It was a great year for fava beans in my garden. They are finally getting locally-adapted, and I'm learning how to grow them.

Here's what I saved for seed next year: A few seeds from each type of bean.

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

Joseph,

Does locally-adapted mean your fava strains tolerate heat and drought better? Others have mentioned in the earlier posts that fava beans prefer evenly moist soil.

Those look great, Joseph!

[QUOTE=Aerial;523909]Does locally-adapted mean your fava strains tolerate heat and drought better? Others have mentioned in the earlier posts that fava beans prefer evenly moist soil.[/QUOTE]

Basically, yes.

I don't have drought in my garden, because I irrigate the clayish soil once a week. But I do have very low humidity.

The first year I planted fava beans, they flowered like crazy all summer, but didn't make any seeds. The next year I planted a larger, more genetically diverse patch, and about 20% of the plants produced a few seeds. The third year, about 60% of the plants produced seeds for me. Last year, around 90% of the plants produced seeds. So I think that I have finally selected for a locally-adapted strain that doesn't mind the summer heat so much. I think that it also helps that I have transplants ready to go into the ground the day after the winter snow-cover melts. I have also been selecting for volunteers that germinate under the snow.

Hi, I am just popping back in here, sorry to abandon ypu all but I have been off lien mostly due to an illness in the family.

Re the black aphids if anyone else is still reading this. They feed on the new growth which will be the top 3 or 4 inches of the plant. you can give them a really heavy blast with the hose ot pinch off the tops including the aphids . The plants will be fine. It is always the same with broadies(favas) but they really want to grow so the bugs shouldn't stop them if you are ready with the hose.

Joseph great pictures... great harvest too.

I have a variety that I have grown for many years which is different to any commercial ones now, the beans are very large. I guess they have adapted to me although I have grown them in three different countries over the years.. so maybe they are friendly beans too !!.

XX Jeannine..

I used to grow several local Favas:

Russkie Chyornye (Russian Black - old local heirloom with more than 100 years history and dark-purple almost black seeds),
[IMG]http://www.udec.ru/images/0304-048.jpg[/IMG]

Belorusskie (Belarusian - one more local heirloom, but with light-brown seeds)
[IMG]http://www.udec.ru/images/0304-049.jpg[/IMG]

Karmazyn (with nice pinkish-red to red-brown seeds, from Poland)
[IMG]http://www.gadar.pl/images/bobka.PNG[/IMG]

Lovely, do you still grow them

[QUOTE=Jeannine Anne;546142]Lovely, do you still grow them[/QUOTE]

Yes) But usually 1 variety in one season...

Yes me too, today was my day for starting them and I am still puzzling about it. I haven't bought new seed for a while so my choice is limited but I made a pledge to mysel this year that I wouldn't get anything I didn't really need till I had used some up.

My choices are

Aquadulce
Crimson Flowered
Grand Violetto

or the one I have grown for years that has changed over the years in my garden which has no name, the seeds are very very big now and a dark brown. It started many years ago when I did grow several varieties together, one year I planted all I had about 5 varieties I believe as the seeds were old. I only kept seeds from one because they were the biggest and I intended to use them as dry beans but the next year I grew them for curiosity and they were a little different from the commercial one , I kept them going and they have just got used to me I think, anyway those are my choices

XX Jeannine

I have some fava beans growing in a couple gardens. I intended to grow them as just a cover crop, but I started my tomato seeds late, so I'll probably be able to harvest favas before turning them in.

So I'm wondering: how long does it take from flowers to edible beans?

Hi, I don't know in your area but someone else might

In my garden, the pods develop quickly. You want to let the seeds get to be full size before picking them, habitat_gardener.

Andrey_BY , those colors are gorgeous!

Oh dear. This is a bean I would LOVE to love: it grows well in my country and supposedly has so many nutrients... But...
No matter how many times I have tried, I just cannot get the beans soft enough and make the hulls come off easily... We have tried several times in my family and finally gave up - no amount of cooking makes these anything worth eating :no:

Such a shame, as this is an old heirloom vegetable grown in Finland for centuries (just as it is grown all over Europe).. The stomach upset just isn't worth it.

