Bob Tiley’s method for broad beans

There is nothing more disheartening than seeing your excellent crop of broad beans swamped by blackfly. You can reduce the risk by growing your beans to harvest earlier in the season. Some people have success with overwintering their beans. Bob’s idea was to give the beans a “head start” in the Spring by germinating the beans in his airing cupboard then planting them out (carefully) in drills at about this time of year. Bob would put the beans in a plastic bag with some moist compost and they germinate in about 4 days. I use trays because the germinated seeds are very delicate and I find I can untangle roots without damaging them much better if they are organised in rows at a spacing of about 1cm in the tray. Typically this method will give you a two week headstart from planting to cropping. Good Luck!