Fava Beans

When do you pick them? And what do you do next??? How long will they keep in the pod, or do they keep better if shelled first? I don't really have enough of them yet to cook up, but I don't want them to rot.

I used some in the immature stage as beans, but wasn't all that crazy about the flavor. Now I'm looking into the other options.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

For dried beans, I think you would leave them on the plant until the pods become dried. then you can shell them, and they will store very well. I have only kept mine to use as seed for the next season's cover crop, not as food. There are some varieties that are bred for eating and taste better, and others that are bred to withstand cold temperatures (and tend not to taste as good).

Hey Sequee
Had to leave DG 'cause of money & health.

I miss read your post!
Thought it was Roma Beans.

charlie

Welcome back, Charlie!!! I hope you are better now and plan on stick around. I've missed your cheerful reparte!

Well, dang, M - that being the case, I screwed up! I now have about a dozen, plus, big ones in the frig. I thought they could be shelled and skinned and cooked, but wan't sure how. Guess I will need to do some research and see if there's any recipes to be found. If they need to be dried on the plants, I'm SOL for this batch!

Hey, well I'm sure there are ways to cook the shelled fresh beans as well, and then they could be frozen or pressure canned to preserve. You could even make a bean soup and freeze that. They may keep for a while refrigerated until you have enough to make a batch. I've never done that because I have the kind that grow over the winter here but don't taste very good (just cover crop to add nitrogen and organic matter). Don't give up on them yet!

Hi Sequee,

I tried growing fava beans last year and it didn't work out too well, but I buy fresh fava bean pods at the store all the time. They keep in the pods for at least a week; they start getting black spots on them some time after that. May still be good, but look kind of gross. Keep them in the pods until you are ready to use them. then, shell them and boil the beans for 30 SECONDS. then drain and peel the beans (pinch the edge, then they slip out easily). And that's it. You can then dress them however you like. We just put olive oil and some salt. You can also put lemon juice on them or a pesto of some kind. I put pepper with the salt once, and my husband thought that overwhelmed the flavor of the beans. Hope that helps.

Worked like a charm! I used them in a stir-fry with garlic and chicken, served atop a bed of egg noodles. Very tastey!

Thanks for the tip!!!