"songbird" wrote in message
...
i suspect i shall have a surplus of
soybeans.

Nice post Bird - sounds like life is good for you. Now, 'bout those
soybeans.... How does one go about growing soybeans please? How deep, how
far apart, what sort of soil conditions, when etc? and can you gorw soy
beans from the stock you'd buy at a Health food shop or does one have to buy
special seed soy beans. TIA.

"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
u...
"songbird" wrote in message
...
i suspect i shall have a surplus of
soybeans.

Nice post Bird - sounds like life is good for you. Now, 'bout those
soybeans.... How does one go about growing soybeans please? How deep,
how far apart, what sort of soil conditions, when etc? and can you gorw
soy beans from the stock you'd buy at a Health food shop or does one have
to buy special seed soy beans. TIA.


I have had luck sprouting the soy beans from out local weigh and pay so I
see no reason why they wouldn't grow, if the wife didn't eat them. As to
how deep and how far that's beyond me.

Mike

On Fri, 11 Nov 2011 17:52:48 +1100, "FarmI" ask@itshall be given
wrote:

"songbird" wrote in message
...
i suspect i shall have a surplus of
soybeans.

Nice post Bird - sounds like life is good for you. Now, 'bout those
soybeans.... How does one go about growing soybeans please? How deep, how
far apart, what sort of soil conditions, when etc? and can you gorw soy
beans from the stock you'd buy at a Health food shop or does one have to buy
special seed soy beans. TIA.


The directions on my purchased green soybean seeds say:
"Any good garden soil will grow soybeans. After last frost in
spring, sow about 6 -10 seeds/ft., 1" deep, rows 15 - 30" apart
depending on method of cultivation. Reduce seeding rate somewhat for
more narrow row spacing. Thinning is not necessary."

Sounds pretty much like most beans I have grown.
--
USA
North Carolina Foothills
USDA Zone 7a
To find your extension office
http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/index.html

The Cook wrote:
....
The directions on my purchased green soybean seeds say:
"Any good garden soil will grow soybeans. After last frost in
spring, sow about 6 -10 seeds/ft., 1" deep, rows 15 - 30" apart
depending on method of cultivation. Reduce seeding rate somewhat for
more narrow row spacing. Thinning is not necessary."

Sounds pretty much like most beans I have grown.

4 inches minimum between plants. rows a foot
apart is fine. after they get going you will not
be able to walk between the rows anyways, but the
plants support each other so having them too far
apart means they might get blown over.

if you want a pathway you'll need 5ft at
least. plants i grew this year went over a
three foot spacing (strawberries and row of
wax and green beans next to the strawberries,
soybeans in the middle) and still flopped out
over into the surrounding pathway. i've already
decided next year to plant the soybeans in two
bigger patches (instead of the seven small
patches i did this year) because they overgrew
so much of the plants around them. they can
lean on each other. i'll probably double my
productivity of the other bean patches this way.


songbird

"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
u...
"songbird" wrote in message
...
i suspect i shall have a surplus of
soybeans.

Nice post Bird - sounds like life is good for you. Now, 'bout those
soybeans.... How does one go about growing soybeans please? How deep,
how far apart, what sort of soil conditions, when etc? and can you gorw
soy beans from the stock you'd buy at a Health food shop or does one have
to buy special seed soy beans. TIA.


I had a good crop this year myself. I used the same culture as for bush
beans. They got about 30 inches tall, I didn't use any support, but they
probably could have used some late in the season. I picked about 1/2 in the
green stage, blanched and froze them as edamame(delicious). They will
probably become a yearly crop for me.
Steve

Steve Peek wrote:
....
I had a good crop this year myself. I used the same culture as for bush
beans. They got about 30 inches tall, I didn't use any support, but they
probably could have used some late in the season. I picked about 1/2 in the
green stage, blanched and froze them as edamame(delicious). They will
probably become a yearly crop for me.

green varieties aimed at edamame might be
different from the kinds i've been growing for
soymilk (dry beans) as these plants easily
get 5ft tall for me here. the fields next to
us the plants typically get about 3ft tall.


songbird

"songbird" wrote in message
...
Steve Peek wrote:
...
I had a good crop this year myself. I used the same culture as for bush
beans. They got about 30 inches tall, I didn't use any support, but they
probably could have used some late in the season. I picked about 1/2 in
the
green stage, blanched and froze them as edamame(delicious). They will
probably become a yearly crop for me.

green varieties aimed at edamame might be
different from the kinds i've been growing for
soymilk (dry beans) as these plants easily
get 5ft tall for me here. the fields next to
us the plants typically get about 3ft tall.


songbird

OK, how about a recipe for the soy milk?

