It isn't from either. Soybeans are of the genus Glycine. G. Max comes from the wild soybean, G, soja which I have also found seed of.
Such nice photos, @heirloomgal. I love looking at everyone's bean photos - thank you! I'm curious to know why you grow Agate as a soil replenisher. Does it do a better job of fixing nitrogen, or is it something else? That is a beautiful bean, too.
I'm sure you must have had some good finds during your time in the UP, @flowerbug. As you know most of our beaches are filled with rocks. I grew up in West Michigan with pure sand beaches, so the rocks were an adjustment - but I love them now. Seeing the Agate bean @heirloomgal posted reminded me of rock picking. Agate is still king (queen?) but I was amused last summer to see a bunch of people walking beaches at night with ultraviolet flashlights. I guess the new thing is searching for Yooperlite, which glows under ultraviolet light but looks pretty plain otherwise. Now if we could cross a Yooperlite and an Agate bean...looking at the bean pictures, reading stories here on TEG and thinking back to how i think i finally got Mom to understand my bean love.
@flowerbug
I clicked on the link that was in one of your prior posts, a few # back; that's a very nice photo gallery you have there. I like the photography aspect of gardening too. I enjoy attempting to capture the beauty of the produce as it comes out of the garden, and the different varieties of things. Sometimes I may never grow a particular variety again, or for a long time, so it's nice to have a photographic record to remember. There are occasionally moments when I will find a garden picture I took years ago and think, 'Gosh, did I grow that?' The camera remembers better than I do
However, I haven't found it especially easy to get good photos or photos that reflect the real life beauty the human eye sees in the moment. Kinda like taking a picture of a gorgeous, blazing sunset you see one evening, that ends up looking less than ordinary through the lens. How to capture that 'special' quality is such a challenge. I use mainly my Tablet to take photos, not the most ideal, and very little beats natural summer lighting. But in the winter when I want to capture the dried beans on camera, warm outdoor weather I'm fresh out of. So I've experimented quite a bit with backgrounds and even pieces of foil or white paper to filter and reflect the light. I usually battle green and other greyish shades artificially cast onto the beans. I wish I knew a bit about principles of photography, as most of what I do is stumble around guessing.
Your garden is charming, and all the colourful decorations really add to that. Is that a fence I see around your main garden? I did see the photo of several grazing deer nearby, and after following this forum for the last months it seems several folks here have them as visitors. Those frogs were also something I didn't think would be in abundance in your area. I have a few in the fall, toads I think, but not many and it is always a surprise when I see one. It explains the odd garter snake I see too (not my favourite garden visitor I confess!)
yes, fences required here around the main vegetable patch. froggies used to be more plentiful, but the mosquito control people have drained all their puddles or poisoned their food sources so there are fewer here now than before. i encourage snakes, they eat the mice and chipmunks along with some other things. only one snake here is poisonous and it is fairly rare, but we are on the edge of their range so they can be around. i've not seen them yet but the neighbor down the road had some on her property.
Thank you @BeanWonderin I started experimenting this summer with different kinds of beans other than the 'standard' vulgaris bean. I had read that both fava and soybeans have the greatest abilities to fix nitrogen of all leguminous edible plants. I'm not actually sure if it's true but I thought I'd give it a try. I have no animal manure source other than what I purchase in bags, and I'd like to enrich my soils as the past couple years I used a lot of garden space for heirloom tomatoes. I think, to at least some degree, the tomatoes pulled a lot from my soil. I've always noticed whatever I plant in an area where beans have been grown the previous year, it really flourishes. Even flowers. So I did some research and came up with a couple soy types and favas. (I was also working on replenishing soil areas that have previously been used for fruiting shrubs.) I chose agate primarily because it's pretty
Turns out, I found the plants actually very attractive. I think soybean plants have a certain 'houseplant' quality to them, especially the shape of the leaves. Too bad mice like them! They really went after those agate beans!
i've not found many agates up there, i haven't spent much time looking for them, we're more just general beach rock pickers, we like certain colors or shapes. we don't get to the UP much any more, it's a long haul from here. sometime though i should get picture of the chunk of native copper i found just a few weeks before i left.
Soybeans will add N to the soil... but it would be a shame to waste the beans. Both of those are edamame varieties.
Agate
(I grow as a soil replenisher)
Beerfriend
(same)
In my experience, once the bacteria for soybeans is present, it over-winters & survives in the soil. I've also seen evidence which suggests that the bacteria which causes nodules on clover may cross over to soybeans, because I broke new ground where clover was widespread, and the soybeans planted there the next year were heavily nodulated.
Cowpeas are fairly high nitrogen fixers also; but they would probably require inoculant for best results. If you are growing a vegetable that will both enrich the soil & provide food, the choice between those may be a matter of (1) climate (2) personal preference. Favas are better suited to cool summers, soybeans & cowpeas prefer warm summers. If you are growing a cover crop for soil enrichment only, it is best turned under before seeds begin to mature. If a perennial cover crop fits in your garden rotation, alfalfa produces more N than any of the annual legumes... and can be cut for mulch.
That depends. As a rule, closer spacing produces more seed per row foot & more N; but the individual pods will tend to have fewer & smaller seeds, and DTM may be delayed. For edamame, where fatter seeds & more seeds per pod is desirable, wider spacing gives the best results. If the primary concern is soil enrichment, or if a grain (dry) soybean is grown, they can be spaced more closely. My default for grain soybeans is 2-3" apart after thinning, rows 24" apart... with wider rows if warranted by plant height (some varieties are 3-4' tall). For edamame, I generally thin to 3-4" apart, with 24" between rows (although I have done double rows 18" apart for short varieties). If you have the space to do so, thinning to 6" between plants for most edamame varieties will produce a high yield per plant of well-filled pods. Agate is a very early variety though, so 3-4" apart should be OK.
