Thanks for your comment.

Yes, 10F is pretty cold for fava beans, but it depends on a lot of things. For example if the plants have emerged yet, and how much snow cover there is. It also depends on the variety, as some are more winter hardy than others. I wouldn’t assume overwintering in your climate is impossible, but it might take a little trial and error to get it working. The advice of planting in Feb also sounds good to me, and is probably more reliable than overwintering.

If you want to turn the plants under you should do it when they are very young, and not more than a few inches high, probably April or May. If the plants are too woody than you should compost them first before putting into the ground. I personally don’t usually turn fava beans under, because I find this a bit of a waste.

I normally let them grow and either eat them or save seeds, compost the plants, then put the compost back into the ground. In this way they are both useful for seeds or food, and useful for enriching the ground. Also over the years I’ve decided in general it’s better to use no-dig techniques, and this is of course in conflict with digging in a green manure crop.

Ianto’s Yellow? I’ve never grown it, but heard good things about it. It was grown and introduced by Alan Kapuler, who lives near you in Corvallis, so would probably be well suited to your climate.

I live in Holland, and the varieties available here are ones you probably can’t buy, and are probably better suited for our local climate. I think it’s better if you look for varieties locally and ask other near you what their favorites are.

It’s difficult to say when you would be able to plant the next crop after the favas. Heirloom varieties of fava will produce over a period of time, and stop when the weather gets very warm. This might be in June, but could also be in August. I think you can count on August for sure, but otherwise it might be a bit of a judgment call, and you might need to weigh your need to get the next crop in with your desire to get everything possible out of your fava plants first.

Good luck. I hope this helps.

I would like to grow fava beans as a cover crop and some for eating/seed saving. I live in southern Oregon where winter temperatures will get as low as 10 degrees f. I think this means I cannot reliably over winter them. My local ag extension mentioned planting them in February. If planted in February when would be the best time to turn them under for a green manure? If I keep some for eating how soon could I harvest to make space for another crop? June? Do you prefer any specific varieties? I have read ‘Iants Yellow’ is a delicious variety. Thanks Brian.

I’ll bet you have great fava beans in Rome! I’m going to come over to your house for dinner tomorrow, okay?

About planting them, I don’t have very good news. I don’t think it will work, because for seeds the fava beans need to mature on the plant. I don’t think fresh fava beans are mature enough.

You could try to just plant them, or maybe put a few into wet kitchen paper and see if they sprout.

In general fava beans like it best if they are planted as early in the spring as you can dig the ground. Then, as the weather warms, they slowly begin to grow. If you plant them this way, they can usually tolerate short periods of warm weather. This is also what makes fava beans a spring vegetable, and in general you can’t buy them in season other times of the year. Probably the numbers of hours of daylight the plants get has something to do with it too.

If you plant fava beans later, they may still grow, but the chances are they will do better if the weather is cooler.

Warmer weather makes the plants grow faster, which isn’t healthy for them.

I’ve never tried to grow fava beans in warm weather myself, but my guess is once the days are consistently above 20C (68F) it’ll be pretty hard to grow them.

Maybe someone else has more experiences with this? I’d like to hear.

“Yes, it might be a little late to plant them now, but if you have cool weather you might get lucky… Good luck!”

I gave up on the thought of having fava beans this year. However the weather has been consistently cool and rather wet. We have yet to achieve a temperature of more than 19C. What is the optimal temperature range for the period of germination to harvest of the green beans?

http://squidsgarden.blogspot.com/2011/05/patience.html

I’m sorry, I didn’t finish answering your question.

If you plan to eat the dried beans within the next few months, I wouldn’t bother freezing them. Fava beans don’t however like to be stored unfrozen in a completely airtight container, but I think you already realize that.

Freezing fava beans is the best for long term storage, but freezing them carries risks. If they are not completely dried out the water in them may expand and burst or damage the beans as they freeze. In addition, drying them out too much can damage them too.

