The Fava is King!

[PlainJane]

I’ve never come across Stereo but it sure sounds good.
We’ll have to do a tasting & rating next spring, lol!

[PlainJane]

I really don't like the taste or texture of favas (we call them broad beans over here) but the flowers are great forage for bees in spring so I am growing some anyway. We grow field beans over winter as a green manure but also to harvest the tender tips which are nice in salads.

Yes, I’ve noticed tons of bee activity once flowering starts, and the flowers are really interesting.

[GoDawgs]

I've just checked my daily weather data (it goes back to 1999) and there's no way I could plant favas in September here. Mostly mid 80's with occasional low 90's. By mid October the highs will generally moderate to mid 70's. They'd have to be done by end of April because after that Mr. Heat comes to stay.

As far as cold protection, January is the booger bear. This January we had eight days with lows ranging from 21 to 29 but in 2018 we had 19 days under 30 with 5 of those in the teens. It's a crap shoot what each year is going to be like. But I might pick up the dice next October.

[karstopography]

@GoDawgs Diana

‘Diana’ is a high-yielding variety of V. faba var. major.

Pods are three and a half to four inches long, produced on plants that are hardy to 10°F.

10° F, does it get that cold in Augusta, GA?

Also known as ‘Aquadulce,’ this cultivar of V. faba var. major bears eight- to nine-inch pods containing seven to eight tan-colored seeds each.

‘Aguadulce’ plants reach three to four feet in height, and are cold hardy to about 15°F.

I planted about 75 more fava bean seeds today, all windsor, my other fava beans have yet to arrive.

Most went into an unimproved area where diseased old water oak trees were taken down and the stumps largely ground up. Soil there is mostly loose, full of organic matter and plenty of partially decomposed wood chips and sawdust. Since these beans fix their own nitrogen, I thought whatever nitrogen the decomposing wood would rob from the soil the fava beans might be able to compensate with their ability to fix nitrogen.

I love experimenting like this! Plus, I’m out of room at the moment in the raised beds so the beans had no other place to go.

[worth1]

For a brief few weeks in Spring they show up fresh in grocery stores but other than that I only see dry.
Fresh are 1000% better tasting.

I was at a Mexican grocery yesterday and they had tons of the fresh ones in the fresh vegetables section.
6 something a pound.

[GoDawgs]

@GoDawgs Diana

‘Diana’ is a high-yielding variety of V. faba var. major.

Pods are three and a half to four inches long, produced on plants that are hardy to 10°F.

10° F, does it get that cold in Augusta, GA?

Thanks so much for the suggestions! I checked and saw just one 10° and that was back in Jan '14. Usually the coldest temps we get now and then will be in Jan or Feb and they're mostly in the 17-19 range. The coldest stretch we've had since 1999 was in Jan '10 with nine straight days of 18 and 19 lows. Highs got up to mid 50's except the last three days of that stretch which were around 32.

I will be trying these favas next fall!

Edited to add: I checked my usual seed sources. Didn't find Diana but did find another cold hardy one:

https://www.southernexposure.com/produc ... fava-bean/

[PlainJane]

@worth1 - that’s a crazy price!

[PlainJane]

While fava beans will survive and tolerate cold temps, in my experience the sweet spot for growth and flowering is 65-75.

Since it’s still pretty warm here mine have really taken off with initial growth.
If we have a cool January/February the plants will stall out a bit then take off again once temps are consistently hitting the 65-75 range. I’m harvesting over the month of March, typically.

[bower]

I still have favas in the field, and both Black Russian and Aquadulce survived our minor frosts so far. But in a few days time there will start to be temperatures below freezing at night. I looked at the pods still on these plants, some are already mature enough to be getting a bit brownish, and I wondered if they will still have the fresh quality vs really young ones.
I looked up preparation methods for dried vs fresh favas and it's about the same, you really have to remove that extra skin by blanching. I guess since I have already enough seed for planting, I may as well gather what we have left and blanch, skin, and freeze them.
Also wondering about the greens, since there are a few tops that look pretty pristine... Should these be cooked or do you also eat them raw?

