Producing Lots of Dried Broad/Fava Bean Seeds

[@bonniepoole1095]

I love fava beans and they grow well in the PNW. I ate small amounts at first and happy to say, "All good." But I would caution some people: Favism, affects an estimated 400-500 million people worldwide. It's most common in certain parts of Africa, Asia, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. In the United States, it affects about 1 in 10 African American males. Favism is a genetic disorder that can cause an allergic-like reaction to fava beans. The reaction can be triggered by eating fava beans, walking through a field of fava beans, or consuming certain foods and medications. Most people with favism don't develop symptoms. However, when symptoms do occur, they can be serious and include: Acute hemolytic anemia Neonatal jaundice Hemolytic crisis, which can cause sudden and severe anemia

[@Hayley-sl9lm]

Wow interesting 😮

[@REDGardens]

Yes, thanks for the reminder. I forgot that was an issue.

[@oliverschultz4943]

Damo strikes me as a grounded, critical thinking, knowledgeable, deep and sincere fellow - fascinating discussion, thank you Sirs!

[@REDGardens]

😁

[@Tourshi]

Love the detailed, experimental approach to farming-gardening :) thank you for sharing!

[@REDGardens]

😁

[@markgerth9115]

More great content. The over-winter storage of dry beans was one of my biggest drivers when adding them to our garden. We went with two locally acclimated varieties that work well in our context (similar to yours if even a little shorter of a growing season). We've had good luck and are on our second year now planting what we grew last year - Annie Jackson pole beans and Rockwell bush beans. Love soups, boulangerie beans, etc. from fall through early spring. Keep up the great work.

[@REDGardens]

Thanks. I really want to find varieties that will work well around here.

[@gerardbrady7049]

We are up in Longford and grow runner beans in our garden for drying. They dry really well and store well and cook very well. Thanks for your videos, we found your garlic trial fascinating and bought specific varieties to try as a result.

[@________-by2px]

I grow fava beans outside during the winter. My region (center of France) is slightly too cold for them and I often have frost damage but it doesn't seems to affect them that much unless the temperature stay under -8°C during a whole day. It tastes good, fixs nitrogen, and grows during winter so it's a very interesting species. The only drawback is the harvest date (early to late june). It makes the next crop akward as I plant my spring crops in may. It's still possible to plant a late crop of potatoes or zuchinis afterward but it limits how much space I can dedicate to them.

[@REDGardens]

Yeah, the harvest date is at an awkward time. Even a few weeks earlier could make a lot of difference.

[@KristinaLomas]

Thanks Bruce, another great video! Dry storage of a rich vegetable protein is a compelling enough reason to grow broadbeans but I also love the scent of the flower, it’s one of my favourites, right up there with sweet peas.

[@REDGardens]

It was a really lovely smell in the polytunnel when they were flowering

[@seanmcgleenan556]

Hi Bruce. I'd recommend trying out some of the field bean varieties that have been bred for table use in your trials next year. I've been growing the variety Wizard and have read that Vespa is very good too. I've quit growing broad beans altogether now and just grow field beans as i find they yield about double of what i got from broad beans. They are hardier to frost, have larger plants(5-6ft outdoors) and early sowings are usually dried on the plants by July for me (Northern Ireland), even this wet year. Only downside is the beans themselves are much smaller, but they tend to grow in clusters of 1-5 pods so doesn't really add to harvest time, just processing time. Seed can be pretty hard to get hold of, i grow my own, so if you'd like me to send you some let me know.

[@jannejurmu5923]

7:37 "because that's the kind of crazy thing that I do" 😂 Gotta admire your dedication and it's great fun seeing that besides a great teacher and researcher, you are also getting better and better as an entertainer. Thanks for all your great content!

[@REDGardens]

Thanks for that comment, and good to hear I may be improving as an entertainer! I have always found my videos to be too serious and rigid, mainly due to the script writing process, and I usually forget to try to bring in humour or self reflection! I'm trying to change that, slowly!

