Overwintering broad beans & peas
Here's one of growing's loveliest sleights of hand: tuck a few hardy broad beans and peas into the ground as the year winds down, all but forget about them, and they'll hand you a crop in late spring weeks before anything you sow in March. They sit out the winter doing very little, then surge away the moment the light returns — and they fill that lean stretch of late spring when the stores are empty and nothing new is quite ready.
It works best in milder, well-drained spots, so let your own weather guide you — check your frost dates before you sow.
Why sow them in autumn
The pull is an earlier harvest. Autumn-sown broad beans and peas crop several weeks ahead of spring sowings, right in the “hungry gap” of late spring when the winter veg is finishing and the summer crops are nowhere near. There's a second prize with broad beans: by cropping early, they often get the pods set before blackfly arrives in force — the pest that torments so many spring-sown plants. And it's one job off the towering spring to-do list.
Choose hardy varieties — this matters
This is the one thing you can't fudge. Ordinary spring varieties won't stand a winter; you need the tough, hardy types bred for autumn sowing. Get this right and the rest is easy.
Broad beans
The classic overwintering broad bean — exceptionally hardy and the most reliable for an autumn sowing. If you grow one, grow this.
A compact, sturdy bean that copes well with wind and exposure — good for breezy plots and smaller beds.
Peas
Short, tough and one of the hardiest peas there is — the safest choice for an autumn sowing.
A sweet, dependable overwintering pea that stands the cold well and crops early.
When and how to sow
Aim for late October into November. The goal is plants a few inches tall going into the deep cold — established enough to be tough, but not so lush and soft that the frost damages them. Sow too early and they grow leggy; too late and they barely get going.
Sow broad beans about 5cm deep and 20cm apart in a double row; sow hardy peas a little shallower in a wide, dense band. Choose your sunniest, best-drained bed — and if your ground lies wet over winter, that's the single biggest thing to fix, because cold wet soil rots the seeds before they ever get going.
Carrying them through
- Drainage first— the real winter killer is waterlogging, not cold. A free-draining bed, or a raised bed, does more than any cover.
- A little cover in the hardest frosts— the hardy varieties cope with most winters, but a cloche or fleece helps in a brutal cold snap or an exposed, northern garden. See protecting crops from frost.
- Guard against mice & pigeons— mice dig up the seeds and pigeons strip the young shoots. Netting, or starting in pots, keeps both off.
- Support and pinch out in spring— when growth surges, support peas with twiggy sticks, and once broad beans are flowering well, pinch out the soft growing tips — it discourages blackfly and pushes the plant into podding.
Common questions
Can you sow broad beans in autumn?
Yes — hardy varieties like Aquadulce Claudia are bred for it. Sown in late October or November, they make a little growth, sit through winter and romp away in spring for a crop weeks ahead of spring-sown beans, often dodging the worst of the blackfly too.
When should I sow overwintering broad beans and peas?
Late October into November is the sweet spot — late enough that plants don't grow too soft, early enough to root well. Aim for plants a few inches tall going into the cold. In the coldest, wettest areas, start them in pots or wait for an early spring sowing.
Do autumn-sown beans and peas need protection?
The hardy varieties survive most UK winters unprotected, though a cloche or fleece helps in hard frosts. Protection from mice and pigeons matters more than the cold — and good drainage (or a raised bed) does more than any fleece, since waterlogging is the real risk.
What's the advantage of overwintering peas and beans?
An earlier crop — weeks ahead of spring sowings, filling the hungry gap of late spring. Autumn-sown broad beans also often escape the blackfly that plagues spring sowings, and getting them in now is one less job in the spring rush.