[PlainJane]

@Bower, I’ve used a little of the tender greens in salads - similar to pea shoots. I’ve never cooked them actually!
Let us know how they taste if you try that.

[karstopography]

https://homesteadandchill.com/fava-bean ... to-recipe/

Fava bean greens pesto

[bower]

That's a great link, @karstopography with full instructions on harvesting the leaves too. Perfect!! I'm not sure if my couple of nice looking tops are still tender but since they're good raw, I guess I'll start with a nibble!

[PlainJane]

Too funny! I love Homestead and Chill and remember seeing that post!
I’ve gotten lots of garden ideas and tips and have made a few recipes like the Greek Zucchini Salad.

[karstopography]

Planted Stereo, KARMAZYN, Frog Island Nation, and Aquadulce Fava Beans today. The windsor fava beans planted on October 21st. are now a foot tall. The second crop of Windsor Fava beans planted on the 31st are about half as tall. Weather here has turned much cooler so I suspect the growth rate will really slow down. I think I’m done for 2022 planting Favas.

[bower]

Last night I shucked and skinned our little crop of favas. I could see there was a big difference in the firmness of mature beans vs green ones. I omitted any that had actually dried and shrunken a bit in the pod, kept them for seed. So the mature ones were fully colored and firm but not dry. I decided to put them in the boiling water together and then separate them into two groups for cooking. The green ones were obviously very tender while the mature ones were starchy and a bit harder to peel. That included many of the beans that were just partly colored. I can see they'll take a bit more cooking too. Anyway I froze enough of each to make a taster's meal for myself and my mom, to see what we think of them. I didn't have enough Aquadulce to try separately and decide what I think of the varieties this time, so I'm looking forward to hear your reviews.
The greens have a nice beany flavor when nibbled raw, but also a bitter finish somewhat like arugula - I wasn't sure if this was due to the temperature stresses or a natural condition, but there weren't really enough for a pesto recipe so it will have to wait for another year.

[karstopography]

538E7628-06C5-47E1-90B9-B7278D5BF3BB.jpeg

C64B0A0D-45BC-4212-9F25-8DC5A0795D43.jpeg

E2B4B8D9-E026-4AA7-886E-35040977644C.jpeg

Some of the Windsor Fava beans. Planted the ones in the raised bed October 21st. I watered them with a hose as it got pretty dry here while I was gone for a week plus. They bent over with the water, but seem to be straightening out.

The others pictured were planted October 31st where a couple of oaks were chopped down and the stumps ground up. There are a few more scattered around in various raised beds. I planted maybe 100 more seeds yesterday in the ground up stump location.

[PlainJane]

@karstopography you should have a great fava harvest!

[karstopography]

Finally getting sprouting of the beans I planted November 12th. That tells the truth on how cold things have been here since I planted the seeds. Thirteen days to germinate for this latest bunch versus 7-8 days previously. But, the ones already up from the earlier plantings look good and are gradually getting taller.

[karstopography]

2015BE7D-5655-43FF-A821-728174FFFCCE.jpeg

193B8665-A140-465D-92FB-02B7B000EB12.jpeg

Favas seemingly enjoying the virgin garden spot. Nothing has been planted in these spaces where 3 trees were removed and their stumps ground up. Plenty of nitrogen robbing sawdust, but the beans look nice and green. A perennial wild vining bean grows nearby so the soil is likely already charged with the inoculation bacteria legumes thrive on.

Light here is at its worst now with the low winter angle and leafy tree tops coming into play filtering the light for much of the day, but some of the trees are now losing their leaves and with that and once we pass the solstice things will start to greatly improve. By mid -February into March, this will be almost full sun all day.

[karstopography]

F481414E-43F5-4D92-B31B-156DAA172E80.jpeg

DA5B386A-8E9A-41C6-9B3D-9EB4AABBAE78.jpeg

My surviving Windsor Fava beans from the late December arctic air incursion are setting some beans.

These get a little wilted when the temperature creeps above 80°, but I’m careful to keep them moist and they bounce back. Upcoming 14 days is trending a bit cooler so that should keep them happy.

I’ll definitely plant fava again just for the looks.