[@dougvogt8058]

@@REDGardens Don't take this the wrong way, but your seriousness IS the humor. In a good way, believe me.

[@Tippler0611]

​@@dougvogt8058agree wholeheartedly, that the little dry jokes like the one mentioned are my favorite. Often I'm doing my own busy-work and half listening, when the joke starts to sink in and I have to go back to appreciate it properly. Also, there's few things more enjoyable than reflecting on a crop and dreaming of the next growing season while hand threshing. Best done among friends, or with a sleepy dog and cup of tea. Idle hands and all that....

[@chainepotagere]

Hi from France ! About 5:30, Some farmers here spray foliar boron in three times with anti-fungals for better yield. Track to explore. Many thanks.

[@REDGardens]

Thanks for the suggestion. Something to look into.

[@BalticHomesteaders]

Have you tried the habas fritas which are dried roasted Broad beans popular in Spain. I used to buy them wholesale and flavour them with spices for retail use in a biz I used to be involved in. Obviously falafel could be an option to use them. I know we’ve compared notes before on runner beans - this year has been exceptionally good despite the horrendous summer rains (planted n the same place), they’re still cropping well this week and I hope what’s left will go for dry seed before the frosts happen anytime in September. Of course also you could mill your dried beans to make a flour which could be used for many things, I have a mockmill which is great for that. It maybe you could borrow one from someone.

[@REDGardens]

I will have to try roasting them, sounds tasty. I wonder what caused you great runner bean yield. I had great pea crops, but the few runner bean plant I grew didn't to so well.

[@PatoxMaia]

I did an experiment with Pinto Beans 2 years ago here in Co. Wicklow. I noticed that the Pinto beans we buy from Tesco is produced in Canada and I thought those plants would tolerate our cold climate. I germinated them mid January, kept the plants well protected over night and let them grow until drying out inside the polytunel. I don't remember which month I harvest them, but it took longer then I expected for those plants to dry out. I plan to grow it again next year and I will give broad beans a try too.

[@dougvogt8058]

Although I grow and eat favas, pintos are my main bean crop. I ferment them, and have them almost every day. In NH they grow well, but take as much of the growing season as I can give them, so I try to get them in the ground under low hoops to give them a good start. Although the young plants like warm, they won't stand too much heat, so I have to open things up when appropriate. I often grow them with corn, which can stand a LOT of heat, so now I plant the pintos after the corn is well up. That also gives the corn a head start so that the beans can climb the stalks.

[@georgemartin9618]

I bought some Pintos recently in Tesco and was planning to sow next year around the same time as French beans. Will give some a try earlier in a sheltered place following your lead . I'm in county Carlow.

[@dougvogt8058]

@@georgemartin9618 pinto plants definitely don't like frost, so make sure they are protected- or just wait a bit.

[@dougvogt8058]

I'd love to see a trial of various fava bean varieties! I have just been using and saving the same beans for maybe 25 years. (Is there a "Windsor" variety? That name rings a bell.). I've never even tasted any other fava beans, so I have no idea if I'm missing something. I'm still experimenting with ways of eating them. Thanks for another useful video. Doug, NH, USA

[@REDGardens]

Yes, I want to do a variety trial next year. I am not expecting much difference between them, but hoe to be surprised.

[@thepandaman]

Really interesting! I'd mostly just experimented with drying borlotti beans - haven't tried broad beans yet. I really like the commercial dried broad beans sold roasted & salted for snacking, I wonder if they're also shelled beforehand or if the roasting is sufficient to crisp up the tougher outer shell of the bean? Yellow split peas are another I'd like to try, although not sure what climates they prefer.

[@REDGardens]

I’d love to try those roasted Broad beans. I have heard that some people soak them with baking soda to soften the skins.

[@owendavies8227]

For cooking them, my favorite way is to make falafels. In general, you can soak them in baking soda (if you want to sprout them also, do that beforehand) to soften the shells so that you don't have to spend a bunch of time individually removing them.

