Broad beans

With a week of high pressure giving us glorious sunny days we decided to get into the vegetable garden and sow some broad beans.  Very hardy, and very tasty, broad beans can be sown in some of the harshest conditions so we felt quite safe to get them in the ground now.

Valenciana, a variety new to us was chosen and we sowed them at 20cm intervals at a depth of about 6cm.  Plantings in pots, root-trainer style pots, or even toilet rolls can be done now in the green house and the plants hardened off before being planted out in about 6 weeks time.  Earlier sowings can also be made well before Christmas.  In that case a very deep sowing, almost a spade's depth, gives the young plants plenty of protection from the cold and the ability to reshoot if conditions become too harsh.  Some of the taller varieties may need staking especially in exposed sites.

Now all we have to do is sit back and dream of those delicious beans in our summer salads.