What to do in the garden mid-March

published 19 March 2011

The broad bean is a simple enough thing to grow, and a sybaritic pleasure to eat on a warm day, especially straight from its velvet-lined pod. Fork through the soil and take out a shallow flat trench the width of a spade by carefully shovelling the soil to one side. Place the big seeds in a double staggered row, mark the ends of the rows with stout canes, and carefully return the soil. As the shoots grow, support them with two rows of twine stretched between the canes. The result is immeasurably better than anything bought in a shop.

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