November isn’t traditionally a month associated with seed-sowing, especially outdoors, but there are some exceptions.
One of the plants in question, and one of the simplest from which to yield relatively fast results, has suffered a bad press historically.
Broad beans (Vicia faba) are arguably the least glamorous of the legumes – a family vegetables that includes mange tout, snap peas, runner beans and French beans, and generally requires a mature palate to appreciate.
Those legumes mentioned latterly will add some vertical interest and eye-catching flowers to your potager before they deliver a crop. The broad beans, on the other hand, are no match aesthetically and are as utilitarian as plants come.
In terms of its culinary value, most people find it questionable, largely as a result of being force fed tasteless, tinned pulses at some stage in the past.
But these characterisations are wide of the mark. The broad bean is a strong, hardy plant that evokes the famous fairytale in which a Jack sows a bean and within weeks a vigorous beanstalk is skyrocketing.
They’re also packed with fresh taste and goodness – and will leave a fertile legacy in your soil. A handful can be added to salads, pasta or a risotto, or in greater quantities lightly steamed to accompany meat and fish, or fashioned into falafel.
What really makes these beans magic, however, is that they can be sown right now, and are unlikely to suffer any adverse consequences, even if it’s frosty.
If you have free ground in your patch there’s no reason not to fill it with some broad beans, though be sure to sow for enough plants to give you critical mass, as relatively few pods are produced per plant. Sow now and their heads should be above ground come Christmas.
Overwintering means they grow, albeit slowly, and can be ready to harvest as early as May, weeks ahead of their spring-sown counterparts. Early sowing is also said to reduce the threat from aphids and the chances of a rust infection.
Plant at least a dozen beans in rows with a spacing of around 20cm, ensuring the air can flow freely around the plants, avoiding damp, humid sites. As the plants grow, they’ll need to be staked to prevent damage to the stems.
Dwarf varieties, such as ‘The Sutton’, are well worth considering, especially on windy or small sites as they will need less space and less support. ‘Aquadulce’ is among the most popular hardy cultivars for November sowing, though it’ll also respond well to a spring sowing.
Only in prolonged dry conditions – as if? – will the plants require additional watering but ensure the area is kept free of weeds.
When the young beans begin to form at the base of the plant, pinch out the growing tips to focus the plant’s energy on pod formation.
Notably, the broad beans’ appeal does not end with the conclusion of the harvest.
Like other legumes, the roots of the plant help fix nitrogen into the soil, which will fertilise the crop that follows. So when they’re finished, cut the stems off at their base and leave the roots in the soil to make use of captured nitrogen.
Other varieties worth considering for a spring sowing Other varieties worth considering for a spring sowing are Red Epicure’, which produces red beans, the tender and tasty ‘Express’ and the heavy cropping ‘Imperial Green Longpod’.