My seed came from Johnny's if anyone is interested.
Steve

Steve Peek wrote:
....
OK, how about a recipe for the soy milk?

My seed came from Johnny's if anyone is interested.
Steve

very easy,

- rinse beans[1]
- soak beans in water for 24 hours, change the water a few times[2]
- blend beans with some water until they are a fine slurry[3]
- dump slurry into more water to cook[4]
- when the foam goes away it's about done, cook a few more minutes[5]
- strain to remove the pieces from the soymilk[6]
- refrigerate, drink, cook with, etc[7]
- the left over ground up cooked beans are edible and useful[8]


Notes:

[1] don't use funny looking beans (in the non-clown
sense of funny). about 1.5 cups dry beans per
gallon of finished soymilk (adjust up or down
to taste).

[2] sometimes they make a popping noise. it's quite
funny (in the clown sense of funny).

[3] the better blender you have the more you'll get
from the bean and the less you'll have to filter
off at the end. i use over a gallon of water to
get a gallon of soymilk. a really good blender
should lower how much water you'd lose after
filtering. yes, you can make a mess if you blend
too much at once.

[4] there is going to be a lot of foam, do not walk away
as this will boil over, stir once in a while or it
will burn.

[5] about 25-35 minutes.

[6] i use a wire sifter for one pour and then put it
through a fine mesh (gold plated) reusable coffee
filter to get the rest of the pieces out.

[7] excellent ingredient to use along with lite coconut
milk for any red or green Thai curry.

[8] i eat some right away, a little sugar and cinnamon
on top. also good in muffins, cakes, etc. but in
the end, i feed some of it to the worm farm too,
they love it.


google "Making Soy Milk" and the site that has the
title milking the bean or something like that is
the easiest description i've found.

for making tofu it's a few more steps, but not too
hard. the just mentioned site covers this too.




songbird

In article ,
songbird wrote:

Steve Peek wrote:
...
OK, how about a recipe for the soy milk?

My seed came from Johnny's if anyone is interested.
Steve

very easy,

- rinse beans[1]
- soak beans in water for 24 hours, change the water a few times[2]
- blend beans with some water until they are a fine slurry[3]
- dump slurry into more water to cook[4]
- when the foam goes away it's about done, cook a few more minutes[5]
- strain to remove the pieces from the soymilk[6]
- refrigerate, drink, cook with, etc[7]
- the left over ground up cooked beans are edible and useful[8]


Notes:

[1] don't use funny looking beans (in the non-clown
sense of funny). about 1.5 cups dry beans per
gallon of finished soymilk (adjust up or down
to taste).

[2] sometimes they make a popping noise. it's quite
funny (in the clown sense of funny).

[3] the better blender you have the more you'll get
from the bean and the less you'll have to filter
off at the end. i use over a gallon of water to
get a gallon of soymilk. a really good blender
should lower how much water you'd lose after
filtering. yes, you can make a mess if you blend
too much at once.

[4] there is going to be a lot of foam, do not walk away
as this will boil over, stir once in a while or it
will burn.

[5] about 25-35 minutes.

[6] i use a wire sifter for one pour and then put it
through a fine mesh (gold plated) reusable coffee
filter to get the rest of the pieces out.

[7] excellent ingredient to use along with lite coconut
milk for any red or green Thai curry.

[8] i eat some right away, a little sugar and cinnamon
on top. also good in muffins, cakes, etc. but in
the end, i feed some of it to the worm farm too,
they love it.


google "Making Soy Milk" and the site that has the
title milking the bean or something like that is
the easiest description i've found.

for making tofu it's a few more steps, but not too
hard. the just mentioned site covers this too.




songbird

Enjoy your phytoestrogens. If you don't already have tits, this is the
product for you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytoestrogens#Food_sources

-----
--
- Billy

E pluribus unum
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-great-american-bubble-machine-20100405

Billy wrote:
....
Enjoy your phytoestrogens. If you don't already have tits, this is the
product for you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytoestrogens#Food_sources

do you even read the cites you quote?

funny. there's no mention of increased man boobs in
the article.

also noted the list of products containing: nuts, legumes,
beer, bourbon, hops (among others).


songbird

FarmI wrote:
songbird wrote:

i suspect i shall have a surplus of
soybeans.

