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Post by mskrieger on Jul 21, 2014 7:39:00 GMT -5
My first post, and rather late to this party, too, but growing favas in the Northeastern US has been my obsession and I wanted to share my experience in case it was useful to anyone:
1. I used to have a plot in a community garden in Washington, DC (zone 7a, temperate climate with cool-to-cold, sometimes snowy winters and hot, humid summers). I tried planting the favas in late October one year. They germinated quickly and grew like Jack's Beanstalk for about a month, when it got too cold and dark to grow. They stood all winter until late February, when two weeks of wind and temperatures in the teens Fahrenheit (about -10C) did all of them in except for a few lucky dwarfs who were covered by a drift of leaves. They survived and made few pods, but plotzed in early May when the heat started. Tasty enough to whet my appetite, so...
2. For the past 3 years in southern Connecticut (zone 6b, similar to DC but colder in winter and more humane in summer), I've tried to grow them. What I've learned: Favas don't like New England. They winterkill without exception in even an average winter (lows only 0F. Snow cover or none, doesn't matter.) If chitted and spring planted in early March, they take between 1-5 (yes, 5!) weeks to germinate depending on the soil temperature. They then grow fine until the temperature starts hitting 80F (26C) during the day. This can happen anytime between mid-May and late-June in an average year. But even in this extraordinarily cool spring, the earliest plants didn't set pods until June 1 and they were already turning black and spitting blood (to paraphrase Steev from another thread.)
From my experience, favas are long-season plants that like cool, predictable weather. Weather like a Mediterranean or Maritime winter. In places like the northern US, where we have all 4 seasons and temperatures swing from 15F (-10C) to 80F(26C)+ in 3 months, they just don't have time to grow to their full potential and they're a waste of space. I do know people in Maine who grow favas as a spring-summer crop; Maine very rarely gets daytime temperatures above 80F even in July, so it works. Would probably be a good summertime crop in Quebec and the Maritime provinces, too. Will Bonsall breeds favas in that climate, covered in a greenhouse to keep out pollinators. It works well for him.
Anybody who breeds a heat-tolerant fava (or a super-cold tolerant one!) please post about it!
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Jul 21, 2014 10:33:35 GMT -5
mskrieger: Thanks for the report. Welcome to the forum. I am working on a heat/arid tolerant fava. This is the 3rd year, and I have finally harvested more seed than went into the ground. They are not anywhere close to being worth the effort to grow as a food crop in my garden, but as a breeding project there is room for optimism. I'm waiting to post a photo until after harvest is complete. Some of them are still flowering, even though I don't expect them to set fruit.
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Post by flowerweaver on Jul 21, 2014 10:50:32 GMT -5
I am also working on a heat and drought tolerant fava, perhaps with less success than Joseph. My project is in its second year and I'm a lot farther south, about an hour from Mexico. That they would produce anything here at all gives me hope.
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Post by mskrieger on Jul 21, 2014 18:29:32 GMT -5
Good to hear about the heat and drought-tolerant fava experiments...I look forward to hearing more good news. I'm surprised that they don't grow better in a Southwestern winter...but perhaps it gets too cold in the winter where you are, flowerweaver?
This spring, when I finally decided to give up on my fava quest, I did have a few plants still flowering and setting pods on 1 July, when I pulled them all. They were from the Ianto's Return mix I obtained from Adaptive Seeds in 2013. I considered keeping them, but they were just so wimpy and miserable compared to the pictures of favas I have seen in climates that suit them...I decided it wasn't worth the effort, as this was an unusually cold spring. But if you haven't dipped into the Ianto's Return gene pool, you might find something of worth.
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Post by steev on Jul 21, 2014 20:53:11 GMT -5
Both of my fava patches have clearly become "space for something else"; well, here comes Winter-garden season, PDQ. Fava yields are negative 100% of what was planted. They don't seem to like drought much.
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Post by richardw on Jul 22, 2014 0:59:13 GMT -5
Fava's do very well for me,they even flower/seed set right through summer where temps get up around 35C 95F,winter is just cold enough to kill plants sown early enough in February (late summer)they die,seed sown March,April and May make it through,so far this winter the coldest frost has been -5C 23F but normally a -8C 17F would be expected,the only fava's I have in ATM are a strain of 'extra cold resistant' which thanks to a very warm winter are growing great guns.
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Post by mskrieger on Jul 24, 2014 9:25:29 GMT -5
hi RichardW, I'm glad to hear of your success! South Island New Zealand is a chilly Maritime climate, right? It sounds like your extremes are right around the edges of what favas can endure. In my experience, even temperature differences that look small on paper can amount to dramatically different gardening possibilities.
