Pulled all but 2 of the black soy bean plants and collected all the young soy pods. The 2 remaining plants are for seed saving. Will collect the pods when they turn brown.
Actually I did not pull the entire plant, instead cut the stem of each plant at the soil level, leaving the roots in the ground to add nutrients to the soil. Learned this from Mary, Mary’s Veggie Garden. Click Here to link to the rhizobia post.
I did not inoculate my soy bean seeds at planting time with rhizobia (a general purpose bean and pea inoculant) as Mary did, but I observed many nodules on the roots of my soy bean plants, guess these are rhizobia.
Above photo shows the nodules on the roots of the soy bean plant I pulled. Many came off when I pulled the plant.
Will be cutting all my bean and pea plants at soil level from now on leaving the roots in the ground to add nutrients to the soil.
Young Black Soy Beans (Edamame)
Harvest 3+ pounds. Parboiled for 5 minutes, cool in pot, shelled, placed in freezer bag, date and froze for later use (I did snack on some, well quite a bit, fresh & tasty).
As you can see from the above 2 photos many of the pods are not quite filled out, needed another week, maybe more, of growing.
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Tri-color Amaranth
First harvest
Cut the main stem (8 – 10 inches), left the side shoots to continue to grow
Cut stems and leaves into bite-sized pieces. Sautéed in a bit of oil with minced garlic and shallots, salt & pepper to taste. Simple but tasty.
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Window Box Callaloo/Green Amaranth
After 2 weeks, the window box callaloo/green amaranths (click on link and scroll down) were ready to harvest again. Got 8+ ounces. Blanched and froze for winter use.
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Yellow, Orange & Purple Carrots
These are thinning from my direct sown (not from transplants) yellow, purple and orange carrots. They are small, the largest ones are thumb-size the others are finger-size.
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Made a quick chicken stir-fry. Click here for recipe. I substituted yellow orange & purple carrots, purple kohlrabi and scallion for the lotus root, broccoli and cauliflower.
Chicken, Kohlrabi & Carrots Stir-fry
Served in steamed pita halves (sorry, forgot to take photo)
The yellow carrot is yellow inside as well and stays yellow after cooking. The purple carrot is orange inside, but cooked unpeeled the skin remains purple (see the slice in the center lower 1/3 of the photo). You guessed it, I will be cooking my purple carrots unpeeled.
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Red Noodles Long Beans
Decided to showcase the plant instead of the first harvest. Should have taken the photo before the harvest then you would see many more beans hanging on the vines, ah well, I do have 20/20 hindsight.
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Thornless Blackberries
Hope I get to those soon-to-be-ready berries before the critters
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Second Crop of Strawberries
That one was BIG. Hopefully I will get some wholesome uneaten ones
I am losing the battle with the critters.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … Copyright © by Norma Chang. All Rights Reserved. Do not use/repost any photos and/or articles without permission.
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Another exceptional harvest Norma, congrats! The coloured carrots look great, are they the same flavour as orange carrots? I understand that the original carrots were purple and were converted to orange for political reasons (I believe it was the Dutch who had an Orange Order!)
Hello Eva,
Thanks. They taste the same to me, but then I do not have a sophisticated palate. Thanks for the carrot conversion information, very interesting. How is your fig tree? Any harvest?
Beautiful amaranth. The bugs keep eating my leaves until there’s not much left for me. And I’m amazed the deer don’t eat the yardlong beans.
Hello Dave,
Thanks. The bugs have been eating my other greens.
Norma, I’m not sure the beans in those small seeded pods will ever get large. I left whole plants to dry for seed last year and when I finally harvested the seed it was all sizes from small to large. You could tie a thread around the stem of the half filled pods on your seed plants and see if they are any bigger at harvest.
It looks like a slug got your strawberry. At home I’m fighting the chipmunks for tomatoes.
Mary
Hello Mary,
You are correct, the half-filled pods never filled out. I am seeing rabbits on the lawn, hope none will get into the fenced in garden.
Interesting about the rhizobia. I use inoculant and see the nodules on the roots but never thought of leaving them in the soil. Nice haul of soybeans. I stopped growing them because I never got a yield worth the space they took and they are fussy about germination.
Hello David,
I do not direct sow my soy beans in the garden any more, instead sow seeds in 4-inch pots, 9 seeds to a pot and have been successful.
Awesome harvest, Norma. Those tri-colour amaranth are beautiful.
Hello Angie,
Look too pretty to eat, aren’t they?
