One for my Dad

One of my late dad's favourite was broad beans, not just the taste of them, he used to love the whole process of this rather special vegetable. I have very fond memories of sitting on a spring Sunday afternoon shelling bucket loads of broad beans, ready to eat and for storing in the freezer.

The other great thing about broad beans is the planting of them in the autumn, following their slow growth through the winter to then watch them put on a spurt of vibrant growth in the early spring ready for a May harvest. The first taste of spring they are delicious and very versatile, as part of a gravy dinner, in a risotto, or as a salad ingredient.

November is one of the preferred months for planting so it was in the diary, but first we had to build a large bed - as we planned on planting rather a lot.

To be located in the top field we laid the timbers out for a new bed ready to house at least 300 bean plants, this together with the use of existing beds we aimed to double this.

As Sal finished the bed building, Melv began to fill with muck from the local farmer, the plan was to use this well rotted material as the base and to make a hole fill with a peat free compost and plant directly.

All done and dusted in an afternoon, just as the sun was going down, the beans took their place next to a strip prepared for next years Jerusalem artichokes!! 

Less than 3 weeks later as if by magic the beans start to show...

Now all that is left to do is to watch their progress through the cold winter months, thriving on all the winter has to throw at them, their bright green fresh shoots bringing light in the dark winter days - lovely - then there is the added bonus of eating them in the spring - Dad's favourite was broad beans and bacon!