[@REDGardens]

I need to try the baking soda method, thanks for the suggestion!

[@juliusapweiler1465]

I'd be curious to hear whether you end up with broad bean beetles. I've saved broad beans for seed and also cooking a few times, less systematically than you of course. One interesting thing I've noticed is that, some time after harvest, you get these very sharply-defined circular holes on some of the seeds. It's a beetle that, as I understand it, lays its eggs into the flower, which the bean then forms around. Once hatched, the larvae eat their way out, leaving these tunnels behind. The affected seeds are often still viable, and presumably still safe to eat as well even if it's a bit off-putting. Just try not to think about the fact that a lot of the broad beans you eat when semi-mature probably have this creature's eggs inside them...

[@Hayley-sl9lm]

This is why I couldn't save any snap pea seeds, in my area we get pea weevils and they destroy a large percentage of peas by the time they're dry. I try not to think about the immature creatures I'm probably eating when we cook the green pea pods 🤮

[@MrRemakes]

I've had this issue too! I think they're cowpea weevils. They drill into the seed and lay eggs, which hatch and chew out a hollow in the dry bean for the larva to mature into a beetle. My solution has been to freeze the beans once they're well dried, but don't wait too long and let too many of the weevils hatch and grow. I suppose there's probably something you could spray, but I like to avoid sprays wherever I can.

[@Hayley-sl9lm]

​@@MrRemakesThanks for the tip, how long do you usually have to keep them in the freezer?

[@MrRemakes]

@@Hayley-sl9lm Probably a couple days or so. I don't think the eggs or weevils survive long in a deep freeze. I think I remember finding a research article on cowpea weevils and methods of controlling them, and it suggested freezing.

[@charlespalmer3595]

Has anyone used a small vacuum to suck up the bugs on your plants? My problem is grasshoppers, and using a vacuum in the early spring on the few plants that have turned green (like catnip) removes hundreds of tiny grasshoppers before they become a big problem.

[@theecobandits6768]

I grow shorter varieties of peas planted through ground fabric with no support I have had great results The fabric really keeps them clean even when plants and pods are directly on the ground

[@REDGardens]

Good to know, thanks.

[@kgarden8960]

I grow Broad Beans in my greenhouse (300 sq.m.) for table, but I also grow Field Beans (over winter) as a green manure. If I don't have a need for a follow-on crop in Spring I leave them and harvest the beans for seed. Perhaps you could use them as a crop for both nitrogen fixing and beans for both seed-stock and dried-beans for kitchen? I suppose the obvious follow-on crop would be brassicas for the (following) winter; I plant mine (Winter Caulis and Sprouting Broccoli) in August, and the previous Autumn's field beans would be done by then. As @seanmcgleenan556 said, the beans are smaller than Broad Beans, but the plants are tough and produce plenty of pods

[@REDGardens]

thanks for the suggestion, I should try the field beans.

[@ImGlyn]

Thank you for this great content. Here in Melbourne, Australia, my broad beans are on the point of making pods, but fighting the wind to keep them upright is a losing battle. Your reminder to pinch out the tips is extremely timely 👍 Suggestion for eating: Broad beans crisped up in the air fryer or shallow fried then pat dry with kitchen roll. Sprinkle with salt, or fine-ground parmesan, or aromat seasoning & you have a delicious, crunchy snack 👍

[@REDGardens]

Thanks for the recipe suggestion! Do you boil them first?

[@dougvogt8058]

Ditto! More details! I have had broad bean much like you described, but I'm not sure how to make them. Do you pinch the outer skin off? That's where I draw the line, although they ARE delicious that way- too much work.

[@ImGlyn]

Yes, keep the skins on - they go crispy when fried 👍 I usually used canned beans for this, so yes, they have been cooked in water during the canning process 🙂 There's lots of videos here in KZbin so you can check it out 👍

[@dougvogt8058]

@@ImGlyn Oh, man, I just tried this with fresh favas. I steamed them for a very brief time- just enough to soften them a bit (this is how I cook them to make "pate" with them). Then I air-fried until crispy. Delicious! And, as you say, the skins, which are not the best part of the bean normally, crisp up and actually become the best part of the bean. Thanks!!!

