Paula, this is my second year growing them, but not in quantity. I love raw edamame and just pop the beans out and eat them. Also fantastic in salads. Or, I boil them whole (in the pod), salt the whole thing pod and all with kosher or sea salt, then peel and eat beans only. Fantastic! My kids even like them. I don't think the pod fuzz matters, because I don't think (?) the pods are edible.

I'm sorry I can't help you with preserving. I need to grow more next year so I have some left.

Jo

Paula,

We are sushi freaks which also means edamame lovers as well. I grew quite a bit this year. Most of the websites I reviewed for growing tips indicated that when the leaves at the bottom of the plant begin to yellow, then pull the whole plant. I picked the pods off the plant and immediately brought them inside to boil a batch. They were absolutely scrumptious with sea salt. We definitely just eat the peas and not the pods.

Since they pumped out quite a bit of pods, I blanched them (3-4 minutes) in small batches and then immediately plunged them into ice water. I was lucky enough to get 10 quart bags for the freezer. All that from "the little garden that could"! My poor pitiful garden looks very sad and weary to me but it keeps pumping out goodies and I do the happy dance all the way back inside.

I hope this helps. And yes, the fuzz goes away when you blanch them and they turn a really pretty bright green.

Lynn

I forgot to post this link for you. This article helped me pick what variety to grow, or more importantly, would grow well here. I grew Sayamusume.

Lynn

Here is a link that might be useful: Edamame article

Thanks guys! You answered all my questions and some I hadn't thought of yet!

I also got a response on the harvest forum and thought you might want to see a link that was given there. See below!

Lynn - wish I could see that Happy Dance!!! LOL!! I'd bet we all have our own "happy steps" this time of year! (which usually are accompanied by tired ones.)

Paula

Here is a link that might be useful: Blanching Edamame

Lynn - Mine are ready!!! Are yours? I'm going to pull them this weekend while DGS is here for a sleep-over. Then we'll steam some fresh for him!

Just thought I'd ask about yours! I'm hoping I have enough freezer space left.

Paula

Uh oh, Paula, you're about to have the 'Dawn Harvest Syndrome', which in English means you must say to your spouse "Honey, I need another deep freeze."

Hey, it worked for me!

Dawn

We harvested all of ours yesterday and boiled them and ate them with sea salt. My kids were fighting me for them. How much do you all plant to have enough to freeze? I only had about 10 (?) plants and that was enough for one meal.

Jo

Joellen - I planted 4 rows about 8 ft long. I got my seeds from Baker Creek. The packet had 300 and I only planted maybe half of the package. I've got about 20 plants or so in each row.

Dawn - my new (to me) Vintage Refrigerator has a small freezer in it! I think I'm going to reserve that space for the Edemame and the quarts and quarts of plum juice I'm freezing. If this isn't enough space, then I think my oldest daughter will have some in the new freezer she got!!

Paula

Paula,

Yes, I've harvested all my edamame. It was ready about two weeks ago and I pulled all the plants and had a big blanching party. Well, party may be a stretch since I was all by myself but I sure had fun boiling up several "mini" batches to test how long to cook it to reach the taste we like (which turned out to be around 5-6 mins).

I planted alternating rows of soybeans and potatoes. The soybeans did really well but the potatoes were a total bust. I'll definitely not give the spuds such prime real estate next year but plan to plant more soybeans since the 10 quarts I froze will definitely not last the winter around our house.

Glad you had a great harvest. What type did you grow? We'll definitely have a smile on our faces this winter when it's so cold out and we're enjoying such freshness from the freezer. Now if I could just perfect those Baja California rolls....

Lynn