This is So Weird, Edamame

[digitS']

No, no -- not, growing and eating soybeans (edamame) . . . Just using snow peas in the picture .

The article is great and gives you some good seed sources!

I hope more people will grow and enjoy edamame but I have an idea why it might be a little difficult to start using them as a snack food - your fingers get all green from the steamed pods ! Still, they are mighty tasty .

[url=https://www.ngb.org/todays_garden/index.cfm?TGID=5]National Garden Bureau article, Edamame[/url]

Steve

[Tilde]

hah, that's hilarious. I actually eat tons of it so I bought some seeds to grow - not sure where they are, somewhere in my basket of seeds ... Of course I just finished planting my first pile of snow peas, too ...

[digitS']

Sounds like you are a person who finds edamame in the markets. I guess it is in the frozen food, veggie sections. What am I doing, going to the wrong markets ?

Anyway, it would be a good thing to have it frozen. My only complaint with growing it in the garden is that the season is so short.

Generally, it is a short season here for soybeans. They are not grown commercially anywhere nearby and the variety in my garden only just makes it to maturity. The edamame season is short, too. The seeds must be nearly mature & I don't think that I could stagger my plantings to extend it.

Just gonna have to learn to freeze them . . .

Steve

[gumbo2176]

I easily get 2 crops of soybeans each year and love edamame. I'll plant about 25 ft. in one of my rows and double plant the width about 1 ft. apart with each plant probably no more than 4 inches apart in each section of row. They do grow very close with no problem.

I'll freeze what I don't use after a few days and put them up already cooked in quart freezer bags for later use. They freeze very well and a quick pop in the microwave or steamer and they are as good as the day they were first prepared. Problem for me is, my wife and daughter eat them like there's no tomorrow.

[Tilde]

Yeah, we can get them for crazy prices around here ($2.29 for almost a pound at Publix, or $1.99 a pound ($1.69 on sale) at Whole Paycheck or Fre$h Market$)) in the frozen food aisle.

Gumbo, good to know I don't have to blanch them (I'm guessing the frozen retailers do). What kind of yield do you get on your plants? I'm a 5 gal bucket kinda planter so I'd probably try to cram 4 per bucket and grow 3 buckets ...

[gumbo2176]

Yeah, we can get them for crazy prices around here ($2.29 for almost a pound at Publix, or $1.99 a pound ($1.69 on sale) at Whole Paycheck or Fre$h Market$)) in the frozen food aisle.

Gumbo, good to know I don't have to blanch them (I'm guessing the frozen retailers do). What kind of yield do you get on your plants? I'm a 5 gal bucket kinda planter so I'd probably try to cram 4 per bucket and grow 3 buckets ...

Hate to disappoint you, but I do blanch them. I'll take a large pot of water and add a good bit of salt to it and bring it to a rolling boil. In the meantime, I'll take the soybeans and rinse them in water to get any dirt that may be on the pods. Then I'll toss them into the pot, bring it back to a boil and let them cook for about 5-7 minutes. I have a double sink and use one side to drain the water from the beans and on the other side I'll have cold water with a lot of ice in it to put the hot beans in to quickly cool them to keep them from cooking more. After that, what I don't eat right away, I'll freeze.

Yield has been between 20-30 or so 2, 3, and sometimes 4 seeded pods per plant. I generally pick a few as they mature while the plant is still producing just to snack on from time to time, but I mass pick the rest all at once and pull the plants as I go.

[GardenRN]

I grew about 30 plants last year and got about 8 cups (I think) of shucked beans. not a bad return, but it was a lot of work peelin all those pods! I recruited 3 helpers and it still took about 2 hours. Wish the pods were edible, tied, the fuzz is gross lol. and they get very tough in a stir fry.

[digitS']

Jeff!

Peel them after they are cooked.

(& the fuzz goes away . . . )

Steve

[GardenRN]

Oh..I never got the fuzz to go away...but then I didn't boil them either. BUT I also much more enjoy them raw. So it's kind of self-defeating for me. I'll still probably grow them. My mom loves em and sometimes it's worth the extra work when it's for someone else.

[digitS']

. . . My mom loves em and sometimes it's worth the extra work when it's for someone else.

There you go.

[gumbo2176]

Oh..I never got the fuzz to go away...but then I didn't boil them either. BUT I also much more enjoy them raw. So it's kind of self-defeating for me. I'll still probably grow them. My mom loves em and sometimes it's worth the extra work when it's for someone else.

Next time put them in a sink full of cold water and grab a handful and make like you are washing your hands and rub the soybeans between your palms. This helps remove some of the fuzz. By the time I get done blanching them in salt water, the fuzz isn't very noticeable.

[Tilde]

Thanks, guys. Sounds like my bucket plan is about right if I can get in two seasons.

BlanchIng I can handle - when I do bulk beans in a crick from dried I freeze in small batches.