[@ImGlyn]

@@dougvogt8058 Really glad you enjoyed them 😊

[@MrRemakes]

It's funny how in the Western world fava beans are so often eaten as green beans, when in the Middle East, mainly Egypt, they're mostly harvested as dry beans. As dry beans, they have such a nice rich, meaty flavor. My favorite way to use them is in ful mudammas, an Egyptian dish similar to hummus with fava beans instead of chickpeas.

[@pansepot1490]

Didn’t know that. My father considered dried fava beans horse feed. 😁

[@REDGardens]

That is interesting.

[@MrRemakes]

@@pansepot1490 They are certainly good for animal feed, but they're good for human feed too. ;P

[@happyhobbit8450]

Did you say you freeze your seeds? I was wondering about cherries and plums that I have in the freezer ... would they be viable to start new trees or is this with certain plants? Thank you for your wonderfully informative video ... definitely love your experiments!!!

[@REDGardens]

Not sure about the cherries and plumbs. They will likely produce a plant, but with fruit it might not be the same or produce the same quality fruit as the original tree, due to possible cross pollination and other factors.

[@happyhobbit8450]

@@REDGardens I can take shoots off the cherry and plum trees ... would be better? Which seeds do you freeze?

[@REDGardens]

@@happyhobbit8450 I freeze a lot of the seeds that I save, based on the idea that they will last a lot longer. I also freeze packets of seeds from crops that I only sow once in a season, like tomatoes. I figure they are better in the freezer, so long as they are properly sealed, than on the shelf.

[@happyhobbit8450]

@@REDGardens Awesome!!! Thank you!

[@phillippinter7518]

Thats an unusually high yeild for a dried seed crop, and a lot of calories per square foot of growing space, I wonder how this would translate when planting them in blocks

[@REDGardens]

I think it would be a fair bit lower if in a block. These plants didn't have any shading or competition from the side.

[@tau9632]

Did you never get blisters or a skin reaction from your wild carrots? (assuming that the plants witht he balls of flowers that become balls of sticky seeds are wild carrots) I've heard one should be careful with their sap, since it is a UV activated irritant.

[@REDGardens]

In the video those are garden carrots that I am growing for seed. Some of the were infested with spider mites. I don’t think we have any wild carrot around here, but good to know.

[@YellowReapearOG]

Love the ending bumble bean!

[@REDGardens]

😁

[@GardenersPOV]

Excellent. Now I'm craving Fava beans and a nice chianti.

[@REDGardens]

😋

[@gailthornbury291]

Tsp tsp tsp

[@mautillmon]

I cooked faba beans yesterday. Can you share your beans recipe?

[@paulm2380]

Thank you

[@HelenEk7]

Fava beans is actually not a bean but a type of pea. Hence why it does better in colder climates than "real" beans. Its also a great back up as animal feed (chickens, pigs, goats, etc). Greetings from Norway.

[@REDGardens]

That is interesting. thanks.

[@samuelbarrow5502]

I believe most beans are better off if they are buzzed pollinated. Ripping the flowers might not be giving you the desired effect but perhaps applying some form of vibration could help.

[@REDGardens]

Interesting point, something for me to think about.

[@kabenzie]

the best way to eat broad beans imo is roasted snack food style. I

[@REDGardens]

I need to try making those.

[@Hayley-sl9lm]

I was kind of turned off to saving bean/pea seeds because of the horrible issues I've had with pea weevils. Our climate is way hotter in the summer though than yours, but I'd still be curious what pest issues if any you've encountered.

[@REDGardens]

Not many pests on the peas, thankfully. Some weevils, which is a bit worrying, as I hope they aren't increasing in population, and slugs can be an issue early on. The main issue with the broad beans is the aphids and blackfly, but if I remove the tops, they tend not to be an issue.

