Every garden I’ve seen lately has a big patch of healthy looking broad beans. They would have to be one of the number one crops for this area as you can plant them when the rain really starts (sometimes having to wait till June) and harvest when it starts to dry up. They are always a great cover crop so we plant more than we can eat and use the rest goes to green manure.
Now it’s harvest time though, and eating them young is so good. If you wait till they are big, they get chewy and floury (but still perfectly edible) but right now just make sure they are big enough that the kernels have formed. Peeling your harvest is a good job to do with a friend as it does take a while but it’s worth it.
We had our first big broad bean feast the other night sautéed and simmered with butter, garlic,onions, salt and pepper……….they were so good! They are great raw, tossed through a salad or simmered in a tomato sauce and tossed through pasta. Really at this stage you can do just about anything with broad beans and they are delicious, it’s when you leave them too long that you have to be creative.
Don’t forget to leave some for seed.
Nutritional info….good fibre, potassium, Vitamin E and C