I am curious about your extra cold resistant favas, though. How far apart do you plant them? Would they repeatedly yield enough to feed a family of four a nice fava dish if you planted them closely in a 1x3 meter bed? (I'm envisioning something that could be surrounded by straw bales and filled with leaves, enough to insulate the favas during the worst of the winter...) From my experience in DC, the favas will set pods in early May if they overwinter. That might make them worth it, here.
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Post by 12540dumont on Jul 24, 2014 19:14:10 GMT -5
mskrieger, I too am working on drought tolerant favas. However, I may have to plant someone from the farm 6' under. We are in a wretched serious drought. None of my favas that were planted came up. No wait...all of a sudden a dozen just sprouted up in the corn patch. I was so jazzed. 12 plants that had no rain and no irrigation and we've had 3 heat spells of triple digits, and lots of days in the 90's.
And then, someone thought they were weeds and pulled them out.
My own offspring....
Anyway, what I learned from this is that in my Fava Grex are the seeds of drought tolerant/heat tolerant favas. Sorry I can't help you with the cold. Cold tolerance among fava bean
cultivars varies, but most varieties winter-kill at temperatures below 15 degrees F and even most winter-hard varieties winter-kill at temperatures below 10F. The small-seeded varieties (va minor, equina, faba) referred to as bell, horse, tick or field beans are more cold tolerant. The variety "Banner" is good to 10 degrees. Also don't plant favas as a potato rotation, they are a host for root knot Nematodes (Meloidogyne). Favas are great for reducing "Take All" in wheat and for helping with compacted soil.
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Post by steev on Jul 24, 2014 22:57:48 GMT -5
I'm intrigued with the idea of surrounding a bed with bales and filling it with leaves for insulation; now I have to figure out what will really benefit from that; there's always moldy bales available near the farm (they're a great potential source of mushrooms, Coprinus, mostly, but sometimes Peziza) and I get a copious supply of leaves in the Fall from my clients. Oh, yeah; this is a good idea!
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Post by mskrieger on Jul 25, 2014 12:35:47 GMT -5
Steev,
The hay bale and leaf technique works well for anything that suffers from wind and repeated freeze-thaw cycles. People around here often use it to get fig trees and other marginally hardy perennials through the winter. It also works well to keep kale fresh and edible in the ground, and to prevent the ground from freezing. If you've buried root vegetables or cabbage in a clamp, for instance, and the ground typically freezes 15" deep, the extra layer of leaves/hay can prevent the veggies from freezing. Even if it doesn't prevent freezing, it keeps them frozen until uncovered...which can help a lot in February and March, when the sun gets stronger but the nights stay freezing.
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Post by kevin8715 on Aug 14, 2014 11:14:14 GMT -5
If anyone has any favas to share (grex preferably and someone in the US, shipping cost), would love to trade. I planted a fava transplant in spring, but that was a bad idea. Only one seed matured. I think I can grow them as a fall planted crop to harvest in the winter (30F is the low here). Though not sure if the fall/winter rains is enough to grow without irrigation.
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Post by flowerweaver on Aug 14, 2014 11:58:10 GMT -5
kevin8715 This year was the first time I harvested any, certainly less came out that went in! But I attribute the success to fall planting for the first time, and irrigation. If I can ever increase this handful, I will be happy to share.
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DebTheFarmer
grub
Market Gardener, Heirloom Veg Lover, Novice Permaculturist, Future Vegetable Breeder.
Posts: 70 
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Post by DebTheFarmer on Aug 16, 2014 1:08:51 GMT -5
I plant fava/broad beans late April (same as early peas and artichoke seedlings). Start harvesting end of July/beginning of August. Dry down by mid-Sept for dried beans and seed for next year.
Sometimes peas will self-sow and come up in early spring when they're ready. Hoping to get favas to do the same, eventually.
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Post by petitvilaincanard on Aug 16, 2014 2:38:39 GMT -5
If anyone has any favas to share (grex preferably and someone in the US, shipping cost), would love to trade. I planted a fava transplant in spring, but that was a bad idea. Only one seed matured. I think I can grow them as a fall planted crop to harvest in the winter (30F is the low here). Though not sure if the fall/winter rains is enough to grow without irrigation. Hi kevin,have a look at my post in the other fava thread,I have tons of favas,all grexed.I'm in france though,but I have sent seeds a few times to usa,without problems. If you're interested,pm me |
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Post by briancady413 on Apr 5, 2020 6:44:26 GMT -5
Reportedly 60% of 'Cote d'Or' Vicia faba survived -25C(-13F) in 1984/5 with no snowcover. [http://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=QV8600169]
Abstract: "One of the winter faba bean populations from the Cote d'Or region of France, preserved by INRA, France under the name "Cote d'Or", was found to possess a very high level of winter hardiness as expressed by the 60% survival of plants during the winter of 1984/85 when temperatures fell below -25 deg C with no snow protection. In contrast cv Bourdon showed 14% plant survival and cv Talo 0% in this season, averaged over four different locations "
Brian
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