We’ve been planting edamame for a few years here, but the 2023 planting has our attention. The seeds we planted this June were harvested here in 2023.
Why didn’t we use 2024’s seeds? The plants gardeners cordoned off so the seed could dry on them must have had a visitation. One day, someone noticed that every seed was gone. Birds, maybe? A hungry rodent?
First comes bed prep. Gardeners weeded these rows earlier in the season. Today, a light turning loosened the soil and mixed in the mulch. The trellises were tied up out of the way, to hold climbing plants some other year. Last season, this bed hosted winter squashes, some of which climbed the netting.
Then came the planting.
Finally, mulching and watering fully establish five rows of edamame, a delicious fall crop we all look forward to.
With that, we enter the time of the garden season when there is so much food all the time. These gardeners are enjoying radishes. This crop is planted annually, and it’s more ephemeral than that: The early radishes, arugula, kale, and spinach—and a few volunteer onions from last season—will be harvested to make room for winter squash seed, which we’ll plant in the next week or so.
In the fall, before the first frost, we’ll harvest the edamame and the winter squash. Some edamame plants will be reserved for seed for the following season, beginning the cycle anew.
