Fabulous Fresh Fava Beans

Fabulous Fresh Fava Beans

by Elizabeth Olson

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.

The first beans of the garden year are fava beans. Unlike the beans of summer, fava beans thrive in the cool weather of spring.

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.

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 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

Precoce a Grano Violetto’ and it is offered by Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds at RareSeeds.com. The plants grow from 3 to 4 feet tall and produce pods containing from five to six large beans.

Fresh fava beans are ready for harvesting when the pods swell.

Photo courtesy of ReneesGarden.com.

How to Grow and Harvest Fresh Fava Beans

The harvest season for fava beans is relatively brief, and the seeds have to be planted as soon as the ground can be worked in early spring. Fava bean plants require full sun and fertile soil that has good drainage. The soil should have a slightly acidic to neutral pH. Fava bean plants benefit from crop rotation.

Gardeners who have experience in growing peas will find that fava beans share their general cultural requirements, including the need for consistent moisture levels in the soil.

However, fava bean plants need more space between them—from 10 to 12 inches apart—and more space between rows—from 24 to 36 inches apart. Some seed companies recommend planting seeds much closer. When the seeds sprout, the seedlings will have to be thinned. This allows for good air circulation and ease of maintenance and harvesting.

Fava bean seeds should be planted from 1 to 2 inches deep, lightly tamped down, watered, and lightly covered with mulch. It will take at least one week for the seeds to sprout, and longer if the soil is very cool.

The plants will grow quickly once they sprout. They are light feeders because they provide some of their own nitrogen through Rhizobia bacteria-filled nodules on their roots. If necessary, the plants may be fertilized with a moderate amount of an all-purpose organic vegetable fertilizer. Irrigation to supplement rainfall can be supplied with a soaker

hose or drip irrigation, and the garden bed should be kept mulched and free of weeds. Maintenance and harvesting ought to be avoided when the plants are wet, to help prevent the spread of diseases.

Although some cultivars produce plants that mature at a short height, all fava bean plants require some sort of support to protect them from strong winds and storms. Methods include stringing wires on both sides of a row between poles on each end, staking or trellising tall plants, and growing short plants in tomato cages.

Fava beans planted in rows.

Photo courtesy of Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, RareSeeds.com.

Fava bean plants are prone to getting aphids, mainly on their growing tips. The easiest ways to handle an infestation of aphids are to blast them off with water from a garden hose or pinch off the tender growing tips where the aphids are in high numbers.

Fresh fava beans are ready to harvest as soon as their pods swell and are well-filled from the stem end to the flower end. The pods can be clipped off the plants with either parrot-beaked garden shears or kitchen shears. It is important to harvest pods every few days so the plants continue to produce flowers before the weather becomes warm in late spring.

For best texture and flavor, the beans should be consumed soon after being harvested. Whole pods can be kept in the refrigerator for one to two days.

While the harvesting season ends too soon, the good news is that surplus fresh fava beans can be frozen after they have been blanched and skinned so they can be enjoyed throughout the off-season.

It is easy to pop open a fava bean pod and remove the fresh beans.

Photo of ‘Robin Hood’ cultivar courtesy of ReneesGarden.com.

Savoring Fava Beans

The herb summer savory (Satureja hortensis) is featured in some fava bean recipes, and fresh savory is difficult to find in stores. Seedlings are often available in the herb section of garden centers by mid-spring. Savory can also be started from seed. This herb is easy to grow in kitchen gardens and is especially well-suited to containers.

Gardeners sometimes find savory to be temperamental. For best results, the whole plant should be harvested just before it starts to bloom.

About the Author:

Elizabeth Olson is a Maryland Certified Professional Horticulturist. She is also an avid home gardener who is fascinated by the plants that she grows. She can be contacted through Washington Gardener magazine.