Broad Bean Windsor (Fava) - Saanich Organics

Broad Bean Windsor

One of the first food crops to take off in the spring garden, fava (aka faba or broad) beans are highly nutritious and protein-dense. Windsor is a very popular heirloom variety from England with very large beans & pods that form on plants that grow to about 5 feet. Tender young leaves and white flowers with black markings are fragrant and flavourful - a unique addition to a fresh garden salad. Fava beans are a "perfect protein" (26% protein in fact), high in amino acids, fibre, vitamins, mineral salts....and totally delicious! Windsor is frost-tolerant, with luscious upright plants that grow 3-4 feet tall and require trellising. Favas are the oldest bean (cultivated for over 10,000 years) and are considered richer, smoother, and sweeter than most other beans. They're a part of European, South American, East Asian, and North African cuisine - a mainstay of the mediterranean diet, very popular in England, and maybe starting to catch on in North America. Plant 1-2" deep, 2-4" spacing in rows 18" apart when soil is between 5 to 20 degrees C. Spring plantings are common, however in coastal areas with milder winter, they can be planted earlier (October to February) to avoid aphid damage.

Matures 130 days to fresh shelling, 160 days to dry.