Bewitched By A Little Flower

In spite of delicious salads and stews made from fava beans. I first wanted to grow these cold hardy legumes for the flowers. While being shown the fields at a friendly CSA farm on beautiful Orcas Island James and I turned onto a field covered in beautiful white flowers dotted with black "eyes." At the time I had no idea what I was looking at. I've grown these cheerful beans every year since. I plant fava seeds (sometimes called broad beans)  in November or December as a delicious cover crop that returns nutrients to the soil, helps prepare the beds for summer vegetables, and becomes the basis for numerous delicious spring dishes. Not to mention the flowers.