Fava Beans Are Villainously Delish
The most memorable reference to fava beans in media probably comes from Hannibal Lecter in the Silence of the Lambs. “A census-taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti. fsfsfsffs” (I’m not sure how to describe the teethy inhale/exhale in words, so here’s the video).
Even if you’re more of a cereal killer than a serial killer, these beans provide a lot of protein (like other beans). If you want to branch out from the typical pole and bush beans, then fava beans might be the next bean for you to try. It is for me. Fava beans are also called broad beans or faba beans, but in the US fava is most common.
Trellis Not Required
One of the cool things about these sturdy bean plants is that they do not require a trellis like many other legume vines. They have a sturdy stem and can grow to be 6 feet tall. However, hot and humid summers are no friend to these beans and can cause a lot of different diseases, but again, that’s par for the course for beans.
There’s a lot of different cultivars. So you just need to find a cultivar that is well adapted to your region. As with all homesteading endeavors, it is worth conducting research on appropriate plants to grow that will have high yields and minimal work. At some point you must “Simply Undertake it”. The last thing you want is to grow a plant that requires a lot of extra work.
Mitigating Issues for Growing Fava Beans
Since humidity tends to be an issue, it is best to grow these beans in a sunny spot with a decent amount of plant spacing. This ensures ample circulation and heat to dry out the plants after a rain or watering. Unfortunately, that means fava beans are not ideal for food forests with large canopy trees. They are better suited for sunny fields or vegetable gardens within a food forest that get a lot of sun. Also, you should start fava beans EARLY, like February at the latest (I’m in Zone 8a).
You can buy fava bean seeds (i.e. the beans themselves) from pretty much any seed supplier. I like to help out the smaller businesses when possible, so I ordered my seeds from Homestead Culture. I ordered a few other seeds to fill out my cart a bit. However, I have yet to put those in the ground, so I’ll write about them when I get to planting them.
Another major benefit of growing beans is that they are nitrogen fixing plants (technically, they’re hosts for nitrogen fixing bacteria, but that’s for another post). They can help improve your soil. In fact, there is a variety of fava beans called field bean that are commonly used as a cover crop. However, the beans tend to be a bit smaller. There’s no reason why you couldn’t use fava beans as a cover crop too. It just might be more expensive to cover a larger area with fava beans rather than field beans.
Favism is a tiny bit Scary, but it won’t kill you
Dried fava beans are 3 to 4 times the size of a typical dried pinto bean or black bean. They can be eaten raw or cooked. However, some people have a condition called favism. There’s a good chance that if you have favism the only way you’d know it is by eating these beans. Favism can cause yellowish skin (jaundice), dark urine, shortness of breath, and feelings of tiredness. If you’re an adventurous eater and have eaten falafel, then you should be okay. Fava beans are typically used in that dish. It’s safe to say that Hannibal didn’t suffer from favism.