Now is the time to sow broad beans, writes Gillian Vine.
In March 1894, the Mount Ida Horticultural Society held a show in the Naseby Town Hall.
''The vegetables were numerous, and of a quality that would be hard to beat,'' reported the Mount Ida Chronicle, a Naseby goldfields newspaper that was published from 1869 until 1926.
The line-up included fruit - ''protected by wire netting . . . much to the sorrow of a number of small boys, the committee having evidently learned by experience that the fruit has a mysterious knack of disappearing'' - and vegetables ''of a quality that would be hard to beat [and equal to] those of any other part of the colony'', the newspaper reported.
The man who took overall honours entered 47 different vegetables, something unheard of 120 years on.
Among the Naseby exhibitors was a Miss Mathias, from Hamiltons, 10km from Waipiata, and her numerous prize-winning entries gave rise to the reporter's comment that this area ''would appear to be specially favoured with regard to climate, soil etc''.
Among Miss Mathias' awards was one for 12 broad beans (Vicia faba), a reminder of how well they grow throughout the South.
They are among the toughest vegetables and were grown in Europe 4000 years ago for eating fresh and drying for winter use.
In Egypt, though, they were shunned because of the scary belief that the souls of the dead migrated into broad beans. The association with the dead became quite widespread.
Early British migrants to Otago brought many vegetables, including broad beans such as Imperial Green Windsor, which had been in cultivation since 1729.
Crops were (as now) generally grown in rows, a practice that appeared in England in the late 18th century, replacing the ancient technique of broadcasting seed. Given that most broad beans grow 1m or more tall and need support, rows make more sense.
With their large seeds and tough natures, broad beans are a good vegetable for someone starting out. They don't mind heavier soils, as long as they are well composted or manured and don't dry out, while liming before sowing to sweeten acid soils helps them along.
Sow them from now until the end of this month or even early May to give them time to grow a few centimetres before winter brings them to a halt.
Then, as soon as the soil warms up in spring, away they go, producing sweet-smelling black-and-white (and, rarely, red) flowers that are a magnet for bees.
Tick beans (Vicia faba var. minor) are grown in the same way. The main difference is smaller seed and pinkish flowers.
Autumn sowing is said to produce less rust on broad beans than on those sown in spring but autumn sowing can mean they flower before many bees are about, so the crop is smaller.
Whenever they are sown, the flowers attract bees, although bumblebees, too fat to squeeze into the flowers, sometimes bite off the backs of blooms to get the pollen.
Being a cool-climate vegetable, the flowering of broad beans falls away when daytime temperatures rise above about 20degC.
Sow beans 12-15cm apart and 6cm deep. Sown too shallowly, the beans will push above the ground, making a tasty snack for birds and mice.
Some gardeners soak bean seeds overnight before sowing but if the soil is moist, this is not really necessary.
Depending on the weather, unsoaked beans take about 7-10 days to germinate, soaked ones a day or two less.
Apart from rust, the other main pests are the black aphids that sometimes gather in the tops of the plants. Get rid of them with a soap spray or just nip out the tips.
The ''stitch'' at the end of a bean indicates maturity. If it has turned dark brown, the skins will be tough and nasty.
The easiest solution is to cook mature beans in their skins, then pass through a Mouli to get a fine puree. Serve hot with lots of butter.
Broad beans give back nitrogen to the soil through the little knobs (nodes) on their roots, so when your crop is harvested, dig in the plants or add them to the compost bin.
