sell seedlings of fava bean plants, but usually have seeds for one or two cultivars for sale starting in mid-winter. Seeds for more cultivars are available from seed companies online. Two of the most widely available and well-regarded cultivars for fresh fava beans are ‘Broad Windsor’ and ‘Aquadulce’. Both cultivars are heirlooms and grow from 3 to 4 feet tall. ‘Broad Windsor’ produces extra-large beans that are sometimes almost 1-inch across. There are usually five to six beans per pod. ‘Aquadulce’ produces large beans that are a very palegreen color. The number of beans per pod varies from five to eight. Other fine cultivars include the openpollinated ‘Supersette’ and ‘Robin Hood’. ‘Supersette’ is an Italian cultivar that grows to 6 feet tall and has to be staked. The pods are very long and contain up to nine large beans. Seeds are available at KitchenGardenSeeds. com. ‘Robin Hood’ is an English cultivar that produces large beans early in the season. Most pods contain four to six large beans. The plants are stocky, growing 2 to 3 feet tall. Seeds for ‘Robin Hood’ are available at ReneesGarden.com. Fresh fava beans are generally a light-green color, but the seeds of one cultivar start to develop purple coloring as they mature. The cultivar is ‘Extra
