How to Harvest Edamame

Edamame is a nutritious bean.

Edamame is a Japanese soybean with a very large seed. It is highly nutritious, packed with protein, calcium, iron and folate. Edamame can be cooked or eaten raw in salads or with a little salt. Edamame grows in a lot of the U.S., especially in rainy areas that have a good spring and summer season. Knowing when to harvest your edamame requires a keen eye; the harvest time for edamame lasts sometimes within two to three days.

Things You'll Need

• Pruning shears

Instructions

1. Touch the pod to see whether the pod is plump and the beans inside are almost touching each other.

2. Look at the color of the bean. It should be bright green, not yellow. If yellow is showing, the pod has passed the best time of harvesting.

3. Clip the plant at the base, where the plant meets the soil. Give the pods a firm tug to pull them off the plant.

Tips & Warnings

• Edamame is a "photo-sensitive" plant, meaning maturation time may vary depending on the amount of sunlight available. The average is between 100 and 120 days.

References

• Washington State University Cooperative Extension; Edamame; Gayle Povis Alleman, et al.; 1999
• Washington State University Cooperative Extension; Edamame; Carol A. Miles, et al.; 2000