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Fava beans for soil enrichment
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Posted by revajane 9 (My Page) on Fri, Oct 9, 09 at 15:17
| I've been told that planting Fava beans before planting a first time vegetable garden may NOT be a good idea as they produce a lot of seed and impact the garden. Thoughts?
(I am a new user to this site and have tried to post this message three times. I hope this doesn't appear as a duplication.) |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Fava beans for soil enrichment
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| I haven't done this myself but a neighbor down the road plants fava beans as a cover crop in her raised garden beds. She turns them under when they start to flower but before they make beans and then go to seed. |
RE: Fava beans for soil enrichment
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| I planted about 30x30 area with fava & clover cover & some beans seed & going to till rows to plant my early tomato & veg. next spring. I think it a good idea. The farmers here often plant them between their vines & tree fruit crops as a green manure. Good luck |
RE: Fava beans for soil enrichment
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- Posted by glib 5.5 (My Page) on
Fri, Oct 16, 09 at 23:36
| There are many weeks between bloom and mature seeds, months in fact. I can't recall a single one reseeding itself, and you will not find a better green manure. Buy a scythe. You can also eat the greens. |
RE: Fava beans for soil enrichment
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| Fava beans have a very vigorous root system, which makes them one of the BEST crops for a new garden because the roots will penetrate and break up the soil. They're a legume so their nitrogen fixing capability will leave the soil better of than when they were put in as far as nutrients too. Last year, just for grins, I used a hoe to move aside the mulch on soil that had never been tilled and laid a row of beans on the top of the soil, then covered with the mulch. It grew full sized fava plants with no fertilizer or extra water. |
RE: Fava beans for soil enrichment
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| Why not just grow the favas as a regular vegetable? Eat the beans and then dig in or compost the plants. It seems a terrible waste to me to turn them in before you get the crop. |
RE: Fava beans for soil enrichment
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| I do grow them as a regular vegetable, but last year I planted about 1000 of them. Far more than I could do anything with (did give a bunch away). This year bean weevils struck, so I don't think I have as much viable seed as last year. |
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