Favas for the Future

I’d been holding off on harvesting from one of my eight or so fava plants in order to eventually save its seeds. I wasn’t sure when the right time was going to be for collecting those seeds, but I finally decided that today was the day.

Despite the plant’s thorough desiccation, I wasn’t completely sure it was ready, but the stems were dead and the pods were starting to split open, seemingly good signs.

I got a pretty good haul from the plant’s three stems, collecting more than what I’d already had in storage from a previous year — 2020, I think.

The stored seed is darker for some reason, but I think the new beans are about the same size, or maybe just a smidge smaller. My 2020 pods held 5 or 6 beans, while today’s had only 3 or 4, so I guess I messed up somehow in the selection process. I remember previously trying to grow the saved seed (in 2021, I suppose) and getting very strange plants with curlicue stems. Given that failure, I feel pretty good that I got a decent crop this year, even if the pods aren’t as bountiful.

Interestingly, the other fava bean plants from this year have had a second life. They ran their course and seemed to be just about dead earlier this summer, but then started to grow new stems and pods closer to their base after I planted corn and tomatoes in the same box and started regular watering again. The photos don’t quite capture the scene, but this new growth was quite a pleasant surprise.