Fava Beans?

[robertb]

As long as you're planting the sort of small numbers which are typical for gardeners, and keep them well apart it shouldn't be a problem. they grow several varieties at Heligan and I'm sure they plant them all at the same time, and just keep them spaced well apart.

[kathm]

I grew two varieties a couple of years ago, one in my front garden and one in my back garden, to try to avoid crossing. I did get a little cross contamination. A couple of my crimson flowered came up with white flowers last year. I whipped them out as soon as I saw them and planted them at the allotment. Their seeds were greyish, not like either parent!

I now plant crimsons in my garden and any others that I'm not particular about saving, at the allotment, 200 yds away, where there are numerous varieties around.

[bobinthebul]

Dec 17, 2008 14:26:03 GMT -5 pjkobulnicky said:

You have to know when to pick them because the pods are so fat and fibrous you can't easily tell how big the beans inside are ... and then if they get too big you may have to take the second shell off of the bean itself before cooking.

But ... they are worth all of the effort. They are terrific in a risotto.

Paul

I'm lucky to live in a place where I can plant in the fall. I also plant two varieties - one of a cheap bulk variety for a cover crop (I plant them densely over most of the garden) and more expensive very good large-seeded variety for eating.

After you grow them a few times you get fairly good at telling at a squeeze if the beans are mature enough. I actually prefer to let them get fairly mature because before then I find the flavor hasn't really developed. The inner skin is a pain to be sure, but you can make it a lot easier by putting the shelled beans into a bowl and pouring boiling water over them. Let them stand that way for a minute, then drain. If you use a small knife to slit the side of a bean, you'll find it pops right out.

Never tried them in a risotto, it sounds great!

[stevil]

Feb 3, 2010 22:48:28 GMT -5 seedywen said:

Understand that fava bean flowers are more 'open' like the Scarlet Runners and more prone to cross-pollinating than other varieties of beans.

How far apart, do you recommend planting favas if you are trying to keep seed from different varieties?

I find that the varieties which are easy to tell apart; e.g., Crimson flowered and Frog Island Nation (the latter has purple beans) are quite easy to maintain even when I grow them next to each other, at least for my own use, so I don't think there is a great deal of cross-pollination going on..

[bunkie]

stevil, i'd like to try some of those Frog Island Nations seeds if you have any extra sometime.

[stevil]

Jun 4, 2010 9:54:48 GMT -5 bunkie said:

stevil, i'd like to try some of those Frog Island Nations seeds if you have any extra sometime.

Yes, of course, send me a reminder in November! They are top left in this picture:



Anyone know the origin/story behind this variety - I think I got them through SSE

[bunkie]

that's a pretty one stevil! will you PM this fall.

[nuts]

So,I continue my fava "report"
I planted favabeans october and november last year.And some feveroles in october
The winter was very cold with 4 periods of temps below -5°C.This is extremely cold for my region.The feves planted in october all died,the feves planted in november had a survival rate of about 50%.The feveroles all survived and are clearly more cold resistant.

The feves were iussue of my plantation of the previous year,a mix from hanging type(probably 'd'aquadulce' and upright type(unknown name).Possibly some of these were f1 between the two types(I plant them mixed because I'm not opposed to crossing).
The feveroles were a new introduction.

I consider the loss of 50% of the feves as a very good result , hoping that this means some selection for cold resistance.
Another result of my experience is that late planting (november in my case)is defenitly more appropiate for favabeans.

So,now time for some eyecandy

This are the feves by the end of april,The feveroles looked like this with some more purple in the stems

These are the flowers from the feves

I'm quite a lazy one,I never tried hand pollinisation,but The end of april we had excellent weather and I'm hoping these buzzy guys doing the work for for me.


Mostly there were some of these in the feves and the feveroles specially at the end of the day as well as another species I couldn't catch with my digital hunting equipment.

The feveroles and the feves were a few meters apart but that is ridiculous for genetic isolation.These guys did a few flowers of feves then a few feveroles and then the feves again.Probably crosses between feveroles and feves took place

Maybe if you live in a heavy polluted region of intensive agriculture where there are no more bourdons,isolation is easier.Or maybe bad weather will result in very few cross pollinisations.I cannot imagine I didn't have many cross pollinisation,what else do these plants have flowers for?

By the way I didn't see any bee,you definitly need bourdons or whatever these are called in english.

The plants looked like this a few days ago

The hanging type with long beans.('d'aquadulce'?)


the upright type with shorter beans(unknown)


and the feverole


The feveroles look more vigorous,nearly to 1.5 meter heigh,compared to the feves,under 1 meter.I will compare the weight of the production of dry beans/plant of the two after harvest.

Next season I envisage to continue to mix the different types of feves,with the goal to constitute a kind of 'genepool',in the same style as astronomy domine,hoping these little guys guys continue doing the work for me.
With the goal to create a base for selection later on.

Next serason I'll introduce more origins as I can get hold of them(though I'll stay away from the purple ones)
If crosses with the feverolles took place,I'm happy with that,because of the cold resistance and the vigorousness of the feveroles
But I try to have an isolation of more then 100m between the two next season,for not turning back too much to the small feveroletype.

I will have these feves on my seedlist but no varietal 'pureness' garanteed!

That was it

[grunt]

Jaap: Great photos. Bourdons = bumblebees. We have several varieties here in the Creston Valley.

[nuts]

Mar 11, 2010 22:54:36 GMT -5 canadamike said:

Non nuts, je refuse complètement de t'en vendre. Par contre, je peux bien t'en donner

J'ai donné mon demi kilo à Johno l'an dernier, je n'en ai plus, mais j'en attends directement du Lac St-Jean, peut être même un très gros sac, ce qui me permettra d'en envoyer en Afrique. Mais il sont encore dans la neige là-bas, c'est la région agricole la plus nordique de l'est de l'Amérique du Nord...le producteur de semences n'a surement pas ouvert la ferme à la distribution, qui est essentiellement très locale.

Cela ne dépends pas de moi. Quand je recevrai je te ferai signe...
dis, dans ton coin, tu peux me trouver des aulx créoles, et surtout de l'ail rose de Lautrec?

J'etais un peu novice,maintenant je comprend que 'vendre' n'est pas trop dans les habitudes sur homegrown:
Tu me ferai grand plaisir avec quelques de ces feves

Les trucs creoles,je ne sais pas,je regarederai si j'en peux dénicher,mais les rose de Lautrec,j'en ai un peu dans le jardin,pas de problème,j'en garderai pour toi.(dans le commerce c'est pas evident d'en trouver qui ne sont pas traité 'antigerme',ou qui ne pourrisent pas dans le mois suivant l'achat).

On se 'pm' le moment venu