'If, I am sometimes asked, you could grow only one vegetable, what would it be? My answer: broad beans' says Simon Courtauld
If, I am sometimes asked, you could grow only one vegetable, what would it be? My answer: broad beans. Gathered when small and eaten almost straight from the pod, they are so much tastier than those available in a supermarket. Having sown them in the ground in late February, the plants appear and grow frustratingly slowly, until the flowers begin to show around the beginning of May. A few weeks later, I start to look for the first pods, low down on the stems of the plant. I expect to make the first picking, when the beans are the size of one’s little fingernail, during the week of Royal Ascot. Depending on the varieties grown, the plants may need supporting with canes and string, though sowing the beans in double rows should avoid the need for this. The tops should be pinched out when the first pods start to form...
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