I've managed to get hold of couple of varieties of day neutral strains of soya bean..should do well in our climate.. ;) ;D
Has anybody else grown Fiskerby or Bråvalla soya beans before?
Thompson and Morgan sold the variety Fiskerby V in the late 1970's. I don't think they were very successful with home gardeners as they still need a warm summer. They are, though, quite tasty eaten just lightly steamed but shelling them is not easy
Gosh..that goes back some years then.
Apparently these are bread by Swedish guy..back even more years than when T&M used to sell them. They were specially bred for northern climate for commercial crop production.
This guy bread series of Fiskerby strains.
Well..I shall have a go growing them and see if they are any better than 'modern' ones.
Forgive me going totally off thread but my Italian plot friend gave me some freshly grown chick peas to taste, it was quite a surprise- no special variety just any dried one from the shop. Nice- even raw :D
That was this year as well.
I grew the T&M soya beans three years ago. They did very poorly. The germination was really poor and apparently this is becuase the growing point is very delicate in these beans and being shipped dry and stored etc means that not many of them make it.
They make lovely hairy plants but i never even saw a flower let alone a pod.
I think if you can get fresh beans then you might have a chance.
x
sunloving
Do you eat them as dried or fresh whole beans?
I've eaten them 'fresh' cooked beans and they are nice. But usually you need nice summer to be successfull or grow them undercover.
I'm hoping these would bit better for growing.
Some of the climbing french are very nice as fresh whole podded beans, I particularly favour Odriscoll and Bridgewater. More reliable than soya.
For those who are interested (nerds like me) some soy bean info..
from 'history of soy beans...'
"In 1957 Holmberg returned to East Asia to collect more breeding material, then in 1970 he made a third expedition to Siberia and Japan. In the meantime he studied soybean breeding in the USA and Canada and learned that his strains had been used in North American breeding programs. The most important varieties bred by Holmberg are Fiskeby V, Bravalla^, and Traff^. During the 1970s the Fiskeby V became well known throughout northern Europe; it was grown by soybean breeder Ray Whisker in England since 1969 (see UK). In Sweden soybeans were found to grow best in the driest corner of the country, the Kalmar-Oland region"
Whole thing is availabe to read here...http://www.soyinfocenter.com/HSS/europe5.php (http://www.soyinfocenter.com/HSS/europe5.php)
..perharps the temperature is not problem in UK but the wetness.. ::)