Nick, I had some of my fava plants just turn blackish little by little. I harvested what I could, but noticed plants in another garden did not get black. I wondered if it was a disease of some sort but could find nothing online about it. Too bad, I love favas with garlic and olive oil!

I'm going to try growing a small batch for a fallcrop. Never did, but hey, why not.

The leaves always turn black when they are done producing. My little fava patch was a bust this year, germination problems, black aphid infestation and all. Still have some survivors out there, sometimes they will sprout new growth once the temps cool down and give you some beans in the fall.

Ray, mine weren't done producing and they were turning black. Not a lot of information on the net that I could find on growing fava beans. I had those black aphids too, ugh! They killed my planter full of nasturtiums on the deck too, but never touched the ones in ground. Go figure.

Do you cover your fava plants in order to save seeds from a plant and prevent cross polination? I wonder how to do it, maybe a simple mosquito mesh would do.. I had some fava beans "Ianto's return" this year, this was a mix, and I had not cover plants:/ Now I've collected seeds and each plant had different ones. I really regret not covering them, because I would like to work on some of it as "lines", and I don't know if they are crossed:/
My favas trial 2012
[img]http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg822/scaled.php?server=822&filename=19027484.jpg&res=landing[/img]
I have 2 other plants ..latest ones.Oone have light lavender beans, and the second produced only 1 bean, still not ready to pick.

oh my goodness you sure do have a lot of fava varieties there! It seems when I look around I only see the same few over and over again.

Just about to order my Fava Beans for cover-crop and harvest this Fall/Winter/early-Spring season. I'd really like to find the Red/Crimson-Fava/Broad bean variety, but it appears to only be available in the U.K. or other such provinces. If anyone knows of a source, I'd greatly appreciate a pointing in the right direction.
Thanks,
Naysen

I live favas but haven't ever tried them, since AZ is not the best place to grow them. I will definitely grow them once we move to North Carolina, along with lots more Lima beans, which is another favorite at my house.
I bought some dehydrated favas from the Asian market and I'd love to be able to make them. Not sure if they were just dried or deep fried, as they were tender, crispy and wonderful.
Favas are also such a pretty plant. I live pretty plants in my garden!

Love favas but what doesn't get destroyed by black aphids seemed to get destroyed by the mild detergent solution used to try to control the aphids (both the homemade version and a store-bought version). Love the flowers and plants though...but never again for me.

I planted half of my fava bean plants into the garden today.
[IMG]http://garden.lofthouse.com/images/beans/fava-2015-03-07.jpg[/IMG]

I saved half for planting into a different field next week.
[IMG]http://garden.lofthouse.com/images/beans/fava-2015-03-07a.jpg[/IMG]

I may also direct seed some next week.
[IMG]http://garden.lofthouse.com/images/beans/favas-1st-2014.jpg[/IMG]

As is typical for me, these are a breeding project.. I am also trialing a couple new varieties this year. However most of the seed came from plants that have already grown in my garden for one or two generations. Many plants the last few years didn't even produce seeds, so they self-eliminated. But some did OK. I usually consider the third year of a breeding project to be the magical year. That would be this year. Fingers Crossed!

I dont think ive ever tasted a fava bean.

[QUOTE=Stvrob;455498]I dont think ive ever tasted a fava bean.[/QUOTE]

I have one time and to me they taste weird.
Then with that movie Silence of the Lambs and the reference to them and human meat did it for me.:no:
Every time I think of one I think of the other.
[url]http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCAQ3ywwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DiVlkZVAw8Gc&ei=37n7VOnRHMWeggTisYL4Dw&usg=AFQjCNFdmovaOsv2QPriL10kMhB4O8FU1A&sig2=Z8yCdC1J-5VPxRDNo5_v6w&bvm=bv.87611401,d.eXY&cad=rja[/url]


Worth

[QUOTE=Worth1;455499]I have one time and to me they taste weird.
Then with that movie Silence of the Lambs and the reference to them and human meat did it for me.:no:
Every time I think of one I think of the other.
[url]http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCAQ3ywwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DiVlkZVAw8Gc&ei=37n7VOnRHMWeggTisYL4Dw&usg=AFQjCNFdmovaOsv2QPriL10kMhB4O8FU1A&sig2=Z8yCdC1J-5VPxRDNo5_v6w&bvm=bv.87611401,d.eXY&cad=rja[/url]


Worth[/QUOTE]

Nasty! Im going to have to consider my life complete without them I think.

Liver...Yuk!
Fava Beans...YUM!

I read all through this thread and I see where you say they attract the Black Aphids. Took me forever to get rid of them the one time I had mums I had thousands of them. But I read where you say you just pinch the tops of the plants off. Do the black aphids not hang around on the rest of the plant?

Joseph.. Looking good there. I hope your experiment works out. I'll be anxious to see what new food you have produced. : ) You always have such nice and unusual looking landrace crosses.

These are the same favas that were planted into the garden 6 weeks ago.

[IMG]http://garden.lofthouse.com/images/beans/fava-flowers-2015-04-19.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://garden.lofthouse.com/images/beans/fava-crimson-flowered.jpg[/IMG]