1stop Organic Gardening

Here’s a photo I took at 8am this morning of my organic vegetable garden plot. It was one of those gorgeous misty mornings when everything looks and feels surreal. Everything is green here now – even though we haven’t had much rain, there is dew every night. Not sure what the white spot is at the top of the photo – a drop of rain perhaps???

I put these broad beans in about a month ago. They took two weeks to come through the soil and look every so cute in their rows. I’ve put in stakes at the corners around where they’re planted and will put up the twine before they need the support (probably at 30cm/12inch intervals).

We should be eating our organically grown broad beans within the next 8 to 10 weeks. Broad beans belong to the legume family and are nitrogen fixers – that is they gather nitrogen from the air and take it down to their roots, adding nitrogen to the soil ready for the next crop that is planted there.

Broad beans are also known as fava beans, faba beans, field beans and horse beans, depending on where you stand in the world. Here in South Australia we call them broad beans – the ones you pod and eat fresh (lightly cooked with tabasco is how I love them), or dry them for later use. They are yummy, highly nutritious and so easy to grow.

Give them a try in your organic garden – you’ll be really pleased you did!

Happy Organic Gardening, Healthy Living…

Julie

Filed under: vegetables on June 21st, 2008