Broad bean tops and potatoes

Our plot isn't big enough, and we don't have the time, for us to be self-sufficient in fruit and veg. But it's just wonderful to be able to nip up the garden and grab a lettuce, dig a few potatoes or acquire some green veg such as broad bean tops or rainbow chard.

Last night I picked some broad bean tops. The leafy shoots just above the flowers are really tasty, steamed or cooked in a tiny amount of water like spinach. Then I dug up some potatoes which had grown up from tubers overlooked last year. These "feral" potatoes tend to mature a bit earlier than this year's planted crop. They come up wherever we had potatoes last year and, because we practice crop rotation as much as possible, they come up amongst the beans or courgettes or letuces. So it's good to dig them up early and get them out the way.

Broad bean tops

New potatoes, scrubbed and in the pan to boil.
Get several potato varieties  - but they all taste good!

Picking the broad bean tops also helps to prevent black-fly which like to start at the succulent tips and work down. So get in early before they do and enjoy a tasty feast!