~ BROAD BEAN SEED ~
Another easy vegetable -we've made up generous packets of great seed, but they are very heavy to post, hence the price.
Sowing Information
The main and easy sowing season is in early spring, for harvest in summer. Hardier varieties can also be sown in autumn for an early crop the next spring, but you need to get the timing right - not too early & not too late: if they are too small at the start of winter they won't survive, and if too big they'll get battered by storms and cold.
'Leidse Hangdown' Broad Bean
This is very popular old heirloom from Leiden in Holland , a fine example of the 'Bunyards Exhibition' type with particularly long pods. It gives a good yield of beans from a small space.
Ideal for a spring sowing (February through to late April), with early sowings best started in modules to avoid mice and slugs.
A really long traditional broad bean.
40 seed £
Grano Violetto Early Broad Bean - NEW TRIAL VARIETY
An old variety with seeds that dry to a deep purple colour, although they are green when picked for fresh eating. The plants are not too tall, to about 50-65cm, so ideal for windier sites.
Very early, with 5-6 seeds per pod.
At least 35 seed £
'Long Cascine' Broad Bean - RECENTLY ADDED
A traditional maincrop variety from Tuscany, with particularly long pods of 7-8 large seeds. The flavour is excellent, with not a hint of bitterness when raw so it's very nice to eat fresh as a snack.
It grows about 1m tall, and is ready for harvest mid/late season, coming about a fortnight after Aquadulce types; the longer growing period gives higher yields.
A highly-prized, sweet and tender heirloom from Italy.
30 seed £
'Ratio' Broad Bean
A fantstic new variety which we are really excited to have again; it has short plants about 2ft tall, with finely cut quite pointy leaves. It makes huge pods, and the beans are excellent eating quality even raw straight from the plant.
This variety was selected in The Netherlands particularly for small-scale growing and does well in exposed sites. The plants look a bit different from other broad beans and are very decorative.
Ideal for a spring sowing (February through to late April), with early sowings best started in modules to avoid mice and slugs.
Short and highly productive
35 seeds, organic. £
'Aquadulce Longpod' Broad Bean
The result of hundreds of years of breeding and improvement - in our vegetable gardening book of 1885 it is described as 'in the highest state of development'.
The plants grow to about 3ft tall, bearing long pods with large flat pale seed inside.
We like it because as well as a normal sowing in Spring, it is one of the most commonly used varieties for sowing in Autumn to give an early crop the next year. In a mild winter the small plants will survive the cold and make a super-early start the following year.
Alternatively, if you don't want to risk the winter cold, you can sow in Spring as usual and you'll get a great harvest, just a few weeks later.
Traditional broad bean, this one is hardy enough to sow in autumn for an early crop the next year.
40-45 seed, organic. £
'Vespa' Field Bean
Field beans are smaller more robust relatives of Broad Beans. The beans are about 1/2 the size of a normal broad bean, and the plants are full size, bearing huge numbers of short pods with 3 or 4 seed packed closely together. The overall effect is usually a higher yield of beans from the same size plot.
'Vespa' is a modern pale-skinned variety which has been bred for table use and is very cold hardy, surviving over harsh winters when others die off. It is very similar to our previous variety 'Wizard' but with slightly improved yields; one of our favourites in our 2019 field trial.
It has particularly good flavour even when the seeds get mature, and does very well for everyone, cropping over a longer period than broad beans.
Tasty.Very hardy. Good for an autumn sowing in October.
60 seed £
