Just spent an age shelling Broad beans from our garden veggie plot and....

... strangely it reminded me of following Barnsley FC over the years.

A lot of time and effort is expended with much of it wasted. You never really know what you will get when you open each pod. Sometimes you think it will be a full one only to be disappointed whilst other times they reward you with an unexpected 'bonanza'.

Ultimately though, you are rewarded (assuming you like Broad beans) with a pile of 'deliciousness' making all the effort worthwhile. This season has been a bumper crop for both beans and Barnsley FC !!

On the subject of broad beans I can't do with those poncy restaurants who remove the outer coating after cooking. The whole point of broad beans is that the slight bitterness and chewyness of the outer coating nicely juxtaposes with the sweeter softer inner part. ( Good God! I am starting to sound like George Spicer). If all you want is the sweet green part then, FFS, just serve peas! Eat Broad beans as nature intended.

A vegetable anecdote ... I had a mate who had worked on a veggie market stall who once had a customer who brought back 2 lbs of mange-tout wanting her money back. She had shelled a dozen or so and was complaining that "these are rubbish as the peas are tiny and not 'grown proper' ....it's not worth the bother shelling the rest".

 

I don't like broad beans...just thought I'd add that!!

 

I love broad beans
folk can,t understand why.
I just love the **** taste of em,bit like sprouts really

 

Its genetic (with sprouts at least). There is a chemical that sprouts have to deter species that eat them. Some people have a gene that means they can't taste it and love sprouts, others are less fortunate and think they taste foul.

See also coriander.

 

Fair enough. I know a lot of people who don't. They DO make for ...ahem.... 'windy nights' (or so the wife tells me). I also like spouts, a much misunderstood vegetable. If they are cooked just right they are great...under or over they are the 'devils spawn'

 

on a broader spectrum I prefer runners

 

I quite like dwarf beans but when I have tried to grow them they always 'come up short'

Coit!

 

Sounds like something George Spicer would have enjoyed helping you with.

 

My Broad Beans will not be ready for at least 5 weeks planted in March (the proper time to sow). and will be ready when I dig my first roots of New Potatoes.
New Spuds with a bit butter on, Broad Beans and piece of Gammon tha can't wack it.

 

You have to get used to a whole new gardening calendar here. We sowed our first row of beans in the autumn and then planted another row a couple of months ago. We now have over 3 kg shelled and blanched in our freezerall from a single 3 metre row and the next row will be ready to crop in about 3-4 weeks. We are already cropping strawberries. The herbs sage, thyme, rosemary oregano parsley chives etc all 'over winter' too. The down side is that grass (and weeds) never go dormant so it is a year round constant battle.