I wonder how much commercial processing de fuzzes them; only had them fresh with sashimi. I guess I'll see

I don't mind the pods; when on sale I buy them in shell & eat them like some do pistachioes minus the spitting.

[applestar]

I love edamame. When my kids were toddlers, there was a time this was the only vegetable they would eat aside from ketchup. I used to boil them in their pods just until they turned bright green, then ice water chill and stuff them in 4-Oz baby bottles (the bottles came with "snack" lids and was easy for them to handle in the car) for any outing that needed a snack. Protein and vitamins in one go. . The pods naturally split open on one side after being cooked and the kids quickly learned to squeeze the pods and pop the beans into their mouth.

Now, when we go to our favorite Japanese restaurant, that's their standard appetizer, and of course I grow them every year and freeze what I can. In my experience, un blanched, they are good for about a month...two is pushing it, but blanched, they last at least 6 months.

[digitS']

There you go, too-two, Gumbo & Applestar! And Tilde, as Gumbo says, you can really grow soy close together. They are quite sturdy plants. Containerized should work.

I will have to start freezing the edamame. I'm willing to make tofu but . . . once or twice thru the winter is about all that I will enjoy the process. It is quite a bit of bother and, besides . . . I like edamame a good deal better than tofu, even home-made!



Can you tell me what varieties you are growing to get 2 harvests in the South? And Applestar, would you be able to stagger your sowings of soybeans to extend your fresh harvest there in New Jersey? Variety?

Steve

[Tilde]

Sorry, I blame my imprecise use of words. I mean two growing seasons, not two harvest times from the same plant. I bought some at the end of Sept but can't find them

[GardenRN]

I grew "Early Haikucho" (sp?) that I got from Park Seeds last year. I have absolutely no complaints about how the plants did. Bugs never bothered em a bit, neither did any diseases or fungi. And I'd say I got about 97% germination. They would definitely have been good to stagger if you were looking to continually harvest fresh. I'd say they took about half of the growing season to go from seed to harvest, (about 90 days).

[Tilde]

Thanks, GardenRN - I ordred mine from somewhere else (where ARE they in my seed basket?) but I'm waiting for an email for this wkd specials from park seed to order more with my holiday gift planner thing (I'm making with seeds from there for friends and young home gardeners).

[applestar]

Tilde, there were some older threads/posts from Alex_h* -- can't quite recalll full nick -- from South Carolina that I think discussed growing them in spring and in fall. Edamame sets pods best in cool nights (60's) according to kitazawaseeds.com in California.

[Tilde]

Good to know. I hadn't fully researched them yet, just threw them in my online basket as "oh, cool" - figured it was a fall/spring crop; I'd get one in "now" or in a month or so, then next fall.

I'm technically two and a half months into my good growing season, just been approaching an edible garden piecemeal and slowly as available resources permit.

[rainbowgardener]

Thanks, GardenRN - I ordred mine from somewhere else (where ARE they in my seed basket?) but I'm waiting for an email for this wkd specials from park seed to order more with my holiday gift planner thing (I'm making with seeds from there for friends and young home gardeners).

Say more about this? I'm always looking for ideas for homemade holiday gifts, especially with from the garden stuff! thanks!

[Tilde]

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40793

Summary: trying to build a simple calendar and seed kit I can mail out for the winter holidays.

[digitS']

I mean two growing seasons, not two harvest times from the same plant.

No, I understood what you meant . . . altho' both 2 harvests from same plant & 2 growing seasons in the same year are quite foreign concepts to me .

Jeff, your "Early Hakucho" is listed in that article, linked in the 1st post. Says, "65-75 days. Prolific, heat tolerant, 12-14 inches tall." Wow, that's a little short plant! There are others of that height, however.

I have grown one called "Bei." Actually, there were about 5 or 6 varieties the 1st year and I tried the best couple of choices last year; then narrowed it down to 1. But, haven't tried any on the National Garden list. "Beer Friend" has special appeal . . . and, I can attest to the good idea even tho' I haven't grown that variety.

Steve

[GardenRN]

well it definitely was heat tolerant. I didn't realize it was a cool weather crop when I planted it. oops

I harvested in the heat of summer.

The plants were no more than 12" tall, but each was loaded with about 20 o 30 pods. I first thought it was going to be a bust. No idea each plant got that many pods!

A lot of soy is grown in Va. I don't know how it compares nationally or worldwide percentages, but you do see a lot of it while driving around. And most of the plants I see are short ones. Idk if that's because it is more economical somehow for farming, or if its some kind of relation to the growing season here and the maturation period of a more compact plant. Either way, other than the previously discussed issues I had, I was very satisfied with the performance.

[Tilde]

No, I understood what you meant . . . altho' both 2 harvests from same plant & 2 growing seasons in the same year are quite foreign concepts to me .

Well you can hand my leg back anytime then. Lol

Good to know I can give these a try in summer too!N