vegetable update, runner beans, broad beans

A brief update on the runner beans, which are running away lengthwise! I've been cropping every other day, but now, I shall have to increase to picking them every day - no point in letting them grow long and stringy, is there?

You can see them, dangling down in varying lengths. So far, the slugs have largely left them alone, thank goodness. And isn't it lovely to see the beans alongside the flowers? Pods ready for picking, and beautiful flame orange flowers promising further beans to come. Bliss.

The broad beans are also flourishing. The pods are swelling, and the embrionic beans are beginning to show as slight bulges through the soft lining of the pods. When young, the pods are small and erect, as they grow, they remain erect, almost upright, sometimes. Finally, they become flacid at the junction with the body of the plant, and begin to droop. all their youthful vigour has gone. They are best picked just before this happens, whilst still firm and relatively upright.

How delicious they are, steamed or boiled for a very short time, and served either nude, or with just a grind of salt/pepper, and maube a drizzle of oil, though they really don't need it, they are so tasty just as they are. Many people eat them raw, but I'm not too keen.

It's all a matter of taste, and luckily, there's no-one to judge us on that, is there? Enjoy your food however you like it - cheers!

broad beans, flowers

I harvested my first broad bean yesterday. Not a very exciting piece of news, I hear you say, but the way I ate it was - at least for me!

My broad bean plants grow to about 3 feet in height. They are sturdy, and produce lovely white flowers with a black throat, as you can see in the photo.

If I'm lucky, and they are pollinated, the flowers blacken and melt away, leaving a tiny green bud - the new pod. This one, by my thumb, is quite new, but the flower has just about been washed away. At this stage is is very firm, but could easily be dislodged, so I'm careful not to knock them.

After a couple of weeks, the pod has increased its size to the length of my thumb, and is developing a rounded wavy outline, where the beans themselves are swelling within the protective outer shell. You can see a few of them on this plant.

I've always taken the full, swollen green pod, when you can feel the outlines of the rounded beans through the pod, peeled back the soft, furry lined shell, and popped the beans off their yellow fixers, boiled and eated them.

However, the other day I read an article which suggested that broad beans could be eaten whole, like mangetout, pod and beans. This seemed a little strange to me, the insides of the pods are delightfully soft and furry, as you'll probably know from when you've podded the ones you've bought from the market. I couldn't imagine how they would feel in the mouth!

So, yesterday, I picked one pod. Yes, I know, it was wimpish, but I was really, really not convinced I would like it. I boiled it along with some mangetout for a few minutes, and bravely took a bite.

I didn't experience the shock sensation I was expecting with regard to texture, but neither was I blown away with excitement. It was a pretty neutral experience. There wasn't the depth of flavour that you get with the actual beans, and since the flavour of broad beans is what I love, I shall stick to my usual method of eating them.

Have any of you eaten them like this? what did you think? do you agree with me that the flavour is less pronounced?