If you drive up U.S. 61 North into the Delta, you’ll see vast fields of soybeans growing in the hot, summer sun. Also, the crop has been grown and cultivated in Asia for more than 2,000 years, but many Mississippians don’t think about including soybeans in their diet.

If you go

Upcoming gardening events:

• May 30 — Hattiesburg Day lily Show; Lake Terrace Convention Center, at U.S. 49 and Interstate 59; day lily sale: 10 a.m.; public viewing: 1 p.m.; free.

• Noon June 2 — First Tuesday Gardening series; Dreaming of Day lilies by horticulturist Donna Beliech; Warren County Extension Office, 1100-C Grove St.; free.

• June 17 — Wildflower Tour Day, sponsored by USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and Mississippi Soil and Water Conservation Commission; Jamie L. Whitten Plant, 7 miles west of Coffeeville on Mississippi 330; $3 per person; features wagon tours, programs, lunch; register by June 5 by calling 601-354-7645.

Jennifer Clark and her husband, Scott, fell in love with edamame, or edible soybeans, when they lived in Japan. Clark calls them a peanut type snack that, once tasted, had her hooked. I met the Clarks and Jennifer’s father, Bobby Delmas, at the Master Gardener booth at the Vicksburg Farmers’ Market last summer. Delmas and his wife were introduced to them via his daughter and son-in-law, and he now grows them in his home garden in Hattiesburg.

Delmas told me that his first planting was the same type grown as a crop throughout Mississippi. They were small and hard — not like those his daughter ate in Japan. The next year, he got on the Internet and found a source for the larger soya hispida, and he has been growing them since. He plants them in staggered plantings to prolong the harvesting season and has tried several different varieties. They are harvested in the green stage when the pods have two to three beans to a pod and the leaves have just started to yellow. The pods are washed, blanched in boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes and strained. Then Delmas ices them down in coolers. The pods can be frozen and stored in freezer bags or refrigerated after the initial washing for seven to 10 days.

The seeds for the larger beans are not always easy to find, Delmas says. He buys from Wannamaker seeds, a third-generation specialty crops and seed business in rural South Carolina. Midori Giant, Mojo Green, Sunrise, Korean Black and Bellesoy are recommended varieties for the southeastern states.

Edible soybeans need to be planted in a soil temperature of at least 60 degrees. No  pre-soaking is required, and they should be planted 1-inch deep and 3 inches apart in rows that are 20 to 36 inches apart. Delmas plants several 60-foot rows. Caution is recommended in using insecticides because these are harvested much earlier than the typical crop soybean.

Delmas said edamames’ culture is similar to that for growing bush green beans or lima beans. When planting for the first time, inoculate the seeds to insure that they produce their own nitrogen. The inoculation can be purchased with the seeds.

To harvest, he pulls the whole plant up and cuts the stems containing the seed pods away from the foliage. The entire planting will mature at the same time, so he plants every two weeks during April and May. He primarily grows Midori Giants but says, by choosing several varieties, a gardener can harvest beans for a longer period. It is very important, he says, to pick the pods while they are green and tender.

A good source of vitamins A, B and calcium, edamame have about 125 calories per serving. Rick Snyder of the Mississippi State University Truck Garden site in Crystal Springs says they have tried several varieties there with good results. They do have a short harvest window and will require special handling and equipment to become a viable commercial product.  That is not a problem in the home garden where hand picking in early morning is the recommended harvesting procedure. Deer love them as much as humans, so care should be taken to protect them.

Edamame can be eaten in numerous ways. They are good in salads, as a vegetable dish, in casseroles and in pasta salad, Clark says. The Wannamaker Web site suggests adding the pods to a shrimp boil.

But Clark says the traditional Japanese way to eat them is still her favorite. The pods are boiled or steamed for about five minutes, drained, then salted — or, for those who like hot stuff, add blackening spice. They are then popped open, and the beans are eaten individually. But, just like potato chips, it’s hard to eat just one.

Miriam Jabour, a Master Gardener and master flower show judge, has been active with the Vicksburg Council of Garden Clubs for more than 20 years. Write to her at 1114 Windy Lake Drive, Vicksburg, MS 39183.