Broad Beans

I love broad beans. Every year I sow them in the autumn, usually some time in November and watch as they grow throughout the cold winter months, collapsing, stems twisted every time there's a frost, and perking right back up again when the sun shines. 

Last year it wasn't the frost that killed my beans, but little black aphids which plastered the plants, a sticky black mess, and sucked them dry. They were small and puny. 

This year (2024) I planted loads of broad beans in three separate places in the hope that at least some would do well. In early April I spotted black aphids on a few plants, and broad bean weevils, along with stinkbugs - all boding ill for the success of my beans. Fast forward to the end of April and my plants were all healthy and all producing copious amounts of beans, not a weevil, stinkbug in sight, and only a smattering of aphids! Amazing! But what to do with all these beans?  Below are a few ideas. 

You can hardest broad beans and eat them whole when they're immature and the pods are still furry. Once the pods become hard and shiny, they're too tough to enjoy at which point you can shell them and eat the bean inside. I usually start the season by using the immature beans and then move on to shelling them.

Fresh broad beans:

Add beans (you can use sliced immature pods or shelled beans) to soups. A base of fried onion and potato boiled with stock then pureed makes a nice base. Add beans and shredded cabbage then serve with a drizzle of olive oil.

Preserving broad beans:

Freezing beans

Marinated broad beans (fresh and preserved)

Fermented broad beans