Fava Beans and a Nice Chianti

Vicia faba

I'll spare you the full quote.  But really, how many of us out there don't think of fava beans without thinking of Silence of the Lambs?  

...unfortunately my mind can't help but go there.  Though quite contrarily: Silence of the Lambs tends to give me a case of the heebie jeebies while fava beans make me pretty happy.

Why?

Well, the plant itself is really quite lovely.  If you are sure to plant the beans (after you've innoculated them) 3 inches or so below the soil, you'll give your plants a good base from which to grow (and remain) upright.  These beasties can reach 6' tall!  (woof!)  And the flowers.  Oh, the flowers!  They really are quite delightful and, to me, seem a bit ~sophisticated~.  Maybe it's the black and white thing - like how we tend to think that penguins are all running around in tuxes. 

taken 5/8/10 - they are about two feet tall

Anyway...looking past 'pretty', fava beans (also known as broad beans or field beans) are a great cover crop as they create a whole lot of biomass (that's 'plant material' to us laymen) and are excellent nitrogen fixers (they take nitrogen from the air and deliver it down the plant to the roots and soil where the nitrogen is stored - this is very good for your soil's health).  I'll get into cover crops later - as in towards the end of summer later - because it's spring time and it seems far too far away to be thinking of that quite yet. 

awww...Maya and the favas...

...a week later (5/14) and they are at least six inches taller!

The favas I planted six or seven weeks ago (which, anyone will tell you, is late - but *I'll* quickly respond 'better late than never!') are no cover crop - I have every intention of enjoying the favas that are surely (hopefully...) soon (eventually...) to arrive.  But like planting for cover crop, they will still provide a good bit of biomass for my compost and definitely will amend the soil in my planter box with greatly appreciated nitrogen. 

today - the growth has slowed down - now these favas are busy pushing out flowers!

I am willing to concede that there are way too many favas planted in this container...and I have little defense. 

They look pretty and I am greedy. 

I'll be sure to post a photo when those bean pods begin to form.  They are quite large and the fuzzy, fat pod contains a half dozen or so beans.  Each bean is wrapped in its own membrane that needs to be removed before you enjoy them.

(Oh, and you will enjoy them.) 

That whole bean-from-jacket-extraction is a bit of a pain but I push past it.  Just take a moment to boil some water, drop the beans in for a minute, then run them under cold water (or drop them in an ice water bath) to stop the cooking. 

Then remove the membrane: I usually pinch off the tip of one the end of the bean's little 'wrapper' and then squeeze the membrane (and bean) so that the bean pushes its way out through the wee tear I've created. 

Once I've got some favas to eat (oh! what a treat!) I'll try to take a photo or two of the process.

I usually add them to stir fried veggies - or saute them with some onion and ginger if I've got a whole lot of them.  But sometimes they don't make it that far - I gobble them up plenty as I'm prepping them and they are good just as is with a little salt and pepper. 

Don't be discouraged from preparing these - they really are quite good and are worth a little extra effort!

And I will tell you that I did enjoy some favas last night (courtesy of Organics to You, thanks again, Momma!)

With lamb burgers.

:)  Really.