Garden tasks: Sow your broad beans before winter comes

Try ‘Longpod Aquadulce’, a sturdy 1m-tall heirloom variety that bears long pods with large, flat, pale seeds inside. 

• Broad beans need full sun, shelter from the wind, and prefer heavier, fertile soil that has been enriched with compost. If the soil is poor, add 2:3:2 or 3:1:5 fertiliser. 

• Sow directly into the soil where the plants are to mature. Plant two seeds per hole and if both germinate, cut off the weaker plant but don’t allow the two plants to compete.