Nice post Bird - sounds like life is good for you.

it is good for me.


Now, 'bout those
soybeans.... How does one go about growing soybeans please? How deep, how
far apart, what sort of soil conditions, when etc? and can you gorw soy
beans from the stock you'd buy at a Health food shop or does one have to buy
special seed soy beans. TIA.

i've grown them from picking up seeds from the
field next to us (likely a glyphosate resistant variety)
and didn't like those for taste as much as the few
lbs i picked up from the health food store that were
labelled organic. i planted those this year and the
difference was noticeable in terms of season, the
ones i planted turned brown several weeks later than
the soybean fields around us.

i space them 4-6 inches apart and rows a foot apart.
1-2 inches deep, they have pretty big leaves and smother
anything growing within a few feet of them so don't plan
on planting anything right next to them, or you can do
what i did with some of them to thin them out (so the
strawberries got some sunshine) i just trimmed off some
of the leaves. i used the trimmings for green manure
and worm farm food. chickens would probably eat them.

planted them after all danger of frost was past. in
some cases i planted them even later, because i was
waiting for some flowers to die back.

they will not flower or get pods right away. they
are not like peas or green beans, you don't need to pick
to encourage them to produce. as for pests, Japanese
beetles and the other broad leaf chewers and aphids
can be a problem, but i don't see them here much because
of the ladybeetles and birds.

a little bit of rust or fungal diseases can show up,
but i don't worry at all if the season is advanced
enough. if it is early i'll pull the plant or
infected leaves before it spreads. this year it was
so hot and dry that i didn't even bother looking for
fungal diseases.

if my estimate of the harvest this year is correct
one bean gives between a 50 to 75 return.

harvesting by hand is a bit of work, but i like
being outside picking. stripping the stalks is not
too bad if you wait until the leaves have dried
and fallen off and the pods are mostly dry (i.e. not
green). i can pick three to four paper bags of pods
in several hours. long sleeved shirt required. it's
picky and dusty.

the shelling is also dusty, but there are methods
for doing that where you can avoid the dust too. i
put the dry pods in a pillow case and stomp on them for
a while. sort them from the chaff by dumping them from
box to box in a good breeze or if it is too windy and
rainy i use an inclined plane made out of cardboard and
they roll down it as i squish and crumple the pods to
get the beans out. i wear thin rubber gloves because
the pods will stick to cotton gloves.

i'm sure that beating the pillow case with a
baseball bat would probably work too.

the usual 90/10 rule applies, to get the first
90% of the beans takes 10% of the time and effort.
if i had chickens or pigs i'd not even bother with
the last 10% and let them pick through to get
those, but as i have both time and patience i end
up going for almost every bean i can find in the
pods. then later on, i go through and pick out
the beans i don't want to use for soymilk and put
those in the worm food bucket. the chaff gets
recycled back to the gardens one way or another
too. it makes good worm bedding eventually.


songbird

Many thanks to all for the responses on how to grow soy beans.

Now, to respond to 'bird:
"songbird" wrote in message

i've grown them from picking up seeds from the
field next to us (likely a glyphosate resistant variety)

And possibly also a GMO soy bean do you think?

and didn't like those for taste as much as the few
lbs i picked up from the health food store that were
labelled organic. i planted those this year and the
difference was noticeable in terms of season, the
ones i planted turned brown several weeks later than
the soybean fields around us.

Was that too late in the season for you or was the alteness a good thing?
Are you going to save some of your current harvest for replanting next year?

i space them 4-6 inches apart and rows a foot apart.
1-2 inches deep, they have pretty big leaves and smother
anything growing within a few feet of them so don't plan
on planting anything right next to them, or you can do
what i did with some of them to thin them out (so the
strawberries got some sunshine) i just trimmed off some
of the leaves. i used the trimmings for green manure
and worm farm food. chickens would probably eat them.

:-)) Perhaps our cows would like some rather than giving them to my chooks.
My chooks get lots of (self serve) greens but will come running at the
thought of some animal protein on offer - the cows come for green tidbits if
they are in the paddock close to the veg garden :-))



if my estimate of the harvest this year is correct
one bean gives between a 50 to 75 return.

