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Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: George the Pigman on September 23, 2018, 12:09:07

Title: Broad Beans in September??
Post by: George the Pigman on September 23, 2018, 12:09:07

Last week I bought a bag of broad beans in their pods from M&S. They tasted lovely and I assumed they were from abroad but on the bag it says they were from Herefordshire.
How do they manage to do that? I always regard broad beans as cool weather veg that usually gets harvested at the latest sometime in June or maybe July.
Anyone tried to grow them to harvest in the Autumn?

Title: Re: Broad Beans in September??
Post by: daveyboi on September 23, 2018, 12:13:35

Maybe they are this variety from D T Brown

http://www.dtbrownseeds.co.uk/Peas-Beans/Broad-Bean-Seed_2/Broad-Bean-Luz-de-Otono-Seeds.html

Title: Re: Broad Beans in September??
Post by: George the Pigman on September 24, 2018, 15:36:41

Now that's a good idea. Must get them for next year. We love our broad beans!

Title: Re: Broad Beans in September??
Post by: Tee Gee on September 24, 2018, 18:42:28

I have always carried out successional showings with lots of my stuff particularly if they are hybrids.

 As a general rule some hybrids were designed to grow within a given time for the benefit of commercial growers so that they can harvest their crop in one go, unlike the amateur gardener who generally wants to harvests over a longer period.

I do not do successive crops of broad beans but I do with French beans, plus I do it with Calabrese & Cauliflower. I am currently picking 2nd crop Calabrese,I picked 3 today and gave one each to my son and daughter and we will have the 3rd.

So the point of my reply is I see no reason why you cannot do this with Broad beans.

I hope you find that food for thought!

Title: Re: Broad Beans in September??
Post by: pumkinlover on September 25, 2018, 08:00:30

I have been told ( I don't know if it's reliable or not!) that a lot of supermarket fruit and veg is kept in cold store for a very long time.

Title: Re: Broad Beans in September??
Post by: ancellsfarmer on September 25, 2018, 09:10:03

Quote from: pumpkinlover on September 25, 2018, 08:00:30

I have been told ( I don't know if it's reliable or not!) that a lot of supermarket fruit and veg is kept in cold store for a very long time.

I think you will find this is correct, with the right equipment, ambient atmosphere( gasses such as nitrogen), and crop picked at its best stage (Brix scale), most produce can be stored if market conditions require it. This does not equate to 'newly picked, nutrient dense or flavoursome' as your home grown crop is, but 'appearance maintained, marketable,' and possibly ,premium priced ,if out of season.
See: https://cvp.cce.cornell.edu/submission.php?id=411