October 2025
The Humble Broad Bean
We’re celebrating the many uses of the humble broad bean - a spring hero that’s easy to grow, delicious to eat, and full of surprises. While its reputation has long suffered thanks to memories of mushy, over-boiled beans, our 24 Carrot Gardens schools know better. To help us show just how versatile and wonderful this plant can be, we visited our friends at The Agrarian Kitchen, one of Australia’s top restaurants, to chat with founder Rodney Dunn and head gardener Mitch Thiessen.
Each spring, our 24 Carrot schools are busily picking, podding, cooking and devouring broad beans. It’s not uncommon to hear a groan of “Yuck, broad beans!”, unfortunately this is usually from adults! But once you see how Rodney and Mitch use them, it’s impossible not to fall in love with this plant all over again.
Rodney’s passion is infectious. “It’s such a great plant for our climate, and the beauty of it is that the whole plant can be used,” he says. From leaf to flower to bean, everything (except the roots) is edible - and delicious. “We take out the growing tips and use them raw in salads or grilled over a really hot fire,” he explains. “When the beans are young, as big as your pinky finger, we cook them whole over a nice hot fire for a bit of smokeyness - not too much, the fire equivalent of a blanch. Larger than that, we pod them once, and then pod them twice.”
Even the side leaves have a place on the plate. “They still get used in salads,” says Rodney. “A lot of people never think to use the leaves.” And of course, the flowers? Yes they are edible too, but “We prefer the flowers to turn into beans,” he laughs.
Out in the Agrarian Kitchen’s one-acre market garden, Mitch explains how broad beans aren’t just a kitchen star - they’re a soil champion too. “Plants are the best soil builders,” he says. “Whether we’re using broad beans as a crop or a green manure, they’ll always be one of the additions.”
Before leading the Agrarian Kitchen’s garden, Mitch was a Kitchen and Garden Specialist with 24 Carrot Gardens - so he knows first-hand the joy and excitement broad beans bring to students. “If you put a plate of food down with lots of green things, kids might not be interested,” he says. “But when they’re in the garden, they pick it, smell it, and taste it - they’re so much more open to trying things. Being part of that process makes all the difference.”
That hands-on connection is exactly what 24 Carrot Gardens is all about — joy, wonder and delicious learning. Across our schools, broad beans spark curiosity and confidence as students discover how good fresh food can taste straight from the garden. The simple act of planting, picking and cooking these beans connects students to the food they eat and intrinsically to the value of healthy, local, sustainable eating.
Rodney took us into the kitchen to show us some of the more sophisticated places their broad beans end up. “Shoyu is a Japanese word for a soy sauce, but it’s a better word then ‘soy sauce’ because you can then say it’s a ‘broad bean shoyu’.” he says. “As our culinary landscape has expanded, and we deepen our understanding of other cultures we start to adopt their words in our kitchen.” He gives us a taste of this aging shoyu and it already has a complex flavor.
They not only have their broad bean ‘soy sauce’ but also a broad bean ‘miso’! “Quite often we will use dried broad beans to make an amino paste or a miso, typically miso is soybean based but we are using broad beans to create a deep umami flavoured puree which can be used in a number of ways.” Rodney explains. “It’s quite nice smeared on a carrot, radish or kohlrabi from the garden as a canapé or snack. It’s quite nice adding a spoon to a sauce. It’s lovely, as miso is, made into a soup!” We had a taste of this fermenting paste and it tasted like it would go perfectly on toast!
So next time you see broad beans popping up in the garden, think beyond the pod and enjoy the whole plant! Leaves can be eaten raw in salads, tips are delicious raw or cooked, baby beans can be enjoyed whole, and larger beans are double-shelled to remove any bitterness. It’s one of many plants that’s helping our students grow healthy minds, healthy bodies, and a lifelong love of good food.
Want to grow your own?
-Sow seeds directly from April to September, avoiding sowing in the depth of winter (June-July).
-Space plants 30-40 cm apart and rows 50-60 cm apart.
-Make multiple sowings for an extended harvest.
-Support plants as they start to grow tall - a few stakes and some twine does the trick!
-Pinching out the growing tips (and eating them) helps to grow compact and productive plants.
-Search for rare and colourful varieties like ‘Crimson Flowered’ or ‘Chocolate Flowered’.
-Harvest and enjoy!
-For seed saving simply leave beans on the plant to dry out.
Keep an eye on our social media to see our chat at Agrarian Kitchen on video.
Words: Reuben Parker-Greer
Photos: Yasmin Mund