Planting Brassicas and Fava Beans
The beds in my vegetable garden are filling up quickly.
My gardeners have been very busy in the vegetable garden down by my chicken coops. After preparing and cultivating the soil and carefully making all the raised beds, they planted a number of crops. Many plants are started from seed indoors, such as the brassicas - broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage. Other seeds are planted directly into the soil. Soon the entire garden will be filled with rows of wonderful and nutritious produce.
Enjoy these photos.
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- One of our biggest priorities this time of year is to get all the plants and seeds in the ground. Every day, my gardeners, Ryan and Brian, head to the vegetable garden to plant. Most of our seeds come from Johnny’s Selected Seeds. Johnny’s has been farming organically for more than 40-years and offers hundreds of varieties of vegetable, herb, flower, and fruit seeds for the garden. I also bring home seeds from places I’ve traveled.
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- Here is Ryan preparing a raised bed for our fava beans. In my garden, we always practice crop rotation. This is the practice of planting different crops sequentially on the same plot of land to improve soil health, optimize nutrients in the soil, and combat pest and weed pressure.
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- To make the furrows for the seeds, Ryan uses Johnny’s Bed Preparation Rake to make five long furrows in the bed – first he makes four and then he moves over and creates a fifth furrow – we always try to fit as many vegetables in each bed as possible.
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- Vicia faba, also known as the broad bean or fava bean is an ancient member of the pea family. They have a nutty taste and a buttery texture. I always grow lots of fava beans. This extra early variety produces long pods filled with six large beans that are a pretty purple color and are sweet tasting. It’s a unique and colorful variety from Italy.
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- Ryan drops the seeds in the furrows making sure there is ample space in between for them to grow. Always consider mature plant size whenever planting.
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- The seeds are planted at least four or five inches apart. Planting this way is called direct sowing, or planting seeds in the garden, rather than starting seeds indoors earlier and transplanting them outside. Some crops do better planted directly into the ground. These plants won’t experience the stress of transplanting and will not need time to adjust to their new growing conditions.
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- Ryan carefully drops the fava seeds into the furrows. Also known as “broad beans”, these hardy annual plants are multi-use, beneficial, and easy-to-grow. Fava beans are also nitrogen-fixers – meaning they improve soil quality by adding nitrogen.
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- This variety is called ‘Broad Windsor.’ ‘Broad Windsor’ fava beans reach 36 to 48 inches tall, are upright, and non-branching. The five to eight inch long pods each contain five to seven seeds that have a pleasant mild flavor that works well with many herbs and spices.
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- Brian follows behind and pushes each seed about two inches into the ground with his finger.
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- Once the seeds are tucked into the soil, Brian backfills the entire furrow.
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- On a separate day, Ryan and Brian plant the brassicas – again, in a different spot from last year. My family and I love these vegetables, so I like to plant a lot of cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, and kale.
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- First, Ryan lays all the plants out in the bed giving each plant at least 12-inches of room. Brassica is a genus of plants in the mustard family. Members are informally known as cruciferous vegetables, cabbages, or mustard plants. They are also sometimes called cole crops.
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- Next, Brian follows behind and carefully plants each one. They should be planted in holes just slightly deeper than the container depth. Brassicas also require exposure to full sun – at least six to eight hours per day. Lack of sunlight may produce thin, leggy plants and subpar heads.
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- Brian uses a narrow trowel. it is made of stainless steel, with a five-inch by three-inch blade and a five-inch handle.
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- He places the plant in the hole, backfills, and then lightly tamps down on the soil around the plant.
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- Here, Brian makes sure the plants are all lined up properly in the bed.
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- Broccoli is one of the healthiest vegetables and is high in vitamin-C and fiber.
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- Cauliflower plants grow best in cool daytime temperatures of 70 to 80-degrees Fahrenheit with moist soil conditions high in organic matter.
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- It is very easy to plant in raised beds because of the light, fluffy, well-drained soil, which encourages vigorous plant growth. Brian gets all the brassicas in the ground quickly.
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- The trick to growing brassicas is steady, uninterrupted growth. That means rich soil, plenty of water, and good fertilization.
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- Finally, Ryan gives all the beds a good watering. We still have lots of room to plant more in the coming weeks. I am already looking forward to the first harvest. What are you planting in your vegetable garden this season?
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