Edamame, Green Soybeans
Edamame is a nutritious vegetable that’s popular with commercial farmers, but hasn’t caught on with the home gardener. That’s unfortunate because edamame, more commonly known as green soybeans, are easier to grow and more productive than the popular lima beans found in many backyard gardens.
Reasons to Grow Edamame in the Home Garden
Soybeans are touted for their nutritional value, and the fresh shelled beans are delicious as well as healthful. Farmers include soybeans in their crop rotations to harvest the dry beans, but also to help improve fertility by increasing the nitrogen levels in the soil.
You can grow edamame and receive the same nitrogen boosting benefits in the home garden. Just as when growing other types of beans, you’ll get higher yields and see more nitrogen produced in the soil if you apply nitrogen-fixing inoculant to the edamame seed at planting time.
The nitrogen-fixing bacteria comes in the form of a dry, black powder which is applied to the moistened edamame seeds just prior to planting them in the garden. Be sure to select a strain of bacteria inoculant that is identified for use on soybeans.
Soybean Planting and Cultivation
Edamame can be raised in conventional rows or be grown in raised beds. Plant the seed about one inch deep and six to eight inches apart.
Soybeans don’t require much attention while they are growing, just supply adequate moisture and control the growth of weeds. As with all beans, avoid handling or working around soybeans when they are wet to avoid spreading diseases among the plants.
The edamame pods grow in clusters that should be harvested while still green, as the beans become plump and fill out the pods. The fresh beans can be shelled like lima beans, or they can be cooked right in their pods by placing them in a pot of boiling water for a few minutes until tender.
Edamame Varieties
For dry soybeans, or if you’re growing for seed allow the pods to fully mature and dry on the plant until they are brittle. Popular edamame varieties include: Hakucho, Butterbean, Envy, Beer Friend, and Sayamusume.
Other Related Vegetable Gardening Posts:
- Lutz Green Leaf Beet
- Harvesting Peppers
- Exciting Summer Squash
- Now Serving Scrumptious Green Tomato Blight Soup?
- Growing Baby Garlic
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May 15th, 2007 at 4:57 pm
I’ve planted my first crop of edamame in one of my Earthbox planters and have been so excited at the prospect of fresh beans. They don’t seem to be thriving so far, however, and I’m a little worried. The Earthbox pretty much guarantees a regulated soil moisture level, but the leaves seem to be getting brittle. The temperature here in N. California has dipped down to 49 deg or so a few nights since I transplanted them, but I’d read they’re not too fussy about cold. Any thoughts?
May 15th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
Soybeans are not hardy and prefer warm soil temps but a low of 49 degrees shouldn’t damage the plants. What kind of soil did you use in the Earthbox, and did you apply a soybean inoculant to the seed when the edamames were planted? Did they take well to being transplanted, or is that when the problems started? If it’s only one or two of the older leaves that are affected I wouldn’t worry too much. Keep an eye on them, check the moisture levels, and hopefully the plans will do better as the weather warms.