Broaden horizons with beans

Broad beans are one of my favourite veges to grow and, of course, eat.

Like most of the over 200 varieties in Awapuni’s seedlings range, they’re super simple to plant.
They’re lots of fun to grow with kids. And, they taste great.

Did you know, as well as being able to eat the beans, you can also chomp down on the tops of
the plant itself? Cover your eyes vegetarians – bean plant tops mixed with a pork bone and some
potato taste fantastic!

However you like to eat your beans, I’ve got some tips on how to grow them.

First of all you need to grab some seedlings. So, next time you’re down at your local
supermarket, Bunnings or The Warehouse grab some of our Traditional Value broad beans.
Alternatively, head to our online store at www.awapuni.co.nz and get your seedlings delivered
direct to your door.

Next, you need to find the right spot to plant. The common misconception about broad beans is
they need something to grow up. Not true. Broad beans will need to be tied up, but they lean
against each other and grow across the ground.

What’s important is ensuring the soil where you plant them has a high pH (around 5.5 to 6.5).
Not sure what the pH level of your soil is? Most garden centres sell kits alternatively there are
also companies which will test your soil for a small fee.

If the pH level of your soil could go higher, try adding a little bit of lime.  If you’re still not sure
of the pH level, I recommend adding some lime for good measure anyway.

Once you’ve got the soil acidity levels just right, you’re ready to plant.

If you’ve never seen a broad bean seedling it can give you a little bit of a surprise when you
unwrap the newspaper. While I’m probably teaching experienced gardeners how to suck eggs,
for those who don’t know, broad bean seedlings are broad beans, which have been germinated
(see the picture).

So, when you’re ready to get started, simply dig a little hole and plant each seedling around
15cm apart in rows approximately 30cm apart.

Depending on the weather where you live and, as a result, the soil temperature, your seedlings
will take around eight to 12 weeks to produce beans ready for harvesting.

Once the plants are around one metre high put a stake at either end of the rows and loop a big
piece of string around the whole lot to keep them growing together.

While broad beans take at least a couple of months to produce any actual beans, the plants grow
really quickly. Got kids? Try taking a photo of the seedlings every few days and track their
growth.

Even better, take the picture from the same spot each time and make a mini-movie. You can do
this digitally, or print the pictures on your printer and staple or tie them together for your very
own stop-motion video. Simply flick through the pages and watch the beans grow.

Using the last of your beans to create seedlings is another fun project to get the kids involved
in.

At the end of the season take the beans out of the last of your pods and store in a container in a
dry spot.

Next winter grab some used kids’ yoghurt containers, clean them out and fill them up with
potting mix. Take one dry bean and press it into the soil in a yoghurt container. Do this for each
of the beans. In around three weeks you’ll have some broad bean seedlings ready to transfer to
the garden.

Tod Palenski
Awapuni Nurseries
www.awapuni.co.nz