That's a pretty good result.

harvesting by hand is a bit of work, but i like
being outside picking. stripping the stalks is not
too bad if you wait until the leaves have dried
and fallen off and the pods are mostly dry (i.e. not
green). i can pick three to four paper bags of pods
in several hours. long sleeved shirt required. it's
picky and dusty.

the shelling is also dusty, but there are methods
for doing that where you can avoid the dust too. i
put the dry pods in a pillow case and stomp on them for
a while. sort them from the chaff by dumping them from
box to box in a good breeze or if it is too windy and
rainy i use an inclined plane made out of cardboard and
they roll down it as i squish and crumple the pods to
get the beans out. i wear thin rubber gloves because
the pods will stick to cotton gloves.

i'm sure that beating the pillow case with a
baseball bat would probably work too.

the usual 90/10 rule applies, to get the first
90% of the beans takes 10% of the time and effort.
if i had chickens or pigs i'd not even bother with
the last 10% and let them pick through to get
those, but as i have both time and patience i end
up going for almost every bean i can find in the
pods. then later on, i go through and pick out
the beans i don't want to use for soymilk and put
those in the worm food bucket. the chaff gets
recycled back to the gardens one way or another
too. it makes good worm bedding eventually.

Thanks 'bird. A very good description. I've forwarded all responses to my
email addy for future reference. I might even try some this year if I can
squeeze some in somewhere - space is getting a bit on the tight side now.

FarmI wrote:
Many thanks to all for the responses on how to grow soy beans.

Now, to respond to 'bird:
"songbird" wrote in message

i've grown them from picking up seeds from the
field next to us (likely a glyphosate resistant variety)

And possibly also a GMO soy bean do you think?

That would be the case.


and didn't like those for taste as much as the few
lbs i picked up from the health food store that were
labelled organic. i planted those this year and the
difference was noticeable in terms of season, the
ones i planted turned brown several weeks later than
the soybean fields around us.

Was that too late in the season for you or was the alteness a good
thing? Are you going to save some of your current harvest for
replanting next year?

i space them 4-6 inches apart and rows a foot apart.
1-2 inches deep, they have pretty big leaves and smother
anything growing within a few feet of them so don't plan
on planting anything right next to them, or you can do
what i did with some of them to thin them out (so the
strawberries got some sunshine) i just trimmed off some
of the leaves. i used the trimmings for green manure
and worm farm food. chickens would probably eat them.

:-)) Perhaps our cows would like some rather than giving them to my
chooks. My chooks get lots of (self serve) greens but will come
running at the thought of some animal protein on offer -

I lifted up some rubbish while the chooks were watching and I uncovered a
mouse nest. The mice all ran for it, mother disappeared into the grass, the
pink babes disappeared into the chooks in about 10 seconds, I was nearly
knocked down in the rush.


the cows
come for green tidbits if they are in the paddock close to the veg
garden :-))


The horses will come and coach us over the fence when we are in the garden
to make sure we do it right and to ensure we give them some.


if my estimate of the harvest this year is correct
one bean gives between a 50 to 75 return.

That's a pretty good result.

harvesting by hand is a bit of work, but i like
being outside picking. stripping the stalks is not
too bad if you wait until the leaves have dried
and fallen off and the pods are mostly dry (i.e. not
green). i can pick three to four paper bags of pods
in several hours. long sleeved shirt required. it's
picky and dusty.

the shelling is also dusty, but there are methods
for doing that where you can avoid the dust too. i
put the dry pods in a pillow case and stomp on them for
a while. sort them from the chaff by dumping them from
box to box in a good breeze or if it is too windy and
rainy i use an inclined plane made out of cardboard and
they roll down it as i squish and crumple the pods to
get the beans out. i wear thin rubber gloves because
the pods will stick to cotton gloves.

i'm sure that beating the pillow case with a
baseball bat would probably work too.

the usual 90/10 rule applies, to get the first
90% of the beans takes 10% of the time and effort.
if i had chickens or pigs i'd not even bother with
the last 10% and let them pick through to get
those, but as i have both time and patience i end
up going for almost every bean i can find in the
pods. then later on, i go through and pick out
the beans i don't want to use for soymilk and put
those in the worm food bucket. the chaff gets
recycled back to the gardens one way or another
too. it makes good worm bedding eventually.

