Description

Reward your taste buds! Young pods can be eaten like snap beans. Pinch off the foliage tips for one of spring's tastiest greens. Best of all, shell the beans and cook when still green for a sweet, flavorful treat. The beautiful white and black flowers on sturdym upright plants make 'Windsor' pretty enough to use in flower beds! Favas are exceptionally cold tolerant (to 10°F) and grow best in cool conditions (below 75°F). Sturdy 24″-48″ tall favas require staking only in high wind areas. Caution: People deficient in an enzyme called glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) should not handle seeds, consume fava beans, or inhale its pollen.

Botanical Name: Vicia faba
Days to Maturity: 75 days
Family: Fabaceae
Native: Unknown
Hardiness: Frost-tolerant annual
Plant Dimensions: Rigid, erect plant up to 4' tall, and 24″ wide
Variety Information: 5″–6″ glossy green pods grow both solitary and in pairs. Each pod contains 3–8 large, oblong-shaped, flat, light green beans.
Type: Snap bean

When to Sow Outside: 6 to 8 weeks before your average last frost date. Cold Climates: Very early spring, when soil temperatures are as low as 35°F. Mild Climates: Sow early to mid-winter for spring harvest.
When to Start Inside: Not recommended; bean seedlings are sensitive to root disturbance.
Days to Emerge: 10–15 days
Seed Depth: 1″–3″
Seed Spacing: 1 seed every 4″–6″
Row Spacing: 18″–36″
Thinning: Not required.

Harvesting: Favas beans are at the peak of freshness just before the saddle-shaped scar at the end of the seed (“hilum”) turns brown. To eat whole like a snap bean, harvest when young and pods are 2″–3″ long; for fresh shelling beans, harvest when the pod shell turns green and the bean is a light green color; and for dry beans to store, harvest when shell turns hard and brown and seeds inside are dry.

This packet sows up to 9 feet.

18 seeds.