…… Soybeans worth growing?

[Satanta]

I have sime Soybeans from last years harvest. They were planted in the fields next to me. The farmer let me take a bout two pounds. Planting out the gardens and wondering if they are worth growing and what to do with them. I mostly think about 'Soyboys' and such so tend to be a bit leery on them.

 

[Rabbit]

I am doing all I can to eliminate soybean oil from my diet, which is in just about everything. I would not waste my precious garden space on it.

 

[summerthyme]

Almost all soybeans grown commercially are RoundUp ready... GMO. Technically, they would be illegal for you to grow.

But beyond that... grow them for what? Human food or animal feed? Either way, they must be cooked or fermented to rid them of toxic compounds. However, roasted soybeans are super value feed for livestock... high in both protein and fats (calories)...

For people... not so much. Yes, they do contain phytoestrogens, which aren't especially good for either men or women. If you want to look into how the Japanese prepare them... primarily various methods of fermentation, go for it.

For me, I'd rather grow plain dry beans... much easier to prepare, and non GMO.

Summerthyme

 

[Slydersan]

I've grown them - but from packets of Burpee seeds so maybe not as GMO as from a farmer's field, but who knows anymore. They grow like most beans do. Mine were just called Edamame on the packet, (which I think is just Japanese for soybean). But I shell them when green, boil them lightly and put them in salads and things like macaroni and cheese, pasta salads, etc. And then I always let some stay on the plants and dry out to save for seed for next year. I live near the Chesapeake Bay so it is very humid/damp. The plants a lot of years get some kind of black/brown disease spots on them, but it never seems to affects the beans inside the pods. I say that because I used to hunt on a farm in western MD that rotated a soybean crop, and I never saw the plants with that type of disease/wilt, but I'm sure they also sprayed stuff on them. There is a way to roast the beans and then eat them as a snack, but I've only ever had the commercially made ones like that. I don't eat a whole lot of them. I only plant maybe 1, 4' row of plants, so I don't think I'm over dosing on soy.
LOL

 

[Satanta]

Thanks folks, doesn't sound like I really want to invest the time and effort into them. It was the first time I had seen Soybean plants up close, seen the pods and so forth and I asked the guy about them out of cueiosity, he gave me a few to play with-more like a cup and not pounds as I posted. I'll dump them in my swamp composter to rot and use as fertilizer. We lost two freezers worth of food duringthe move and, rather than waste it I put it in the swamp composter. Sealed so it don't stink he area up and you don't want it on you cause it won't wash off. lol