Thanks 'bird. A very good description. I've forwarded all responses
to my email addy for future reference. I might even try some this
year if I can squeeze some in somewhere - space is getting a bit on
the tight side now.

OK aside from "milk" and stock feed what would you do with them on a small
scale? Is it sensible (possible) to make any of the multitude of soy
products domestically that are made commercially?

David

"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
...
FarmI wrote:

i've grown them from picking up seeds from the
field next to us (likely a glyphosate resistant variety)

And possibly also a GMO soy bean do you think?

That would be the case.

I certainly suspected that would be the case too given that tests show
cotnamination of so many supposedly no-GMO soybeans.
chooks. My chooks get lots of (self serve) greens but will come
running at the thought of some animal protein on offer -

I lifted up some rubbish while the chooks were watching and I uncovered a
mouse nest. The mice all ran for it, mother disappeared into the grass,
the pink babes disappeared into the chooks in about 10 seconds, I was
nearly knocked down in the rush.

Yup. Love their protein do chooks and chooklets. I feed mine curl grubs as
I find them when I seive the compost. I call the girls and they come as
fast as they can go rolling from isde to side and looking like rollicking
sailors who are wearing fluffy drawers

the cows
come for green tidbits if they are in the paddock close to the veg
garden :-))


The horses will come and coach us over the fence when we are in the garden
to make sure we do it right and to ensure we give them some.

Stickybeaks are horses and cows.

Thanks 'bird. A very good description. I've forwarded all responses
to my email addy for future reference. I might even try some this
year if I can squeeze some in somewhere - space is getting a bit on
the tight side now.

OK aside from "milk" and stock feed what would you do with them on a small
scale? Is it sensible (possible) to make any of the multitude of soy
products domestically that are made commercially?

Tofu. It's easy to make and the process is not dissimilar to making soft
white cheese.

Years ago, I read on an ng how a poster made hers. the instructions made it
sound easy and I ahd all the ingredients so set to with a will. As/after I
made it, I realised that she was full of shit and had never made it at all
and had merely posted instructions she'd found online. While I was making
it, I found that the containers she mentioned werent' big enough to hold
the amount of liquid she said they would so did a trip to the shop to buy
new plastic buckets (plural). Then I found the coagulant she mentioned (and
don't ask me now what it was) didn't work as she said it should so after
thinking about it I decided that lemon juice should work but again needed to
go to the shop for more lemons. It was rather fraught at the time, but it
worked out fine in the end.

FarmI wrote:
David Hare-Scott wrote:
....
OK aside from "milk" and stock feed what would you do with them on a small
scale? Is it sensible (possible) to make any of the multitude of soy
products domestically that are made commercially?

aside from tofu, you can roast them for a snack
item, you can ferment them and make black bean
sauce, soy sauce or add them to other various fish
sauces or hot sauces, they can be cooked just like
any other dried bean and used in chili or soups or
stews. and as Steve mentioned the green soft beans
(before they dry and get hard) are edible, but many
people grow specific varieties of those as they
have a less green/grassy flavor.


Tofu. It's easy to make and the process is not dissimilar to making soft
white cheese.

yes, and if you've just made soy milk then the
steps for making tofu follow on (as then it's already
heated up). get it down to the right temperature,
add coagulant, strain out curds and press.


Years ago, I read on an ng how a poster made hers. the instructions made it
sound easy and I ahd all the ingredients so set to with a will. As/after I
made it, I realised that she was full of shit and had never made it at all
and had merely posted instructions she'd found online.

ooh!


While I was making
it, I found that the containers she mentioned werent' big enough to hold
the amount of liquid she said they would so did a trip to the shop to buy
new plastic buckets (plural). Then I found the coagulant she mentioned (and
don't ask me now what it was) didn't work as she said it should so after
thinking about it I decided that lemon juice should work but again needed to
go to the shop for more lemons. It was rather fraught at the time, but it
worked out fine in the end.

the site i mentioned in the the other post on
making soy milk continued on making tofu and i
tried it with lemon juice, but decided the taste
and texture weren't for me. i like other tofu
at times, but normally don't eat it. then i
tried tempeh and didn't much like that either.
so stopping at soymilk was good enough for me
as i do like that.


songbird