Prolific Broad Beans

Prolific broad beans

Broad beans, sometimes referred to as faba or fava beans, are a great source of fibre and protein as well as containing vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Broad beans (Vicia faba) are a fantastic bean to sow during June, that will yield heavy crops of beans in around 4 - 5 months time.

Yates® Broad Bean ‘Coles Prolific’ is a compact, sturdy and hardy variety that produces a heavy crop of nutty-flavoured beans in 15-20 cm long pods. It’s a semi-dwarf broad bean that grows to around 1 m tall. The young pods can be sliced, cooked and eaten as a green vegetable or the pods shelled and the beans used in delicious dishes like avocado and broad bean dip, sautéed garlic broad beans & bacon and chicken and broad bean casserole.

Here are the simple steps to grow your very own broad beans:

In a sunny spot in a well-drained garden bed, sow seeds 4 cm deep into moist soil that’s been enriched with some Yates Dynamic Lifter® Soil Improver & Plant Fertiliser.
Don’t water again until the seedlings emerge in around 2 weeks. Limiting watering helps to reduce the chance of seeds rotting before they germinate.
Yates® Broad Bean ‘Coles Prolific’ may need support as the plants grow, particularly once they are covered in their large pods. Supports can be constructed from tomato stakes or bamboo poles and strong garden twine.
To encourage a great harvest, as soon as the broad bean seedlings are established start feeding each week with Yates Thrive® Flower & Fruit Soluble Plant Food, which is boosted with extra potassium which promotes flowering and pod development.
Young and tender pods can be harvested or allow them to develop until you can feel the beans swollen inside the pod. To ‘extract’ the beans, boil the full pods for a few minutes, allow to cool and then slice the pod lengthways and pop out the beans.
At the end of the season, dig spent plants into the soil to add organic matter and nitrogen into the soil.

Broad bean tip: If temperatures are low in early spring broad beans can drop their flower buds. This is natural and new flowers will quickly follow.