Final Results of Fava Bean Experiment in Upstate NY

If you've been following this blog since last fall then you know that I've been obsessed with growing fava beans in NY ever since we moved back from Ireland, where 'broad beans' are commonly grown as a winter crop and harvested in spring. It's so nice to harvest something from the spring garden other than lettuce, spinach and other greens, so I was determined to find a way to grow them here.

Go to Growing Fava Beans in Upstate NY Part 1 and Growing Fava Beans in Upstate NY Part 2 if you want to see photos from the early days of this experiment.

 The overal result: Success! We were eating fava beans starting in mid May and are still eating them now in early July, thanks to sowing four different varieties which made for an extended harvest. They have been a wonderful addition to stirfries with spring greens, spring onions and garlic scapes, all from the garden.



Here is a summary of the experiment:
November 2012: Sowed four varieties in cell packs in our solar greenhouse - Banner, Aqua Dulce, Dreadnought and Crimson-Flowered. I also sowed 6 Banner seeds outside under straw just for the heck of it. (Autumn is when they would be sown outdoors in Ireland.)

December 2012-February 2013: Continued to pot up the seedlings into larger and larger pots in the greenhouse.

March 12: Dreadnought and Crimson started flowering in the greenhouse. Flower buds on Aqua Dulce.

March 24: I was worried that the greenhouse was getting too hot during the day for the flower buds, which are said to be intolerant of heat and won't set pods, so during a warm spell I planted some out and set out the rest to harden off on a porch.

March 29: The temperature plummeted to 20F overnight and the plants looked like goners the next morning, completely wilted and flat. I noticed that as the stems thawed  they didn't turn to mush, and  after a few days the stems firmed up again and I was able to stand them up with the help of stakes and string. I had inadvertantly put them through a cold hardiness test. Even the flower buds survived the extreme cold.

April: Continued temperatures below freezing at night but with no harm to the bean plants. Once we could start digging in our garden again we direct-sowed a block of Banner fava beans at the same time we planted peas in early April.

May 15: Started to harvest fava beans to eat. The most productive variety is Aqua Dulce, which produced lots of big pods. Crimson-Flowered is very pretty but the pods are small. Dreadnought has large plants and pods but it didn't make very many. Banner is the latest of the four and flowered prolifically in May. Despite several days in May when temps went into the 90s F most of the flowers continued to set pods. 

 June: Harvested beans twice a week or so. The plants that were direct sown outdoors in April started flowering. Crimson and Dreadnought were finished so removed and the space replanted.

The biggest surprise was that some of the beans that I direct sowed outside in November suddenly sprouted up amongst the kale that I had planted there in the spring, after seeing no sign of the beans! Alas, too late for them to flower and fruit now.

Banner produces many pods per plant

July 1: The Banner that were started indoors are now producing heavily. They were much later than Aqua Dulce which was a good way to extend the harvest. The direct sown Banner in the garden had lots of flowers but few beans, so it didn't work to direct sow them in spring as directed by the Fedco seed catalog (well, this year anyway).

Conclusions:
- I did not need to start the plants so early in the greenhouse. Next year I will wait until late January to early February so the plants do not get so big inside.

- The flowers are not quite as heat sensitive as indicated so I will let them stay in the greenhouse till the weather is settled. However, it's good to know that they can survive down to 20F, recover and still produce beans although it did set them back for a few weeks. I think early to mid April is a good time to plant out 10-12" plants as they can take temps down to 25F without damage.

- It's not worth direct sowing them outdoors unless you can do that in March. Sprouting the seeds first indoors would have helped as the soil was cold and the direct-sown seeds took 3 weeks to germinate.

- The most productive varieties were Aqua Dulce and Banner. Aqua Dulce produced heavily in May and Banner in June/early July. Aqua Dulce has a great flavor but the beans from Banner are a bit bland. I am saving seed from both of these varieties to further select for our local weather conditions.

Aqua Dulce has long pods with many beans inside. 

- Fava beans could also have commercial potential in our area for market gardeners. They are quite cold tolerant and can be started early in the greenhouse then planted outside in April. The pods are impressively large and shiny and look good in a market display. They are something different from greens, greens and more greens at the markets in May. 


- The fresh beans have a unique and delicious  flavor when lightly cooked. There is no need for all that fussy squeezing-out-of-the skin that I see recommended as long as they are harvested when the beans within are not too big.

If you have a greenhouse, why not try growing your own fava beans next year?