Plant baby broad bean plants now for a super-early crop this summer. If you sowed seeds of winter- hardy varieties like ‘Aquadulce Claudia’ last autumn, they’ll be sturdy youngsters by now and can safely go in the ground over the next few weeks.
Planting Broad Beans
Choose a mild day to plant when the soil is workable, and cover with a clear polythene cloche after planting to keep them sheltered while they settle in – you’ll find easy-to- use tunnel cloches in the garden centre here in Lymington which you can concertina out over the row.
If you didn’t get around to a late sowing, look out for plug plants arriving in the garden centre soon. Ready-grown veg are a really easy way to stock up your plot, giving you exactly the right amount of plants so you don’t waste money raising more than you need.
Broad Bean Care
Keep the cloche in place through the worst of the late winter weather, but remove as soon as the warmer spring weather starts (or if your plants start to hit the top!) Most broad beans need some support, so build a framework of short canes around the row to prevent them flopping sideways. You can expect to crack open your first pods of tender baby beans by late May.