Go on…sing along – A WHIM A WAY…(I can hear your humming now!)
Thought we would give you an on our first little haul of broad beans/ fava beans/ pillows of goodness (whatever you’d prefer to call them)- an interesting journey through growing nevertheless.
We have these a try in the garden at home and at the allotment and WOW, was there a difference in growing and haul!!
Blackfly and aphids reigned supreme on the majority of plants, strangely only one of the back plants in the garden at home with a few soldiering through to the front plants but the poor guys at the allotment – ANNIHILATED! Sadly I’ve not yet got a photo but I will show you the state of them.
However, happy to report that WE DO have our first small crop of broad beans supplied by the garden plants that managed to escape the wrath of the blackfly and aphids. Wonderful pillowy pods encompassing the sweetest, most perfectly green pods – sweet, delicate and moreish (wishing we had more!).
A TOP TIP that I mistakenly discovered after trawling the internet for ways to remove blackfly and aphids (where the majority said to squash it scrape) was to put the garden hose on full power and BLAST the plant tips where the aphids are…gone in a second and wish I had discovered this trick sooner- I hope some of you manage to get aphid water blasting soon!
D.O.A.N.G
DIARY OF A NEW GARDENER 
A delicious vegetable – impossible to buy such quality! A further tip: sow the broad beans in autumn, September, and they will grow away over the winter…slowly, of course, in the colder weather… but they will get into growth quickly in spring and come to maturity and be ready to pick and eat before the season of the blackfly arrives so you will have them eaten before the fly can get them.
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Paddy, you are full of such wonderful gems of advice- sincerest thanks! Will they be ok to grow out in the patch throughout winter or should we cover them up?
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I have never covered them and they have always been perfectly fine. The cultivar Aquadulce is the one usually recommended for over-winter growing, very readily available. And, good taste too.
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