We are planting some midwinter broad beans today, before the ground gets too hard. Frost is forecast, and the frost freezes the soil making it too hard to dig.
Midwinter broadbean seed
Midwinter broad beans are an ideal variety for planting in January.
There are two schools of thought on how to freeze broad beans – some people blanch the beans before freezing and some don’t.
Blanching involves plunging the beans into boiling water to stop all enzyme activity with the beans, so the beans stay exactly as they are without any deterioration. Therefore, the healthy vitamins and minerals will remain in the beans. After a couple of minutes at boiling point, the beans are dropped into ice-cold water, to stop the cooking process.
Podding-Medes-BroadBeans
To freeze broad beans by blanching:
Helpful tip: make large blocks of ice in margarine/yoghurt tubs to keep water cold when cooling beans
To freeze broad beans without blanching:
It is worth trying both methods, to decide how to freeze broad beans for yourself.
Runner Beans need poles, sticks, trellis or mesh to climb up and provide support.
bamboo-wigwam
Plastic supports last for years and tend to be stronger than bamboo canes.
bean-support
Wigwams are fun – but require a boy scouts’ knotting technique. Suttons sell a plastic ring which hold the canes firmly in place for just over £3.
plastic ring
Thompson & Morgan have a similar wig wam cane grip - about £5 for 2.
wigwan cane grip
Hazel poles make a strong support for runner beans and climbing french beans.
hazel-pole
Hazel is said to be ’sustainable’. This is because it is a cut & come again plant – traditionally coppiced when the poles are a useful length & left to grow again.
The bean plants do not have to be tied to the pole. They find their own way to the pole and then twist themselves around it.
french-bean
Growing peas just for shoots is a quick way to grow fresh veg & it can be done inside.
Pea shoots are the leaves & stem from the top 2 to 6 inches of a younger pea plant, & include two to four pairs of leaves and immature tendrils. They sometimes have small flower buds amongst them.
Two or three cuts of shoots are taken from each batch of seeds.
peashoots-in-pot
How To Grow Pea Shoots:
1. plant in early spring or late summer as peas grow best in cool weather. Young pea plants can withstand a little frost, though frost may damage the flowers and pods. As a winter crop, peas tolerate temperatures down to 28°F (-2°C) in the seedling stage, but top growth may be damaged when the temperature falls below freezing.
2. choose varieties suited for this such as:
3. plant:
4. clip off the growing points plus one pair of leaves to encourage branching, when plants are 6 to 8 inches tall. These clippings are the first pea shoot harvest.
5. every three to four weeks – clip the top 2 to 6 inches of each plant.
6. keep harvesting until shoots taste bitter, late in the growing season. Three cuts per batch of seed is average.
7. wash and spin dry harvested pea shoots as you would lettuce.
The picture below shows a peashoot attached to the seed pea. Below the pea is the long taproot.
pea-shoot
Use pea shoots:
Pea-shoots are a good source of vitamin K, C and are especially high in vitamin A.
Growing pea shoots inside is an easy way to produce fresh vegetables full of vitamins.
The first peas were harvested on Tuesday 22nd June, 2010 but yields were generally low as the effects of the late frosts took it’s toll, with some flowers being aborted.
pea pods
Silver Y Moth has been a slight problem, particularly in Petits Pois varieties, resulting in high levels of caterpillars being found in the pods.
Yields started to pick up once the frosted crops had been picked, and although not as good as last year, the peas were producing above average yields. As temperatures continued to rise, pods developed faster & there were more peas to pick. Petits Pois yields have been very good.
peas in pod
The last peas sown reached full flower on 22nd July, & will probably be harvested around the 11th – 13th August, 2010.
We have been cooking the Midwinter Broad beans! They are a great addition to the veg garden.
The cooked Midwinter broad beans are:
cooked-broad-beans
The Midwinter broad beans have:
cooked-beans
The breeder of this strain, Malcolm Allison, said “the red-seeded character develops while the beans are young & good to eat, whereas the purple colour only comes as the beans are drying out & not worth eating.” We found that the young immature beans had pink tips where the bean is attached to the pod. But as the beans mature the pinky/red colour develops over the whole bean. This colour stayed on the beans after they had been cooked by steaming. One pod did not have the pink colour, and these bright green broad beans contrasted with the Midwinter pink beans after cooking and added to the picture on the plate!
semi-leaflesspea-in-flower
Peas grow best in the first half of the year when it is not too hot.
Sow every 2 weeks from March until July for a continual supply.
Sow seeds thinly in drills 5cm (2in) deep, allowing 45-60cm (18-24in) between the rows.
Site – sunny as soil needs to be warm for peas – so cover with polythene if cold.
Soil - deep & rich with well rotted manure or compost dug in the previous
autumn/winter.
Weed rows regularly.
Support plants when 8-10cm (3-4in) tall, with twiggy sticks or netting.
Water twice a week during flowering and pod development to help fill the peas in the pod.
Pick mangetout when the pods are small, flat and stringless – just as the peas inside start to develop. Pick shelling peas when the pods start to swell & the peas are a good size, but before the pods change colour & the peas go hard.
In spite of the drought, the peas look very well and are in flower.
flower-pea
These peas were planted late, in the last week of May.
semi-leafless pea plant
They are a semi-leafless pea, with lots of tendrils which wind round each other and help hold the plant up.
semi-leaflesspea-in-flower
Soon the flowers will develop into the pods full of tiny peas. They can be eaten early as mangetout (the whole pod), or we can wait for the peas inside to grow & eat them as peas.
The pea flower has to be fertilised to produce the pod, but most blooms self-pollinate while still in bud.
The harvest for Birds Eye peas is in full swing. Click this link to watch the piece on TV last night:
http://www.itv.com/yorkshire/peas-and-good-will17836/
Birds Eye peas are frozen within 2.5 hours of vining – to keep all the flavour and goodness in.
Also on the clip is Rachel Green, cooking a pea risotto in the middle of the harvest field!
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!
broad-bean-pods-filling
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. (more…)
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