Planting Fava Beans

a little illustrated tutorial...

dried fava pods

 dry favas out of the pod

 soak them overnight in plenty of water

 drain off water, put on a paper towel. note how much plumper they are than in the first pic.

fold towel in half and place in a plastic bag. note I added a little extra water than what is pictured above so the towel was evenly damp. I put a tomato on the bag so it was sorta closed.

after 2.5 days, beginning to sprout

after 4 days, ready to plant. you can plant them with a bigger sprout, too if the timing works out that way. plant about 5" deep, keep soil moist-ish, but they are pretty tough. no real pests. you plant in the fall, they produce March or so. they produce ALOT. eat fresh raw, fresh lightly cooked, dried.

 you can get seeds from the IV food coop (bulk bins) or rareseeds.com currently has 4 varieties available