Soya bean growing update 2008

Getting them started

I started trying to germinate the seeds at the beginning of May 2008, but had a few problems getting them to germinate - they germinated over a long period, about three weeks, which meant that orthodox seed-raising techniques gave problems.  Seeds were sown in a seed tray in proprietary seed compost. The seeds needed warmth to germinate, which I supplied by putting them in my utility room on a rack over the central heating boiler.  The utility room is very dark, so when the seedlings emerged I needed to move them to a lighter place, my unheated greenhouse,  quickly.  The greenhouse was still too cold for the as yet un-germinated seeds in the batch to germinate. I ended up pricking out individual seedlings as they germinated, and in the process distributing damp compost all over the utility room - not ideal.

The moral is you need to be able to deal with seedlings individually rather than in batches.  Next time I plan to germinate the seeds in my salad seed  sprouter when I'll at least be able to catch them immediately they start to sprout and put  them into small module trays with minimal mess.

With hindsight I realise I started them too early.  Here in Gloucestershire the beginning of May was definitely too soon as they need light and warmth to grow, both of which were in short supply.  I'll wait until the very end of May or even early June next year unless we get a warm spring, in which case earlier might be OK. 

Growing conditions

Soya beans are said to like warm, sunny growing conditions and, last spring being so cold, I was dubious about their chances outside.  I ended up planting them in my new poly-tunnel which only went up at the beginning of July.  By the time  the plants went in the ground they were rather drawn and leggy, having been grown on in less than ideal conditions.  At that point I'd also run out of garden compost for soil enrichment, so the little bean plants went into my very light, nutrient-hungry, sandy soil with only a scattering of pelleted chicken manure to help them on their way.  Despite all this I was able to pick fresh soya beans by late summer - enough for several meals. 

Varieties suitable for UK conditions

Ustie, the Thompson and Morgan variety I grew, has now been replaced by a new variety, Elena, said to have more even germination, better standing ability and earlier and higher yields.  They are both white-seeded varieties bred for drying and next year I'll be trialling them side by side, along with the green-seeded Envy, available from Suffolk Herbs, a variety bred for eating fresh.  Weather permitting, they'll be planted outside once all danger of frost is past..

Culinary Use

The pods are quite small, holding at most four beans and more often only two or three.  They are also quite difficult to get into - you have to steam or blanch the pods in boiling water for a couple of minutes before you can open them to get the beans out, and then cook the beans some more until they are tender.  On the whole I think it's  worth the effort as they're very tasty.  I used them both as a bean salad in vinaigrette and also in stir fries.   They'd be good in an oriental salad dressing too.  Even though I grew a `drying' variety, I didn't bother drying them as I don't like dried soya beans. Picked when still green, they were perfectly OK fresh.