Growing Soybeans--how productive are they?

[Ariel301]

I am going to build a small garden area to grow foods to supplement my chickens' diet. One food I know would be good for giving them more protein is soybeans. I can get some organic soybean seed for pretty cheap, but I'm trying to figure out how much to plant. For anyone who has grown soybeans, how much would each plant produce on average? (I know it will vary by soil/variety/climate etc)

 

[seedcorn]

a good yield is 50 bushel per acre or 3000 pounds per acre. an acre is 43,560 square feet. So a 10' by 10' area is 100 square feet and you can hope for about 7 pounds of beans. I don't mind telling you that is a lot of shelling............

 

[digitS']

Well, Seedcorn knows soybeans . . . and, I don't .

This is not soybean country. I know of not a single acre in soybeans hereabouts. And, I knew nothing about growing them until last year. But, I have learned that I like edamame !

I haven't stomped out all of the seed yet - about half and that didn't impress me much for yield. I grew, at least, 60 feet of soybeans this year. Just planted them in a row.

They seemed to have nice plants but, once again, what do I know?? The variety that was in that 30+ feet produced right at 2.5 pounds of seed. Some of it was not weighed because it was eaten fresh. That wasn't a great deal.

I'll grow soybeans next year. Did I tell you that I like edamame?!

Steve

 

[seedcorn]

I was going to try and eat some soybeans while green but didn't. I munch on too many walking fields and can't get past bitter after taste but they are unprocessed......

Saw special on "Food network" so Steve you have convinced me to try.......how green do they have to be? I'm thinking of finding some double crop soybeans that may have some green beans left on them.

 

[digitS']

Seedcorn, my wife is the one who knows about such things. But, she insisted on waiting until the plants began to dry down. The seed was fully mature.

So, the plants used for edamame were cut and carried in to dry. We had only about 3 days, to pull some of the pods, steam them and enjoy the beans green.

It makes sense to grow different varieties in the garden so that they can be harvested at different times and used green over a longer time. Staggering the plantings should work also, for those who have a long enuf growing season.

If you have a field nearby where harvest is still off by a week or so, those pods may be just right for a try.

The guy who is my mentor on this -- cans soybeans! Yep, he puts them up in pint jars!

Steve

 

[obsessed]

I tried very unsuccessfully to grow them this year. I want them so bad but only got spindly little plants that produced little or nothing. I also got very poor germination. My seeds were from park... so maybe I will try a different variety next year.

 

[seedcorn]

Soybeans start to bloom when the day length gets to a certain length and stop when it hits a certain day length. What seperates varieties maturity is when they stop blooming because all soybeans start blooming at the same time. The later the maturity the longer it blooms.

If you have bad luck w/soybeans, it could be it needs to be innoculated as soybeans don't naturally make nitrogen. Soybeans don't like wet feet, especially cold, wet feet. Down south you have to worry about insects eating pollen, stamens, blossoms, & pods.

In Steve's area aphids can be a real problem. obsessed it sounds like you planted them too late in the year. Ask a farmer when he plants his as your area grows a decent amount of soybeans.

 

[seedcorn]

Steve, after you steam them, how do you eat them?

 

[obsessed]

I planted my soy beans in Late April/Early May. Thanks for the advice though. I really want to get them to grow cause of the long hot heat here, I think they could be the most productive of all the summer veggies.

 

[digitS']

Well, you show up in the living room with a bowl full of limp, hot pods. They are also fine at room temperature.

Edamame tastes like peanuts to me !

Since there is one variety called "Beer Friend" and even tho' I didn't grow it, I felt compeled to have a beer with them if'n there was any in the house. They are also good with a Gatorade.

I am told that edamame is very good, cold, in a salad.

Steve