I still haven't got round to sorting through the rest of my Colonsay photos, so just to keep things alive here, I thought I would do a quick post about the broad bean, Vicia faba! The inspiration came from a lovely walk the dogs and I took yesterday, across Becky's Strip, near North Berwick. Wafts of perfume came from a huge field of broad beans, and on taking a closer look at the plant, I was struck by how beautiful it is! Most of the time we just don't look properly at ordinary things like broad bean plants, but remedy that now.
And now read more here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicia_faba because this plant has been cultivated for the last 8,000 years and has an amazing role in history. Honestly, you just never know about these things until you start doing a bit digging!
Wow! They really are beautiful, aren't they? I wonder if bees are attracted to them, especially as you mention the perfume. I#m tempted to grow a few just for the bees! (Really not that keen on eating broad beans!)
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