Broad bean Monica's Bean

The Sutton Broad Bean is a dwarf variety, reaching a height of about 30 cm (12in), that produces small, green, tender and tasty beans. It is an award-winning variety from the prestigious RHS Society, perfectly suited for square foot gardens and container gardening. Sowing can be done in autumn or spring for a harvest from June to August.

The Broad Bean is a legume belonging to the large Fabaceae family, like beans and peas. After falling slightly out of favor, it seems to be making a comeback in gardens. It is a vegetable worth rediscovering as its cultivation is easy.

Originally from Asia and the Middle East, the Broad Bean is widely cultivated around the world, both for its flavor and its nutritional qualities. Rich in energy nutrients, it is considered a starchy food. There are many varieties of Broad Beans, with varying pod sizes and grain colors: some are white, others are brown.

The Broad Bean can be eaten both raw and cooked. However, it is a delicacy that requires some effort, as fresh Broad Beans need to be shelled and then peeled, removing the second skin from each bean.

To enjoy them raw with a sprinkle of salt, like radishes, you should harvest them when young and tender, thus avoiding the second peeling. Generally, 1 kg of unpeeled Broad Beans yields 250 g of peeled beans.

Growing Broad Beans is easy, and if your soil is rather poor, clayey and moist, you can rejoice for once! Broad Beans are made for you. Indeed, like all legumes, they are not demanding. They thrive best in heavy and very fresh soils. They are also not very sensitive to cold and can be sown as early as February in most parts of France.

Harvest: Harvesting Broad Beans simply involves picking pods at different stages of ripeness, depending on how you plan to consume them: raw, cooked, or dried.

Storage: Fresh Broad Beans can be stored for a few days in the vegetable compartment of your refrigerator. You can also dry them and store them at room temperature. Broad Beans freeze very well too.

Gardener's tip: Broad Beans are a favorite food of black aphids. It is rare for them not to be attacked by a colony that usually descends massively on a whole row. To get rid of them without resorting to insecticides, you can spray water mixed with black soap (2 tablespoons per liter).

This year, in our garden, having read that their presence could promote fruiting, we let them be. Quickly, we noticed the presence of ladybugs. They were not numerous enough, certainly, but the harvest was quite decent, even if, it must be admitted, the pods were black and rather sticky! In the end, we enjoyed our harvest and we believe that ladybugs are now more numerous in the garden because there is not a single aphid on our Nasturtiums.