Midwinter broadbean seed

Midwinter broad beans are an ideal variety for planting in January.

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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:

• shell the beans
• plunge the broad beans into a very fast boiling saucepan, so the water just covers the beans
• return the water to the boil as quickly as possible
• after 3 mins,drain the broad beans
• immediately put into ice cold water to bring temperature down quickly
• drain
• fill freezer bags with the cold, dried beans
• squeeze air out of bag – suck out remainder with straw- then seal bag
• freeze the broad beans immediately

Helpful tip: make large blocks of ice in margarine/yoghurt tubs to keep water cold when cooling beans

To freeze broad beans without blanching:

• shell the beans
• fill freezer bags with the shelled broad beans
• squeeze air out of bag – suck out remainder with straw – then seal bag
• freeze the broad beans immediately

It is worth trying both methods, to decide how to freeze broad beans for yourself.

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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. 

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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:  

• Oregon Sugar Pod
• Sugar Snap: Cascadia
• OR…buy some dried peas in the supermarket & try those – very cheap alternative!!

3. plant: 

• 1 inch deep
• 2 – 4 inches between peas (much closer than if growing for actual peas)
• in compost or crumbly soil
• water to dampen soil
• leave in warm spot – windowsill, or outside under cloche

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:  

• in salads
• as a garnish
• lightly steamed and eat as a hot vegetable

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.

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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 22^nd July, & will probably be harvested around the 11^th – 13^th August, 2010.

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The cooked Midwinter broad beans are:

• delicious
• sweet
• mild in flavour
• pinkish when cooked

cooked-broad-beans

The Midwinter broad beans have:

• yielded well
• stood up well without staking
• been disease free

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!

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• mangetout – the whole pod is eaten with tiny underdeveloped peas inside
• shelling peas - these are round (for early peas) or wrinkled (for summer peas &  are sweeter)

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.

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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.

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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!

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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. 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

broad-bean-maturity

photo to show the mature beans on the top, which have developed a pale, uniform colour. The row on the bottom are not quite ready. They are a brighter green, and each bean has various shades of green on it.

Podding-Medes-BroadBeans

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.

Comments:

1. I have just harvested a crop of mature broad beans. However, when shelling them I found that in most the bean had not developed at all. Can yo advise what may have caused this?

   Comment by Beatrice – November 23, 2008 9:23 am

2. Hi BeatriceSorry to hear about your disappointing broad beans. This has happened to us when we picked the first beans in the spring- but they do improve as the season progresses.Broad beans need the right day-length and a temperature of about 20°C at flowering. If the beans are planted too early in the spring, & there is a blip in the weather as the first beans flowered, the beans will not set well.Crops planted too late will also produce low yields and will be affected by high temperatures later in the season.

   Broad beans produce less well in windy areas. Double rows (20 cm apart) help the plants to withstand wind. Otherwise a windbreak pays dividends.

   Hope the next batch is 100%!

   TopVeg

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