What it is
Fava Bean (Vicia faba) is in the Fabaceae (Legume) family. A cold-hardy bean for fall and winter sowing - big protein-rich seeds, plus heavy nitrogen fixation.
How to grow it
It wants full sun, water it moderate, and give it rich soil. Target a soil pH around 6.0-7.5. Space plants about 6-8 in apart. Expect roughly 75-90. Cool-season annual.
How it's used
Fava Bean is used: shelled, cooked; young pods.
🔎 How to identify it
- Upright square stems
- Black-and-white flowers
- Large upright pods
Edibility
How to grow & propagate fava bean
Everything I've worked out about starting this one, keeping it alive through a Texas year, and turning one plant into many — free.
How to propagate fava bean
Legumes resent transplanting — that taproot wants to go straight down — so sow them right where they'll grow once the soil has warmed. Soak hard-coated seed overnight to speed germination. As a bonus, this whole family pulls nitrogen out of the air and banks it in the soil, so wherever you grow them you're feeding next season's crop.
Growing fava bean in Texas
Give it full sun and rich soil. Match the spot to the plant and most of the battle is already won.
This is a cool-season crop. On the Texas Gulf Coast that means your real windows are fall and late winter, not summer — sow as the heat breaks in September–October and again in late winter, and you'll harvest through our mild winters while the rest of the country is frozen out.
Keep moisture even, especially while it's young — deep, less-frequent soaks build better roots than a daily sprinkle.
Harvesting
Figure on roughly 75-90 before you're harvesting. Harvest at peak and keep harvesting — most vegetables produce harder the more you pick, and one left to over-mature tells the plant its job is done. The part you're after: seeds (cooked).
Making more for free
Every seed we sell is open-pollinated, which means you can save your own from the best plants and it'll grow true next year. Let a few of your strongest plants finish and go to seed, dry it fully, and store it cool and dark. That's the whole point of heirlooms — buy once, grow forever.
Part of the free Texas Roots plant database, compiled by Jordan Polasek from his greenhouse in El Campo, Texas. Free to read and share. If it helped, the best thanks is to grow something.