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

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


We use them just as we would use lima beans. We have a hard time growing
limas due to the clay soil, but the soy beans do well here and are a good
substitute. The green edamame are very like "boiled peanuts".

FarmI wrote:

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

you're welcome!


Now, to respond to 'bird:

songbird 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?

yes, of course sold by you know who.


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?

the lateness was not desireable as it means
the gardens are tied up for a few weeks longer.
like i'm just out now working on most of the
large bean patch (where i grew most of the 18
kinds of beans).

it is interesting though that some patches
on the dryer soils finished earlier and those
are what i'm shelling out now. the pods that
are still greenish and drying, i'm not sure
what the quality of the beans will be so i'm
keeping those separate and for last. they
might all end up as worm food. dunno yet.
probably a week or two away from even looking
at them again.


Are you going to save some of your current harvest for replanting next year?

yes, i'll do that, as next year the fields
around us are all going to be corn so the
possibilities of contamination from the soybeans
in the distant fields will be minimal.

if i can find an earlier variety from an
organic source then i'll switch some to
test them for taste. and then if the taste
is ok, i'll switch the whole crop.

when picking i noticed around 5 different
kinds of soybeans (from the shape of the
pods, hairyness, color, etc). if the weather
gets odd it won't hurt to have some variation
in there. i'll probably keep growing at
least one patch of these just to keep the
seeds available.


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 :-))

i don't even know if they'd eat soybeans
or not, but the worms eat them eventually
or if they sprout and get chopped down they
work for greens.


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.

after getting so little return at the bank
it's nice to have something that does well.


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.

questions always ok, this e-mail address is
good.


songbird

"songbird" wrote in message
...
FarmI wrote:

if i can find an earlier variety from an
organic source then i'll switch some to
test them for taste. and then if the taste
is ok, i'll switch the whole crop.

There's a Seed Savers group in the US so it might be worth trying them to
see if they ahve any other varieties.


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.

after getting so little return at the bank
it's nice to have something that does well.

LOL. I dont' know what the interest rate is on my money. So long as it's
not negative and i'm losing money, I can live with a low return as I dont'
touch capital anyway.


questions always ok, this e-mail address is
good.

Thank you for the kind offer.

FarmI wrote:
"songbird" wrote in message
...
FarmI wrote:

if i can find an earlier variety from an
organic source then i'll switch some to
test them for taste. and then if the taste
is ok, i'll switch the whole crop.

There's a Seed Savers group in the US so it might be worth trying them to
see if they ahve any other varieties.

good idea. i'll give them a look.


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.

after getting so little return at the bank
it's nice to have something that does well.

LOL. I dont' know what the interest rate is on my money. So long as it's
not negative and i'm losing money, I can live with a low return as I dont'
touch capital anyway.

i can live with it too as i know it
won't be going like this forever.

growing dry beans means i can be a
true bean counter when the currencies of
the world all go *boom!* at the same
time.


questions always ok, this e-mail address is
good.

Thank you for the kind offer.

you're welcome,


songbird