When are broad beans ready to harvest?
Every vegetable gardener has to decide when broad beans are ready to harvest.
A lot depends on how the individual likes to eat them - small, sweet & tender, or large with flavour!
If the pods have swollen and the beans inside are properly formed, but still really small and sweet, the whole pod can be cooked and eaten with the beans inside.
It is always a balance between yield and sweet tenderness. If yield is the objective, the beans should be left until they are a bit bigger. But if the aim is to experience the exquisite taste of fresh, tender beans, it is worth sacrificing a bit of yield.
The beans change colour when they are ready, and become pale green all over. Click this
photo to show the mature beans on the right, which have developed a pale, uniform colour. The row on the left are not quite ready. They are a brighter green, and each bean has various shades of green on it.
It is important to consider other vegetables and when they will be ready to harvest. There is no point leaving the broad beans to get larger, if veg are scarce, or if there will be a surplus of other vegetables at the same time as the broad beans are picked.
broad beans harvest
Thank you so much for this.It is very helpful. I’ll let you know how they taste.
Thanks
Sara from farmingfriends
Comment by farmingfriends - June 21, 2008 3:58 pm
I have just harvested some broad beans yesterday (they tasted sweet and tender and not hard like the bullets we remember from school dinner days!)and they were delicious so thanks for all the growing advice. Excellent as always.
Sara from farmingfriends
Comment by farmingfriends - June 23, 2008 5:55 am
Sara
So glad to hear you have grown such good broad beans! Fresh veg always taste the best - particularly if you have grown them!
Comment by TopVeg - June 23, 2008 9:09 am
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