edamame

Edamame (or green soy beans) are one of my favorite things to grow. I planted two varieties this spring, Envy and Butterbeans. I planted Envy first and they ripened this past week. Soybeans ripen all at once, so I pull the whole plant, pile them on the kitchen counter, and pick the pods off as I watch TV in the evening. We freeze whatever we can't eat fresh. They are especially good this year.

edamame

I am starting to harvest my soybeans. They are still a bit small, but really really tasty. My sister couldn't believe how good fresh edamame tastes.

Soybeans all ripen at once, so I just pull up the whole plant then pick off the beans.

I was impressed to see all the nitrogen-fixing nodules (rhizobia) on the roots.

no soy beans

This is what the rabbit did to my soybeans.

I love edamame, especially fresh from the garden. And I prefer a variety called Butterbeans. It has big pods and very good yields. I planted a patch earlier this year using seeds left over from 2 or 3 years ago. They did not spout (about 1 on 20 sprouted and the rabbit ate the few that did sprout). Maybe this is a seed that does not store well.

So I looked up online to find more Butterbeans. It seems they are out of stock everywhere. I found them at advertised one website and ordered two packages. But when they arrived they were a different variety (Envy - it has little pods). But I planted them anyway just before I left on vacation.

To make a short story long - the baby rabbit ate all the sprouts. Before leaving on vacation, I asked my husband to barricade the cold frame so the bunny couldn't get in. He reinforced the edges, adding lattice and plastic stapled to the wood frame. The problem was in securing it to the house. Well, the rabbit must have found a way in. Its too late now for a third try. No homegrown edamame this year.

today's sowing list: sunflowers and soybeans

Normally I would direct seed sunflowers and soybeans, but because of my voracious chipmunk, I am sowing them at home in trays and will transplant.

Sunflowers:
Tahumara white (Sand Hill)
Ling's Grey Stripe (Johnny's)
Elf's blend (Botanical Interests)

Soybeans:
Butterbeans (Johnny's)
Envy (Johnny's)

My soybeans that I planted 2 weeks ago had a germination rate of about 3/30 - bad. Today I remembered that I specifically bought the soybean inoculant and I forgot to use it. Today I added it to the soil as I sowed. I also went ahead and planted 3-4 seeds per cell. I hope to get a good crop.

I mostly eat soybeans as edamame (as an appetizer with salt and directly from the pod). I find that home grown are so much better than store bought - even if they're frozen. The best varieties of soybeans are developed by commercial growers to ripen all at once. So sometime in mid August, I look forward to a week of lots of fresh-from-the-garden edamame, then for a month or so, I have fresh frozen. Then ... its back to the store again ...

The sunflowers are an experiment. Sunflowers don't transplant well. I've killed them several times trying to move volunteers. But I've also bought potted plants and they transplanted fine. I wanted to use peat pots, but didn't have any left. So I used regular plastic seed cells. I'll be try to be careful to not disturb the roots when transplanting.

ripe soybeans

Looks like the soybeans are ready to eat! Just in time for my birthday. In a few days I'll harvest these hairy beans and check out what garden fresh edamame tastes like.

The variety is Early Haucho from The Cook's Garden that I planted on May 28.

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soybeans

I don't know why more people don't grow soybeans. It looks like I have a real nice crop coming soon. They were easy to grow and there are many soybeans on each plant. The season seems only a couple weeks longer than green beans. Maybe its not such a popular vegetable to eat, but I love edamame with salt as an appetizer. I'm curious to see if homegrown tastes better than the frozen soybeans I usually eat.

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baby soybeans!

Soybeans are another first for me this year. I am hoping for a good crop of edamame. Good news - the plants have lots of hairy little pods now!

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