Grow Your Own Broad Beans

Broad beans were a delicacy of early civilization, 6,000 B.C. to be precise. They are simple to grow and full of Vitamin C, protein and are an essential for your vegetable plot.

How To Grow Your Own Broad Beans?

  • Get the planting site ready by digging it over. Add some leaf mould.
  • Select the broad bean variety of your choice. You can choose hardy types to sow in early autumn or dwarf broad beans to sow in windy areas.
  • Place a single bean straight into frost-free soil 5cm (2in) deep, 23cm (9in) apart.
  • Provide support with some peasticks/bamboo and string once the seedlings emerge.
  • Upon the first young pods showing at the plant base, you can pinch out the growing tip.
  • Harvest beans from the base of the plant when ripe. You can eat the thick pods whole or harvest the totally ripe beans on the inside.
  • Once the crop is finished, slice off the stems. Dig the roots back into the soil to ensure use of stored nitrogen.

What You Need to Grow Broad Beans

  • Garden fork
  • Broad bean seeds
  • Watering can
  • Dibber
  • Pencil and label