[@MohdAradi]

That bumble bee is actually bypassing the flower and piercing it to get the nectar from above it is not polinating the flowers also see the Chinese threshing rotating stick might be good for you if you decide to harvest the whole plant for threshing

[@REDGardens]

Well spotted. I have noticed them doing that, and was really glad to catch one on camera!

[@nefraial]

When it comes to field crops like favas, broad beans, dry peas and grains I only grow a few for personal use. They're not a viable option when seeking a profit as a small business. They grow well here with pest and disease being relatively uncommon, but none can compete with the market tonnage off the fields. The ones I grow are more for novelty sake, or seed saving that nicer variety not grown in a field and to keep some variety in existence that would otherwise disappear through lack of want. Talking about want. Despite a large quantity of field grown favas produced here, the majority is exported and not one supermarket I've visited stocks them for locals to purchase. Meaning a local demand for them cannot even come into existence seeing as they are not even on offer.

[@sophieharper-pryce5045]

Have you tried making falafel with them?

[@bintlooda]

Also check a recipe for “foul”

[@REDGardens]

👍 thanks

[@angelad.8944]

Oh my goodness, look up deep fried fava bean recipe. While I don't eat them every day, they are freaking delicious and addictive. 😅

[@REDGardens]

Thanks!

[@discord2000]

Broad beans are probably the only fruit/veg that I can't bear to eat. It sucks cos they are zero effort to grow here in Australia and prolific producers...

[@REDGardens]

That is a shame!

[@dollyperry3020]

Make sure you try the Greek Gigantes beans. I follow a youtube who swears by them.

[@VanderlyndenJengold]

Seeing your fingernails - proper gardeners nails - someone should do a youtube video (they have!) about methods of cleaning them. It takes me ages to attack my hands and fingernails with a nailbrush, plus I get through loads of nailbrushes. I have to admit that sometimes I'm probably not as rigorous as I ought, as I know I'm only going to mess them up again in hours. Plus, they occasionally bleed through gardening mishaps etc and it can be painful. I've gone out on a limb here, admitting my slovenliness! I've tried jamming soap under my nails before gardening. I do keep them short and mostly clean, but heavens it is time-consuming.

[@kvikende]

I thought it was fun actually seeing that bumblebee doing the cheating method of pollination.

[@gardenturkey]

Some plants are hermaphrodite but still need cross-pollination.

[@REDGardens]

I have heard differing reports about broad beans. Some claim the flowers need to be triggered by insects which might also cause some cross pollination. But other people seem to suggest that the flowers don't need any insect interaction at all, and the pollen is rarely released from the inner part of the flower.

[@ThePyrocrastinator]

Thanks for sharing, Bruce! Really great to see how you grew 5kg of Fava beans. That is a lot! There is someone in Israël who grows all his own food. He uses fava beans a lot. There is a video on KZbin where he explains his methods. In my opinion this is just like your videos very interesting to watch! Title: 'Man grows ALL of his food on 750m2' Link: m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/in-1aX2cfcabZpI&pp=ygUbRG9jdSBtYW4gd2hvIGdyb3dzIG93biBmb29k I hope everyone who reads this has a nice weekend! David

[@REDGardens]

Cool, would be good to see how he manages. Very different climate. Thanks for the link.

[@jf3457]

fava beans are a rustic crop which grows outside and handles well lot of stressors, i dont see the point of wasting precious tunnel space with them.

[@REDGardens]

good point, except it is hard to get them to dry in our climate.

[@CopiousDoinksLLC]

All of this information is irrelevant to me because you couldn't hit your target when pouring the beans into that yellow bucket. Sorry, I don't make the rules. OCD is a cruel and harsh mistress.

[@REDGardens]

Damn! I got most of them in, doesn't that count? I tell my self that the ones that don't make it were probably too light or faulty in some way, so didn't want them anyway! 😁

[@phillippinter7518]

It's called winnowing