Harvest

When to pick broad beans

The short answer

Pick broad bean pods when they are full but still fairly small. Open one: the scar where each bean joins the pod should be white or green. Black means the beans have gone tough. They crop from late spring to late summer, lowest pods first.

The pod tells you less than the bean does. The scar test takes one pod and a few seconds, and it is the difference between sweet young beans and floury old ones.

When it's ready in the UK

RHS gives late spring to late summer, depending on the sowing time and variety. Vercro's catalogue keeps autumn-sown and spring-sown broad beans as separate crops, shown below.

Broad beans: sowing, planting and harvest months in Vercro's catalogue
Window	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
Broad Bean: sow indoorsFebruary	January: no	February: yes	March: no	April: no	May: no	June: no	July: no	August: no	September: no	October: no	November: no	December: no
Broad Bean: sow outsideMarch to May	January: no	February: no	March: yes	April: yes	May: yes	June: no	July: no	August: no	September: no	October: no	November: no	December: no
Broad Bean: harvestMay to July	January: no	February: no	March: no	April: no	May: yes	June: yes	July: yes	August: no	September: no	October: no	November: no	December: no
Autumn-sown broad bean: sow outsideOctober to November	January: no	February: no	March: no	April: no	May: no	June: no	July: no	August: no	September: no	October: yes	November: yes	December: no
Autumn-sown broad bean: harvestMay to July	January: no	February: no	March: no	April: no	May: yes	June: yes	July: yes	August: no	September: no	October: no	November: no	December: no

Months from Vercro's crop catalogue, the data the Vercro app plans with. It allows about 13 to 26 weeks from sowing to the first harvest. Weather, variety and where you garden move every one of these.

80 UK gardeners had recorded broad bean in Vercro by 19 September 2026. What Vercro gardens are growing.

How to tell it's ready

Full pods that are still relatively small.(RHS)
A white or green scar where the bean attaches to the pod. Not black.(RHS)
Whole young pods at about 5cm can be picked and cooked whole.(RHS)

How to harvest

Use secateurs or scissors to detach the pods, so you don’t damage the plants.(RHS)
Start at the bottom. Lower pods mature first; check every few days.(RHS)
Keep picking. Regular picking encourages more pods to form.(RHS)

What moves the date

Sowing time and variety.(RHS)

If you leave it too long

A black scar means the beans have become tough.(RHS)

Where the sources differ

Two good sources, two answers. We show both rather than picking the convenient one.

Where the sources differ
Question	RHS	Garden Organic
How big	Full but still relatively small pods, pale scar.	Wait until the seeds start showing through the pods before picking.

Keep a record of what each bed gave

Log what you pick, and how much, bed by bed. Vercro keeps the record, so next year you know what worked where, and Today shows what your crops need next.

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Where this comes from

Crop windows, growing times and plant families come from Vercro's own curated crop catalogue, the same data the Vercro app uses. Where a published source says something different, we show both rather than choosing the convenient one. Reviewed 19 September 2026.

Broad beans: grow your own, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
Broad bean, Garden Organic. Read 19 September 2026.