Edamame Harvest

I picked a good-sized batch of "Taiwame" edamame, our first soybean harvest of the year. Most pods have two beans, although there are a few with only one. I could tell which pods were ready by feeling for big plump beans. While the pods at the tips of the plants were ripe, those further down were still immature. I left the skinny pods on the plants, and there will be another good harvest in a week or two. The "Mooncake" edamame plants are just starting to bloom, which means the Mooncake beans should be ready to pick soon after the Taiwame finish. I started both types of edamame at the same time, so this sequential harvest is just fortuitous.

David boiled the pods for a few minutes in salted water and they were ready to eat. Our older son was feeling unusually adventurous and he tasted a bean without any cajoling on my part. I don't know who was more shocked, but he instantly loved them. He popped the beans in his mouth like candy, leaving just a few for me. I don't think our edamame taste any better than restaurant or store-bought, but the fact that he helped grow these beans won him over. I'm thrilled that there is now a vegetable we can grow that he'll enjoy eating, so I'm going to plant even more edamame plants next year. That way there should be enough for all of us.