If you are going to freeze them, what I suggest is letting them dry out in the open air for several weeks. No forced air, no heat, no direct sunlight, just spread out to dry. When you think they have completely dried this way, try freezing a couple of beans in a closed container for a few days then thawing them. If they seem undamaged, then freeze all of the beans in the same way.

Note that in the freezer fava beans should be in a completely airtight container. Plastic is not very good for freezing fava beans, because it’s a little porous. The best is glass jars with a lid sealed with rubber; canning jars or just supermarket pickle, jelly or other jars all work equally well.

I’m in Los Angeles and had taken the pods off the plants that had completely died. I have two or three more stalks that are still green and producing pods for whatever reason so, I’ll let them die, and then take those pods, then. In the meantime, it’s really good to know to take the ones I have already harvested yesterday out of the pods. I would have probably let them continue to dry out in them had I not found your website.

Do you still think I should freeze them once they are dry or can I just store them in an open air jar in a cool closet and use them as dried beans when I want?

Thanks again. Lisa

Your enemy now is dampness, which can cause the beans to get moldy. If you’re in an area with a dry climate, I suggest leaving the pods on the plant to dry out because the sun will help protect the beans.

If you’re in a damp climate like me, or if you have already taken them off the plant, I would take the beans out of the pods as quickly as possible and put them some place airy to dry out. Once they are out of the pods, I would avoid placing them in direct sunlight.

Rinsing the beans in a weak solution of bleach can help reduce mold, and might save the beans if they have already started to get moldy. Watch out for black spots on the beans that emerge from the inside.

A little bit of green on the pods is normal, and shouldn’t make a difference one way or another. As long as they’re mostly black it’s good enough.

I loved, loved, loved the fresh favas and made them in many different ways, but had my heart set on drying the beans for fuul this year. I’d left them all on the plants until today. They are black and shriveled. Do I continue to let them all dry out IN THE SHELL or should I take them out of the shell/pod and let the beans dry out on a baking sheet on the windowsill or something?

Finally, if I’m keeping them to use as dried beans should I still freeze them as you’ve mentioned? Again, is that in or out of the pod? Also, a few that I took off the vine today are still a tiny bit green. Shall I let them dry in the pods a bit more, too?

Thanks for this all fava all the time post. I loved reading the comments and learned a lot (I’ll cut the tops off next year). Also, I’ve had the Windsor’s resprout even without cutting them down. As they were dying the new growth came up for a second round…

Thanks for the nice comment, and good luck with your fava beans!

You don’t need to take very much off the top of the plant, just pinch off the newest growth with your fingers, about an inch (or couple of cm). You normally do this after the plant has sent out a few rounds of flowers, perhaps 3-4 of them. After you do this, the plant won’t produce any new flowers and will instead put it’s resources into developing pods.

To answer your second question, once you pinch off the top of the plant, it won’t be able to produce any new flowers or pods, so you won’t get any beyond your initial 3.

[update] I hope you come back to read this. I just remembered that many people report success cutting the plants down completely, and letting them regrow for another crop. If you do this after harvesting the 3 pods, you may get more. I don’t normally do this myself.

The number of pods per plant can depend on a lot of different things, like you climate and the variety you’re growing. 3-5 is a reasonable and normal number, but it’s also possible to get more than that if the conditions are right. I would consider less than 3 a little disappointing.

- How much of the top should I chop off to encourage more bean pods?
- Do you think there will be more pods, if I don’t pick these 3 until they turn black?
- How many pods should I expect from a single plant?

Thanks!
Alexis

Sorry you lost your plants. If this winter was unusually cold for you like it was here in Amsterdam, it might be worth another try sometime. I think you have a similar climate, and they can often be overwintered here.

It also depends a bit on the variety, some are more cold tolerant than others, and in fact some are bred specially for overwintering.

When spring planted, fava beans are normally planted as soon as you can dig the ground. For us this is usually February or March, maybe the same with you?

Yes, it might be a little late to plant them now, but if you have cool weather you might get lucky… Good luck!