[flowerlady]

Last year I was lucky enough to swap some broad beans ... they were purple beans   !!

I have grown them on this year and have achieved a great little harvest ... there is just one itsey bitsey little snag ... the taste  :shock:

Eaten raw, even if they are small even tiny ... they are tough. :shock:   If you boil them they go floury  :? ... microwaves just split the skins  :cry:  :?   Are they meant to be kept, dried, and then used in casseroles  

Does anyone else grow these little chaps?  I don't like to be beaten ... could always sow some of them again and try as a late crop  These ones I grew through the winter ...

... so what do you think ?

Flo .... ( puzzeled )  :?

[Aunt Sally]

I know broad beans contain a toxin  - vicine and can make certain people unwell.  I was just looking for some information about it and found this:

http://www.cbif.gc.ca/pls/pp/ppack.info?p_psn=259&p_type=all&p_sci=comm&p_x=px

If you scroll down a bit it says this about chickens

Notes on poisoning:

Unprocessed broad beans contain factors that lower the rate of chicken growth and alter the size of liver and pancreas. Dietary broad beans have a marked influence on the metabolism of laying hens. Vicine, which is thermostable, causes a reduction in the number of ova, in egg weight, in fertility, and in egg hatchability (Cheeke and Schull 1985).

[flowerlady]

:shock:  I'm even more puzzled now !!  :?  

[Aunt Sally]

Sorry Flo, I got side tracked there  :roll:

[peapod]

maybe you need to soak them for 24 hours first? like kidney beans?

[drdave]

If you had G6PD, the disease pertained to on the weblink, you would know about it by adulthood. Certain drugs and foods have to be avoided. It is not a food "allergy" as such...
If you have G6PD I suggest seeking advice from your GP. Tinterweb can be very misleading.

[Aunt Sally]

Thanks for that DrD.  You are absolutely right, any one susceptible would now about it.  I've studied physiology and pharmacology and sometimes go off at a medical tangent.  My point was that is probably best not to give them to chickens.