Broad Bean Aquadulce Claudia Seeds

Hestia is an excellent choice for those with limited space and time, but who nevertheless hanker for the summertime taste of runner beans. I grow it in containers where the bushy habit and attractive bi-coloured blossoms make for a truly ornamental display. It requires less effort than normal runner beans and the beans themselves are of excellent quality and flavour and are string-less. I find t... [ more ]hat Hestia crops earlier than Pickwick (the alternative dwarf runner) and yields a bigger crop of better quality. Although of course the yield per plant is less that runners grown up poles, it is nevertheless easy to have all the beans you may need - normal runners always producing an excessive surfeit. Given the space for normal runners, I would still grow Hestia in preference.

I have grown this variety of broad bean for many years now, we love it, the beans are just perfect, it is an effort to stop eating them raw before they are cooked! They are looking a little pale this year under a cloche, a first, to stop them being nipped off by pigeons and doves (and probably mice too)! As I only have one cloche my second row (which is a little sparce) has been covered with e... [ more ]mpty water bottles, thereby making an individual cloche for each plant!!!

I have grown these for a number of years and always get good yields of superb tasting broadbeans, and there is no need to peel off the skins. I have usually harvested the beans before the blackfly appear

Sorry that this review is against the trend but I have never been successful with Aquadulce started before Christmas. I try them, however, every year because Broad Bean is my favourite - try them with boiled bacon joint and new potatoes ! This season, rather than putting them into the ground, I put the seed into 2 1/2 inch pots of seed compost mixed with perlite, and vermiculite. These went into ... [ more ]the cold frame .... Yes, they all germinated and grew into nice little plants; yes, in the west of Ireland the deep freeze started 18th December and then snowed and froze every day until the the last week of January 2010, but these are hardy beans are they not? I now have 2 plants remaining - they all gradually gave up the ghost. My feeling is that this seed is really not suitable for the North British Isles and the write-ups should make this fact clear to gardeners.

I think these beans are fantastic. As a reasonably new alloment holder, I still get very enthusiastic when vegetables grow well. Last year I had a very early crop, which lasted for several weeks. In the early stages I picked them small and we ate them uncooked in salads - delicious! One of the best things was that because it was early in the season, they were only available at the local farmer's... [ more ] cart , selling at £5.99 a kilo. This winter they were growing well and I panicked slightly when it snowed and laid for over a week, but now the snow has gone, they are standing up and I will at most have to replant 2/3. Obviously very sturdy.

stand well over the winter, giving a good yield/ early crop of tender tasty broadbeans. I have grown these for a number of years and never had a problem with blackfly.

My beans were wonderful last season., numerous pods to each plant and lovely young beans developed before the arrival of the black fly. This season I planted them infront of my green house for protection and they have already grown 12 inches tall, but of course they have been knocked flat by the snow during the past fortnight. Fortunately they still seem healthy and I am hopeful of another goo... [ more ]d crop.

Broad Bean Aquadulce Claudia I sow in November. It is worth growing a few extra in the greenhouse to replace any losses due to mice, voles etc. The plant itself is very hardy and although it looks limp and helpless in prolonged cold spells it will recover. I usually provide a support for my double rows using 3ft canes at the ends at at 6ft intervals along the row. String is used at heights o... [ more ]f 6, 12 and 18inches so that the double row is prevented from flopping over. Usually I pick the pods from the bottom and early when the bean is no bigger than my thumb nail. This is usually in early June. Successional sowings of broad beans after Christmas, sown in trays in the greenhouse will be planted out after 'hardening off' in March through to April, to extend the season. Please do not let the broad bean develop shucks it will put your children off broad beans for life! Try young broad beans mixed with finely sliced fried bacon and onions as part of a risotto.

I have been using Aquadulce for years, and find them the best tasting, most prolific, and as a bonus they freeze well, not losing flavour. If you beat the black fly the tips are useful as an alternative to greens

first time i've ever grown beans. they were fantastic. great picked young ,excellent flavour. had no problem growing,would recommend to anyone..

I live quite far north and these sturdy beans always do well in my windy garden. I cover with a fleece tunnel in midwinter to protect them from pigeons. Always plant a few extra for spares. The beans are tender and delicious.

The traditional autumn sowing broad bean. I avoid mice trouble by growing in pots and putting the plants out when they are a couple of inches high. They grow to big, strong plants with masses of filled pods. Mine suffered terribly from blackfly this year and it curtailed the harvest. Grow plenty, as there will be a few plant losses over winter.

Great crop with early sowing gave no blackfly. BUT slugs are a big problem for us . We are trying to reduce mouse damage by germinating the seeds (just Barely) before planting.

Excellant cropper and beautiful taste but unfortunately they are not black-fly proof, mine were smothered in blackfly this year but this broad bean variety is hardy enough to take the black fly spray and still keep growing and producing juicy fat beans.

I have been growing this type of bean for many years and know that they are very reliable and a good cropper too, with excellent taste, and the good thing about these beans is that they are black fly proof, as you will harvest before they appear, I would recommend these to any interested gardener, Just one drawback to sowing in the autumn and it's mice like the flavour too, so plant several extra ... [ more ]in the middle of the rows to fill in the gaps in the spring. Stuart