Growing soya beans

[mrsmiggins]

Hi, has anyone tried growing soya beans in the UK? Some sites say there's some varieties that grow really well, but I haven't been able to find much info. Anyone tried it?

[QB comes back]

Hello,

Mr. QB bought a packet of seads from RHS Wisley in Surrey. They were alegedly the variety most suited to the UK climate. However we couldn't get one of them to germinate. We tried all sorts of things, soaking, not soaking, windowsil, airing cupboard, everything. Each time we investigated the compost after a month or so of watering to see what had happened and we found nothing!

We may have had dud seads so we should try again.

We'd be very interested to hear if anyone has had any success because soya beans are a one of the most efficient producers of protien per squer metre of land.

Has anyone else tried?

[JustinFun]

A few of us tried last year with 'Ustie' - there's a thread buried in the archives:

http://www.selfsufficientish.com/forum/ ... =12&t=9518

Unfortunately no-one except me came back with any stories of how well or otherwise it went!

I found it a bit disappointing - got a crop of beans but they were a bit small and the plants weren't very productive. Fine for adding to stews or stir fries, or for drying, but not really good enough to serve up as a steaming dish of edememe.

That said, there's now a new variety which has replaced ustie as the recommended UK variety, which I'm planning to try next year (didn't get it together to order them this year!

[adekun]

I left mine to dry. Wanted daizu instead of fresh beans. Spent hours shelling them, most were bad and infested with caterpillars.
Probably not going to bother again.
I read somewhere, Japan produces only 5% of it soy bean requirement; fundamental in so many dishes.