First Fava bean harvest


Our Fava bean plants must be loving this heat because they have really kicked their production into high gear. I picked a large bowlful yesterday of the largest pods I could find since you want to get decent-sized beans out of them. Each pod was about 6" long and contained anywhere from 4 to 6 beans.

Then I shucked them (second photo). If you click on the photo, you'll be able to see that there's a little green peeking out of the beans. That's what you end up eating. I boiled them in water for about 10 minutes, then rinsed them and let them cool down.

At that point, I slipped the inner beans out of their skin for the final product. Yup, that's a bit of work but it's not too bad. So far, I know of two ways to prepare them. One has you mash them with herbs and olive oil to make a dip that's similar in consistency to hummus. In the other recipe, you just saute some onions, throw in the prepared beans and add some seasoning. You can also freeze them for use later.

It's going to be fun figuring out ways to prepare them. My little Fava bean patch has about 18 plants in it but they're very productive.