It’s the time of year when people get generous with bunches of silver beet, bags of broad beans and more bags of broad beans, that are given away with gusto. The Backyard Pharmacy at Maison Bleue is flush with greenery but it’s a battle to keep up with eating it. Warmer weather means salad days are here so that’s great as a catch-all for anything you fancy in a salad bowl with a good dressing, especially the sweet snow peas that are replenishing themselves as quickly as they are picked.
A knock on the door and a friendly inquiry as to our silver beet status is politely declined, seeing as I had just made a mega batch of four dozen silverbeet and ricotta sausage(less) rolls. This was followed by a visitor with a huge pot full of purple kale and the words ‘please take more’ when I took half a dozen handfuls to ferment (which turned out very well). Where’s the local vegie swap when you want it?
The unseasonable dry and heat has made the long awaited Brussels sprouts and a few other tasty treats bolt and an incursion into our newly fortified yard by The Girls saw the leaves eaten off a second batch of cavolo nero, the sprouting broccoli and the kohl rabi. They love their brassicas. It doesn’t pay to get too attached to what you are growing. The local Spring fair was a chance to relocate some rapidly spreading warragul greens, oregano and rocket, but there’s plenty more popping up where they came from. Meanwhile the tomatoes growing from seed in the potting shed are starting to look strong and my impatient purchase of two grafted heritage tomatoes recently planted have been prudently protected with shade cloth just in case of another frost – and we have had two this week!
Last season the old repurposed trailer/garden bed produced tasty spuds so I reasoned that a crop of broad beans would be a good nitrogen addition for the soil, providing beans in the meantime. When they die off the stems will be cut and composted and the remainder dug in to enrich to soil.
Broad beans are also known as fava beans. They contain high levels of protein, fibre and other plant nutrients plus levo-dopa, a precursor for production of compounds like dopamine in the brain and used to treat people suffering Parkinson’s disease.
But what to do with the prolific beans? The small ones are beautiful in salads, when larger they need cooking and each bean needs peeling, which is OK for small amounts. Try them in risottos, soups or pureed with peas or make a tasty batch of avocado and broad bean sourdough toast topper.
