When are broad beans ready to eat?

Hi all - as a new plotter I have done broadies for the first time.  I believe we can eat them like normal green beans or wait till the pods grow big enough to harvest the beans..

When are the pods big enough to eat like green beans? Mine are now about 1 cm in diameter and about 7-8 cm long. Is this too early?

If you have plenty of beans you can eat them when they are about 3 inches long. Sometimes it is good to thin them out.

You can eat the podded beans from when they are large pea size upwards. Small beans are nice and tender. Large beans can have tough skins which some like but others find bitter. If you do not like the chewy skins cook the beans and then quicky peel them when they are hot. That is what the chefs do.

Broad beans are good in salads. Also stir fry with bacon pieces.

I like the half matured beans inside the pod, but some says the young pods could be used as whole.

I tried and still prefer the big beans not the ones with pod.

I might get some very young ones and try again.

also I nipped off the tops of the plants after four set of flowers or when the first pod showed, to avoid blackflies. I used the tops after reading to some recommendation on Internet, and they taste nice.

Hi Bing - thanks for the info on blackflies.. I assume it's time now to nip the tops off?


Thanks for the info everyone.. I'm going to pick some and try them tomorrow..

yes, I nipped them all off about two weeks ago, btw, I grow the overwinter veriaty, they areover 4 feet tall, and all headless with lots pods.

a bit vegetable cruelty, but blackflies are nusty, and my plants aee fee from them now. even when I spotted blackflies on my nearby young runner bean plants