So I gladly accept defeat in this and happily eat imported beans - kidney beans, chick peas, large white ones... delicious and easily digested!

Hi,

I'm off to a slow start this year and wondering if it's too late to start some fava beans. I'm in the CA central valley and it's already tee-shirt weather. Will the beans not produce in warm weather or taste bitter or ?. Or will they produce OK if given enough water and shade, etc. (Will have silver mulch on the soil that Johnny's claims keeps the soil 2-6 degrees cooler).

Thanks!
Anne

My fava beans have started flowering.

Crimson flowered fava.
[IMG]http://garden.lofthouse.com/images/beans/crimson-fava-2016-05-03a.jpg[/IMG]

Looking good, real good,mine are only about 10 inches high, but they are growing steadily.

Andrey, what beautiful beans!

Whoops! I just woke up and realized that the Broad Beans should have been planted already. It's a bit chilly/windy here today, but I could plant them tomorrow.

Do you guys soak them overnight?

Linda

I do, in a shallow pan. I also have started them inside early to plant out and get a jump on the season if the weather is really cold.

I like to plant favas in pots about 3 weeks before the winter snowcover typically melts. Then I plant them out a few days after the snow melts. That way they can be flowering before hot weather arrives. Cause around here, once it gets hot, the favas flower, but don't set seeds.

I would love to trade something for some Crimson fava beans if anybody is willing.

Thanks folks. I soaked them and will get them planted today.

I was reading about those pretty Crimson Fava's which apparently flower all summer long! They sound beautiful and amazing!

Linda

BTW, my seeds came from the Canadian Seed Swap and are labelled "Broad Bean of Gravia". Unfortunately, I can find no information about them online.

Linda

Gravia carries with it the meaning of heavy or serious... So in this context I would take it to mean something like: "Wow those are some serious beans!", "Yup, they are really heavy!!!" And in Latin languages (like French, which is spoken in Quebec), the adjective often follows the noun, so in other words, they are "great big Broad Beans", and not smaller kinds of favas like "horse beans", or "pigeon beans".

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

Hi Joseph,

Many thanks for the comment about the "serious" beans. Hoping to find out exactly how good they are this summer! :cute:

Linda

[QUOTE=joseph;557939]My fava beans have started flowering.

Crimson flowered fava.
[IMG]http://garden.lofthouse.com/images/beans/crimson-fava-2016-05-03a.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]

Wow those are so beautiful ! I got so overwhelmed with aphids I have not grown them for a few years. Maybe I'll try a fall crop.

[QUOTE=lakelady;558499]Wow those are so beautiful ! I got so overwhelmed with aphids I have not grown them for a few years. Maybe I'll try a fall crop.[/QUOTE]

The first time I grew favas, I planted them in June, 3 months too late, and there were more aphids and tending ants than there were plants!!! Thanks for the fond memories.

Nadia, you are a page back but I hope you see this..You said you had a problem cooking them, could you explain to me what you do and maybe I can figure out what is going wrong

XX Jeannine

[QUOTE=joseph;558557]The first time I grew favas, I planted them in June, 3 months too late, and they were more aphids and tending ants than they were plants!!! Thanks for the fond memories.[/QUOTE]

haha, I believe it. Aphids love my yard and always go for the things I love the most.

My beans are about 3 years old, are they still good? I've heard favas are short lived seeds.

I have sown 4 year olds this year with great germination, home saved seed.

I generally only grow one variety per year so sometimes I get a bit anxious as they are getting on.

I have one that I have grown for many years, I don't even know it's name ,the bean is huge, it actually seems to have got bigger over time and I suspect that it has crossed at some point a long time ago, but it is a few years since I grew it. I think I should sow a few in a corner somewhere..just in case

XX Jeannine