With summer beginning to show itself at CMP it is time to harvest the last of our spring crops and turn the ground over to new plants. After a full season of taking in sun, water, and vital nutrients from the ground our vegetables have plumped up enough energy to share around the school.
Our main focus for harvest this spring was our fava bean bushes. Starting the previous fall by scattering handfuls of beans along the hillside, our students waited patiently all winter for them to begin to emerge. Soon enough there were dozens of bushes popping up all over the farm, even in spots we didn’t plant.
Finally after growing over six feet tall and blooming hundreds of white flowers, the unmistakable bean pods began to grow along the stocks. Several classes got the opportunity to harvest the beans, plucking away at the pods along the stalks, many larger than themselves. The hard work wasn’t over there though as the students continued opening each pod to discover the tasty snacks inside. Each bush produced roughly 32oz of beans, though many were lost to hungry mouths during the harvest.
Many students enjoyed the beans fresh out of the pods while more students (and most of the teachers) enjoyed them warmed in the microwave and lightly salted and peppered. Either way they were a tasty treat after months of waiting and hours of preparation, which many students say was well worth it.
Fava beans are great fall/winter crops to help refill your gardens nutrients. Through nitrogen fixation the plants take atmospheric nitrogen and convert it into nitrogen compounds that can be taken in by organisms in the ground or by eating the plants themselves. Without this process nitrogen can be locked in the atmosphere making it difficult to enter nutrient cycles on earth.
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