[MickyB]

I have grown dwarf broad bean 'The Sutton', the pods are starting to fill, can some one tell me how to spot when they are ready for picking.

I also have Gooseberries, what can I do with them?

[Lardman]

Pick them whenever you can feel the beans inside the pod, the longer you leave them the bigger the beans will be but the tougher they will become. Pick a few, leave a few see a what stage you like them.

[LilacSandy]

Gooseberry pie, gooseberry jam, gooseberry wine, or just eat them fresh when they are ripe.

[beesrus]

I really like the bigger, more fibrous mature bean. Suttons are little different to any other variety in the maturity sense. I wouldn't dream of what some say they do and push the young inner beans out of their supposed hard outer bean casing. That would seem a bit Ritz and the behaviour of someone who has never actually grown their own food. A bit like the 1950/60s weird liking for cutting the crusts off bread to impress how refined one was with one's sandwiches.
So, with that in mind, I would say pick the pods when you can visibly see the beans swell and distort the pods, and then cook accordingly. If I'm picking for raw beans to go in salads, I would pick a good 10 days earlier.
 
In the end, it's a matter of personal taste.

[Steveharford]

I like them bigger too. Mind you, when I was young I always thought they smelledof sweaty socks when cooking so was put off.  No tiny young tasteless beans in those days. And now I like them big and tasty too, only they dont smell of socks any more !

[MickyB]

Thanks all, I have read that you can eat them whole when they are very small, although I am not sure what constitutes very small, has any one tried them this way?

I will experiment and see what I prefer.

I did try them uncooked straight from the pod as I thought they might be sweet like peas - I now know different   

[pigguns]

Our first serious borad bean year and they've bean  very popular with the family (even the fussy skinny 19 yr old who doesn't like veg)
We've had them small raw in salads, small/medium peeled in a dressing, in a salad with bacon & feta.  I like the texture mix best of larger ones peeled, some still in 'jackets'  and baby raw ones. 

Mind you, now I've just tasted my first proper peas  ....

[crh75]

I always double pod broad beans.  Much better tasting.

[RaptorUK]

I always double pod broad beans.  Much better tasting.

Me too . . .  let them get big then double pod.    and I like the crust on the bread I bake weekly 

[Goosegirl]

As said, feel them in the pod but it can be a bit deceptive like peas in the pod. You think they feel big enough then when you open the pod - not! We let them get a bit bigger then either eat them skins and all or take off their skins before cooking if we've missed their best picking time. One think I hate is tough skins on broadies, so don't let them go over!

[Growster...]

Broad beans are great for freezing too, but then the skins do get a bit leathery, and anyway, they fall off when you cook them!

We've having to net ours as some mystery creature hoiked most of them off the plants last year...

[diospyros]

I love the skins on broad beans, the pop as you bite into them...

[RaptorUK]

I always double pod broad beans.  Much better tasting.

Me too . . .  let them get big then double pod.    and I like the crust on the bread I bake weekly 

This is how I like my BroadBeans . . .  boiled for 2 mins,  then into ice water to stop them cooking,  double podded ready for a warm through in melted butter. 

[Growster...]

Nice way that, Raptor!

A chum said yesterday, that her mother always served up broad beans in a white sauce - podded as you describe! It may have been a parsley sauce, as my mother used to do the same!

They definitely have a smoother texture when cooked by your method!

[Madame Cholet]

Yes I like them cooked for about 2 mins just heated through realy.