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[Clansgian AT wmconnect.com]

> Betcha you get a quite knowledgeable answer from James, next time he gets  
> on 
> line!

An answer at any rate.  Rob, the only real difference between Edamame soy 
beans and any other type is that the Edamame seeds are larger making them 
more 
convenient to shell and eat after the pods have been steamed.   The yields of 
the Edamame type are HUGE.  And the plants are too.  The plants are over 30" 
tall on the three types I've grown and so I suspect that they are not the 
norm 
because this would probably make them more difficult to grow and harvest by 
machine.

Our farming model is to grow such crops as corn and soybeans for our own 
consumption and use any surplus as animal feed, but not to purposely plant 
them 
with that in mind.  Works out pretty well though.  So we also grow some 
soybeans 
for tofu and tempeh.  A good number of years ago I got some soybeans from the 
health food store and figured they were not GMO.  I grew the yellow and black 
varieties.  Turns out they grew well here and I've saved seeds from them ever 
since.

Two years ago the Edamame type yielded far, far more beans that could be used 
green so I dried the rest and made tempeh from them.  I could tell no 
difference except that the beans were a little bigger.  The haulms were 
stored as hay 
and mainly fed to the rabbits.

I would also put the bug in your ear that fodder beans need not be soybeans.  
The small seeded fava beans (tick beans) and even cranberry beans make good 
feed supplements as well.

The seed source for Bloody Butcher corn was ridiculously expensive so some 
several years ago when I found three ears of it for sale at the produce stand 
for fifty cents (left over as Thanksgiving decoration), I planted those and 
have 
had a big crop of it ever since.   It is an outstanding variety of OP corn  
second on this homestead only to Hickory King,    It not only yields enough 
to 
be a feasible feed corn, it also makes good cornbread and decent masa as well.

James   </HTML>