The stress of plants

Plants which are stressed don't generally taste as good. They are tougher, more bitter, less sweet. A lot of these plants have created toxins that protect them from herbivores who eat them and soar to higher levels when the plants were stressed.

We had a crazy bad spring. The peas and the greens couldn't make it in the heat and dry after the thaw. The fava beans did get somewhere but not far enough, now they get mulched. Usually the leaves are tender and sweet, not this year.