Just when we thought that winter was behind us, we got a couple inches of snow today. It will melt away in no time at all but at this point, the shear sight of the falling white stuff just irks me like nothing else. I'm sure it will be awhile before I feel any differently (check back with me in August).
I did end up finding a reasonably dry patch of earth to sow some Fava beans this past weekend. They say that you should plant the seeds as soon as the ground can be worked or when the crocus have emerged, which they have. What they don't tell you is that much of the land (at least in our immediate area) is crap this early in the season. You dig three inches down and see nothing but muddy water.
Anyway, fava beans were one of our favorite things from the spring garden last year. They are fantastic just simply grilled in their pods. Unfortunately, last year's crop didn't amount to as much as we had hoped. The extraordinarily warm weather we received in late spring caused many of the blooms to fall without pollinating. We ended up with only a handful of edible pods at a time. This year, I've sown at least four times the amount of beans that we planted last year including three varieties - Windsor, an early Italian variety given to me by Mac (I don't think she specified a name) and a crimson-flowered variety from Michelle. (Thanks again ladies!) Hopefully, we'll be swimming tasty fava beans this year.
Oooh, never grown fava beans before. Really cool.
ReplyDeleteI am your admirer when it comes to growing veggies from seeds.
ReplyDeleteI've been afraid to plant my peas, spinach or favas yet. For a while the predictions were to have lows in the teens over the weekend. I was going to wait one more week before planting them. We will see if I hold out that long or not.
ReplyDeleteWe were bold this weekend and planted our broccoli, raab, beets, carrots, radishes and lettuces. Peas went in the ground last weekend. Row covers over all of it. We shall see....
ReplyDeleteThomas, thank you for the reminder; I'll try to get those beans in the ground in between rain drops. I know what you mean about the weather: we have had rain, driving rain and wind and cold air...a rather unusual month so far; I think it is finally taking a toll on my ole nerves. :) We have had so much rain that our Magnolia stellata is getting beaten up and many of the buds are on the ground without having blossomed.
ReplyDeletePS: I finally got a Meyer lemon and a Bearss lime and am so excited. Have a wonderful week.
Isn't it nice to put some seed in the ground - even if it is snowing still?! LOL!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, it is always a pleasure to do the first direct planting of the year in the garden.
Hi, Thomas!
ReplyDeleteSo exciting to see your planting. We still have 6 inches of icy snow on the ground in Western Mass. Sigh.
Could you send me an email when you get a chance? Thanks!
Cheers,
Carleen
carleen.madigan@storey.com
It's so good to see you getting your garden going again! And I'm with you on this lingering winter thing - enough already...
ReplyDeleteNow, I'll be honest with you, those crimson flowering favas are late producers - beautiful and productive once they get going, but they've always taken a long time to set beans in my garden. I'm going to find a spot to grow some this year just because they're so pretty but I've switched to a couple of extra early Italian favas for my main crop so that I can transition the space more quickly. BTW, have you ever tried eating the fava leaves? The young leaves are delicious raw as a salad green or cooked like spinach. I've been snacking on the leaves of my fava plants every time I'm in the garden lately, they're addictive.
One of my favourite vegetables.
ReplyDeleteMichelle - thanks for the tip about the leaves!
Thomas, you are freakily neat :-)
This will be my first year planting fava beans. I really didn't realize that they need to be planted now!
ReplyDeleteHow do you like the soil tester? I have been thinking about purchasing one like that.
I've sown parsnips in the middle of a snow shower before now. Parsnip, fava (broad beans) and jerusalem artechoke are always what I sow on my first day of outdoor sowing.
ReplyDeleteOh and I meant to say - try rotating your meter and see if the reading changes when you do. My old one did so I threw it out. Hope you have better luck!
ReplyDeleteMichelle - I've read about Fava greens on one of my favorite blogs - Grow Better Veggies. Maybe I'll try some this year. They do luck delicious. Will picking them decrease your harvest in any way?
ReplyDeleteRobin - This is actually my first time using it. It gives pretty consistent readings throughout the bed with only slight differences. Only time will tell whether or not it works!
My direct sow fava beans finally prick through the soil couple days ago. Yay~~~it's only bean 4 weeks since I dropped them into the holes.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminder Michelle, I didn't know crimson is late variety, I better get some early favas in the ground soon.
Just came upon your blog. I've been wanting a hoop house. maybe I'll gat one next Fall. I like the size of yours. My husband did build me a cold-frame last weekend. WE're zone 4b so it's still a little early. I've been looking for Caytonia seeds.
ReplyDeleteI will stopping by your blog often. - kim
I just pick the young leaves from the tops of the plants but don't snip off the growing points. Actually, if you do clip off the growing points on a young plant it should encourage the plants to send up more stalks from the base of the plant. I like to grow my favas about 18 inches apart to allow them plenty of room to send up multiple stalks. It seems to work, my plants regularly put out 3 to 6 or more stalks per plant and I don't have to trim the tops to encourage that. I think that some varieties have more of a tendency to produce multiple stalks though. Some gardeners like to cut off the tops of the plants once they have set beans so that the plants put all their energy into the developing beans. I haven't tried that so I don't know if that makes for better beans.
ReplyDeleteI'm a fan of Mr. Pippin. :)
ReplyDeleteAre the bush or pole beans. I have a set and don't know what they are.
ReplyDelete