Did you know that theleaves from fava bean plants are comestible ? How about the peak ?
Often with fava attic ( Vicia faba , also known as faba beans , broad beans , or Windsor beans ) , I can take ’em or allow for ’em .
They have a wonderful light , nutty savor , but after a sidereal day spentshelling fava beans(a tedious project that ’s well done on a lazy good afternoon with a glass of wine , if you postulate me ) , I ’m just content with getting that same light , loopy flavour from the leaf .
That ’s right , fava attic farewell and flowers are edible , and I ’ll show you how to prune and harvest your plants to make use of this bonus crop !
What do fava bean leaves and flowers taste like?
The beauty of this is instead of waitingmonthsfor the pods on your fava beans to mature , you could start harvest home from the plants a lot rather — when the peak start to come along , in fact .
And you’re able to eat fava bean leaves and fava bean flowers before the pods are ready to be picked .
Fava flowers taste like a lighter version of fava beans , with a gently sweet flavor . ( imagine : unfermented outflow pea . ) They ’re indulgent and velvety ( with no bitter undercurrent ) , making them a delight to toss into salads or usage as decorative , comestible accents on sweet .
There are many flowers out there consider eatable , but whether they ’re actuallypalatableis another thing entirely . If you ’ve ever trieddandelions , pansy , or marigolds , you lie with what I mean !
But fava flowers are not only beautiful and eatable , they ’re tasty in their own right hand .
Fava greens , on the other hand , are more bean - y in flavor ( in a skilful way of life ) . They savor like a cross between fava beans and pea plant shoots .
( If you have n’t tried the “ incentive ” craw that arepea shoots , I extremely commend you pinch off a few leaves in other spring or early fall to sample . )
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Fava K are soft in flavor and silky in grain . Unlike other bean plant ( like rough-cut green beans , Phaseolus vulgaris , whose leaves are also edible ) , fava plants are abundant in foliage , so you’re able to glean enough greens for a salad from just a twain of plant .
But getting to eat the commons is not the only reason to crop your plants . Pruning a few stem too soon in the season in reality helps your fava bean grow bigger and well .
Why you should prune your fava bean plants
Fava beans grow about 4 foot tall in the average place garden ( though it ’s not uncommon for them to hit up to 6 feet in peak ) and often become top - sonorous , flop over under their own weight .
They ’re improbable and lankier than bush bean but ca n’t go up the way pole beans do , so they always need stakes or cages for backup .
With some strategic pruning , however , fava dome plants can be keep tidier and encouraged to produce more blooms .
If you filch off a few stems , you promote the development of new shoots ( and therefore fresh leave , flowers , and beans ) to spring up from the pinched - off peak . This also aid the fava plant ride out full and bushy , rather than tall and gangly .
It ’s like to the path you ’d pinch offbasil stemsto spur outwards ( rather than just up ) growth . In other words , pruning a fava bean plant is a quick and well-fixed task !
How to prune your fava plants
Fava plants typically commence to bloom about six week after sow in . At this point , you’re able to start to trim the tops for their attendant green .
connect : Planting Fava Beans as a Fall Cover Crop
To do this , pinch or cut back the first few inches ( or the first two to three set of leave ) from the top , blossom and all , just above a leaf thickening ( a junction on the fore where a young shoot is starting to go forth ) .
I only lift off the leaves and flowers once every couple of weeks , as Idowant the plant to focus on producing beans rather of generating leafage .
If you ’re not a fan of the beans , you’re able to turn favas just for their leave and harvest more ( and more often ) .
After your plant has get a full craw of mature bonce , you may cut the whole works down to the dry land , leaving about 6 inches standing . It looks and feels a little shameful the first clock time you do this , but not to worry — if temperature stay mild , the plant will grow back ( albeit with a smaller harvest ) .
Always ensure you cut back above a folio thickening where you see young shoot protrude to sprout . This vigorous haircut often encourages the plant life to raise again and produce a second craw of edible bean .
If you seeded your fava plant in other spring and harvested in early summer , however , you may not get a 2nd crop since favas do n’t fare well in summer heat .
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At that fourth dimension , you may cut the whole flora down , leave the roots to rot in situ to release nitrogen back into the stain , andcompost the spent foliageor leave it on top of the soil asmulch .
Are you surprised that you can eat fava bean leaves?
There are many other plant you develop or buy that are comestible , too , and that includes the parts you normally throw out when you cook : carrot tops , radish big top , or the sullen immature ends of leeks .
Learn how to put all of these yummy plants to practice inrealrecipes ( not just vegetable stock ) in my Bible , The No - Waste Vegetable Cookbook . You ’ll find yourself compost less and less , and that ’s a good thing !
This billet updated from an clause that originally appear on December 11 , 2013 .
