When to plant Broad beans
Calendar windows
Dates shift with your latitude — they are calculated from your local last-spring-frost date, not from a fixed calendar.
At a glance
Overwinters outdoors in a temperate garden.
Practical notes
An autumn sowing overwinters in mild areas and crops weeks before a spring one — and beats the blackfly, which arrives too late to matter. Pinch out the growing tips as soon as the first pods set.
Knowing when to pick
Pick when the beans are visible through the pod but the scar on the seed is still white or pale green — dark scars mean tough, floury beans.
Storing the crop
Blanch and freeze, or let the pods blacken on the plant and dry the beans for winter soups.
Crop rotation
Follow legumes with a leafy crop — the nitrogen they fix in their roots is free fertiliser.
Grows well with
Keep apart from
Watch for
Full guide: broad beans diseases and pests (3) → with spread routes, compost verdicts and the prevention this list justifies.