Fava Bean
Vicia faba
G
rowing my own fava beans took what I 8–10 inches. The problem was that they devel
thought about them to a whole new level. oped an extra greenish gray skin on each bean
In Britain, they are well known as broad that was quite tough. Next year I’ll harvest
beans, which indeed they are! They are a better them earlier.
buy when grown in the garden than bought in It’s important not to overwater favas. Water
the store because the pods are huge and inedi just before the soil dries out. Keep the soil
ble, which makes the eventual bean quite costly. moist during flowering and pod formation.
In England, we would cook the relatively
young bean in a white sauce—the outer jacket
on the inner bean was still tender, and they
were quite a treat. The Numbers
But it was in Greece that fava made their If your relatives came from the Mediterranean, check
mark as a traditional rite of passage in the early on their allergic reaction to favas, called favism. It is
spring. Everyone served them with garlic, pep rare but genetically transmitted.
pers, and heaps of oregano and feta cheese. For each 100 g boiled (3.5 oz ; ½ cup) mature beans:
What a wonderful thing seasons are! 110 calories, 0 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 20 g carbohy-
My favas grew very rapidly in a warm, sunny drate, 8 g protein, 5 g dietary fiber, 5 mg sodium
patch. The pods began to emerge as the blos- For each 100 g boiled (3.5 oz ; ½ cup) immature
soms dropped, leaving a black furry blob that beans: 62 calories, 0.5 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 10 g
looked suspiciously like mold, but it wasn’t! I carbohydrate, 5 g protein, 4 g dietary fi ber, 41 mg
let my pods grow and grow until supersize, sodium
144 • GROWING AT THE SPEED OF LIFE