Love your carrots…I like them small like that. Berries and critters, it is usually a battle that I don’t win. Good luck!
Hello Karen,
I really need the “good luck” with the critters. Noticed rabbits in the backyard today, sure hope they do not enter the veggie garden.
That is one critter that we don’t have as there are fisher cats in our area.
Hello Karen,
Never heard of fisher cats, had to look it up. Thanks, I learnt something new today.
Not a nice little animal to have in your neighborhood.
Look at all those lovely nodules on your bean roots! I DID inoculate and barely got any nodules on my beans. The pea bed as a bit better, but still much less than I would expect. Those soybeans look so good! I would have thought that you would shell them before cooking – is there a reason why you should leave the shell on when cooking & then shell them afterwards?
Hello Margaret,
It is difficult and tedious to shell uncooked. Cooked, the beans popped right out.
Beautiful fruits and thornless? That’s a win-win when you pick those blackberries. Your soy beans are gorgeous too!
Hello Sandra,
Yes, the blackberry bush is thornless, sure make picking the berries easier.
I feel your pain with the critters. I’m fighting back, but it’s not easy! Good luck!
Hello Barbie,
Thanks, I need the “Good Luck”.
Tri-color Amaranth is so pretty and I love the multi-colored carrots too. Thank you so much for sharing your recipes. Stir-fry seems like the perfect way to let the true flavors of the vegetables shine. ~ Rachel @ Grow a Good Life
Hello Rachael,
With freshly harvested garden fresh veggies, I like very simple cooking to maintain the fresh flavors.
Hi Norma, it seems every season I’m fighting a different varmint, love how you red long beans look, I bet they are amazing!! Also the amaranth is something I would love to try, yours looks so healthy.
Hello Cheri,
This year my amaranths are really looking healthy and fast growing, I think it has to do with the weather. Will see what happens next year. The red noodles beans are pretty in the garden and taste great, only issue I have is the purple color fades after cooking.
Those critters are a pain aren’t they. I seem to go to inordinate lengths to keep them off. And I still had a skunk in the garden the other night. At least he doesn’t eat my plants, but he does love to dig for worms.
Hello Daphne,
I have skunk visiting my lawn hopefully it will stay out of my veggie garden.
Nice haul of black soybeans, and pretty amaranth, very year I kept saying I should sow some amarath seeds but never got around to it.
I didn’t get around to sow seeds for the black soybeans you sent me, hopefully I’ll find some space for it next year.
Hello Mac,
Thanks. Amaranths all doing extremely well this year, I think it has to do with the weather.
What an incredible crop my friend! Especially those soy beans 😀
But I have to say though, I feel that pain of half eaten strawberries – our crop went the same way in summer!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Hello Uru,
Why couldn’t the critter leave me the big one? They always seem to go for the biggest and tastiest ones.
Your soy beans look great Norma ❤
Hello Marta,
Thanks.
Lovely colorful post Norma! Haven’t heard of tricolour amaranth – very intrigued to hear you can eat the leaves. I often cook with the seeds, but those leaves look so pretty! Lovely looking carrots and blackberries.
Hello Saskia,
There are many varieties of amaranths. I grow only 3 – tri-color, red and green.
I love your colourful stir fry and I have never seen red long beans only green long beans. I see some more delicious dishes ready to be made. The other day my little follower teenager told me if you keep your sweet potatoes they will start to gow greens in the window seal and then when the sprouts are big enough you plant them. That is so cool. I will have to try that soon as my boys love sweet potato greens.
Hello Bam,
I am surprised you do not find red long beans in Hong Kong wet market. Yes, you can root a sweet potato and it will grow vines, not enough for a meal though.
Yes especially for me hungry teenagers, we would have to root about a 100 sweet potatoes just for one meal. LOL
Hello Bam,
May be.
I had no idea what amaranth looked like! I had not idea it was a leafy vegetable. It’s beautiful. Is it more on the bitter / tart side, like kale, or sweeter, like a bibb lettuce? All my greens this year were attacked mercilessly by bugs. I tried crumbling up egg shells from used eggs, as I read this can keep plants safe from bugs, but didn’t do it often enough for it to make any difference. And your red long beans are completely new to me. They’re gorgeous! Like red tinsel on a Christmas tree.
Hello Susan,
I would say amaranth is more like collard greens. I personally only eat it cooked. I had cabbage worms but was able to pick most off by hand so damage was minimal. Like your description of the red noodle beans, must remember that.
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