Here you go, the first harvest of the year, broad beans that were put in last autumn. It’s something you can do with some vegetables (cabbages, garlic, onions, perpetual spinach to name but a few) but look for varieties for “overwintering” as it’s called. Can’t remember the variety these were but I know they cost us less than a couple of quid off ebay.

The beans germinated and put on a little bit of growth before the cold weather set in and then remained dormant until the spring. A couple of the plants did suffer a severe frost but seemed to carry on growing. One good thing with the beans being ready so early in the year is we’ve only a little bit of aphid attack on them which makes a change. I heard a tip on twitter that said pinch out the top of the plants when they get to a certain height as that helps repel aphids too. The pods can even be slung on the compost heap too! Great stuff!

Today we’ll be enjoying the above beans with our dinner, big up cheap gardening!