tips on harvesting fava flowers and leaves

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Fava flowers are available for several months from early to mid-Spring, since they continue to produce new flowers while older ones wither and transform into pods.  At the flowering stage, leaves should still be tender enough for a salad if you pick them from the top clusters. Store unwashed flowers and leaves in a sealed container in the refrigerator where they should last for 2-5 days. Worried about leaving enough flowers to produce beans or feed pollinators? Fava researcher Kyle Brasier suggests picking only one flower or two flowers per cluster to make sure enough remain to form a full and healthy pod and still support pollinators.

If you are growing favas as a cover crop, cut them down when 50% of the flowers are fully open.  Before terminating them, pick as many flowers as you like.  It will reduce the risk of reseeding.  Want to know how to terminate a cover crop of favas? Click on the button below to watch our video.