Overwintering favas in NC?

[mcd]

This is my first post! I've checked out the site over the past year or so, and it's about time I sign up.

Can fava beans be overwintered reliably in the North Carolina Piedmont? I just moved here this summer from NY state and i don't know the climate that well yet. I could wait until late winter to plant, but ideally I want to use the favas to break up my heavy clay for a late spring planting of melons or nightshades. I would hate to loose my crop because I've saved these seeds for the past few years now. I have grown them in the spring but the seeds originated in Oregon where they were likely overwintered (in a milder climate I know).


Thanks!

[oxbowfarm]

If you just want to break up the clay you might want to try some of the forage radish or daikon radish varieties used as a cover crop. Unless you really wanted the beans as well.

[robertb]

Try it and see. I don't know a thing about your climate, but I know I can sometimes get Aquadulce Claudia through. I have problems, not so much with the cold, but with waterlogging, and I lose a lot.

[mnjrutherford]

I'm in coastal Carolina right between Wilmington and New Bern/Morehead City.

I'll be growing fava for the first time this year and I'm planning on putting it in before the garlic. We are planning a "Planting Party" for the garlic on October 29th. Don't forget to get innoculant! I've been trying to grow garbanzos and while they will grow and fruit, they don't make a "real" crop.

[mcd]

I think I got the favas in around November 9th and they're doing great! I was out of state for the new year and was sure they'd be dead when I returned, because we had a few nighttime lows of 19F, maybe even 17F. To my surprise they looked fine when I returned. I thought favas typically couldn't handle temps lower than about 25 or so.

[raymondo]

It gets to 15°F here during winter, sometimes lower, and favas seem to be okay. They appear to do better if they aren't too big by the time the really cold weather sets in. I haven't grown many varieties so some may be less hardy than others.