Grow Your Own Edamame

Edamame has grown in popularity by leaps and bounds in the last couple of years.  The yummy green pods encase little beans that have a nutty flavor when steamed to perfection.

If you like to garden you can grow your own edamame with ease.  The plants are hardy and grow well in many gardening zones.

This year we planted Schillinger Edamame in a 10 ft. row and yielded 15 quarts of steamed in-the-pod edamame.  With a little weeding and watering to get the row started they did great.  The plants can get the usual pests like japanese beetles but do pretty well with just mechanical removal of the bugs.

Once harvested we washed the pods in a sink of cold water:

Blanched them for 1 minute:

Rinsed them in cold water:

Placed in quart size Glad freezer bags to freeze for the winter.

Growing edamame:

Planting Depth: 1"

Plant 3" apart

Row Spacing: 20-36"

Once sprouted thin plants to 6" apart and provide nitrogen fertilizer if needed.

Harvest in late summer when pods are 80-90% full and/or when leaves start to yellow.

Follow instructions above to freeze or just steam and enjoy right away.

I wish you enough!