broad beans

[Brenjon]

I have a good crop of beans (The Sutton ) Pods well filled but only maximum of 5 beans per pod. is this usual for this variety and if so could anyoner recommend one with a pod that sets more beans in it. I prefer a small growing variety like The Sutton if posible
Regards Brenjon

[Geoff]

I only grow tall ones these days as the short green bean variety I used to grow has disappeared but I think everything is in proportion, small plants = small pods.

[Compo]

I helped a friend today to shell his beans he could not remember the variety but I think they were weikens? He had a lot of misformed / small and blind pods.

On the other hand I chose Bunyard's exhibition. fat pods five or six and sometimes seven to a pod, fat and fully formed, taste good too!!

CoMpO

[richard p]

we podded 3 bags of masterpiece green longpod last night , most had 5 or 6 beans with the occasional 7. the plants are about waist high mostly standing well but there is the odd stalk thats collapsed, for whatever reason..probably a collision with pheasant!

[oldherbaceous]

I wonder why broad beans seem to stand alone, in not getting new varieties appearing every year.

[FelixLeiter]

I wonder why broad beans seem to stand alone, in not getting new varieties appearing every year.

If I understand your question correctly, broad beans don't vary very much, which is why you don't very often see new varieties appearing on the market. Also, those we already have serve their purpose well. They're a bit like cats are to dogs: there are different breeds of cat, but not very many and they don't differ an awful lot. On the other hand, there are many more breeds of dog and they vary wildly.

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Felix, not trying to sound pedantic, but isn't that the case with other types of vegetables, but some of these seem to get several new varieties each year.

[John]

OH, I suspect that there aren't new varieties of broad beans becoming available simply because its not a very fashionable vegetable. It doesn't seem very popular with the supermarkets so I suppose there's not much commercial pressure to develop new varieties.

Compo - how does your friend grow his beans. For the first time after many many years I grew mine in well spaced single rows and we've had a super crop (Witkiem). When I grew them in double rows as all the books (and seed packets) suggest there would always be quite a lot of poor pods on the inside of the rows. Could it be that bees which seem to be the main pollinators just don't get to visit so many of the flowers within the rows?

John

[Johnboy]

Hi John,
I suspect that your so right when you say that Broad Beans are not the most popular of vegetables nor have they ever been really. It has really been the prerogative of the grow your own people to grow and they have been very light on the ground in the supermarkets. Strangely I think that Morrison's in Leominster have had more for sale than in previous years.
What they need is a food guru to suddenly discover something miraculous about them and people will not be able to get enough of them.
Like Geoff I much prefer the green seeded varieties and generally grow Green Masterpiece Longpod and I seem to get more to the pod than Richard which is very strange to me as mine average about 8 to the pod with one pod yielding 10 good sized beans. This is not meant as a brag but I just wonder why there should be such a difference within the same variety.
I grow in triple rows and the two outside rows a spaced 15" down the row and the centre row offset by 7.5" and then 15" down the row and I don't seem to get any difference in crop or size between the inner and outer rows so there is plenty of room for growth and the outside rows are 18" apart. They appreciate the occasional feed during their growing period. What I find strange is that so far this year I have not seen a Blackfly anywhere on my plot on anything. Perhaps that comment was a little unwise and next thing I will get masses of them!
JB.

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Johnboy, i made the same mistake mentioning i had no blackfly, about four days ago, you can guess what i have now.

[Catherine]

I got black fly last week and some very strange looking green fly, they were much larger than normal and very green, I know it sounds strange but they did not look normal. I washed them off the plants with a fine spray. Though the broad beans dont look too bad for it. We have grown Bunyards Exhibition and we got 1.800kg. off our first lot last week. We have also grown Red Epicure but they dont seem to be doing as well. Not that many pods on them. We are on a very exposed site and we had to put a wind break round one side and end of the bed to protect the beans. Maybe this is why we dont have as many pods on these.

[Geoff]

I haven't picked any yet but there are some long pods and no blackfly, I rarely get them for some reason despite plenty of green ones including Catherine's jumbo type on other things. I think Richard's small pods are because the plants are small, mine are head high as they usually are.

[glallotments]

We had our first helpings this week Witkiem Manita and they were fine - no misshapen ones.

I don't think they are popular as many people think of butter beans or beans with hard skins. Adding salt to the cooking water before cooking apparently toughens the outer skin of the bean.

Our Morrisons sells them too but at £4.73 a kilo. It's no wonder in fine dining the chefs just pop about five on a plate is it?

There is one big drawback though I hate shelling the beans. Not only do I end up being splashed in the eye but my fingernails go a yukky colour!!

[Elaine]

I know what you mean about your finger nails being stained by shelling broadies! Last week, my fingers were already stained from blackcurrants and then I shelled some broadies. Despite scrubbing, I could not get the stains off my fingers, or from under my nails!! This does not look good when you work in a supermarket and are a fresh food handler!! Cheers!

[glallotments]

I bet it's useful if you are a hairdresser though as shampoo seems to be a really good nail cleaner!