Last fall we planted only two rows on each bed of fava beans. This will allow us to walk between them with our backpack air sprayer to suffocate the aphids with soapy water. The aphids have moved into the fava bean plants, but the beds are too wet for us to walk on so they are making themselves comfortable in certain places. With sunshine in the forecast for later this week, we hope to gain the upper hand. Aphids breathe through spiracles in their skin that water cannot penetrate due to surface tension. We break that surface tension with the addition of some soap. If you buy non-organic favas, they are protected by pesticides, which are absorbed into the sap of the plant. As the aphid feeds on the plant it ingests the poison and dies. You would also get to eat it, but as always it is at “safe levels.”