It was afternoon on Christmas Eve, and while other families were filling the stockings, baking gingerbread cookies or traveling to Grandma's, we found ourselves in the nearby, recently-harvested soybean field, helping the goats forage for their new favorite snack (their new favorite activity). All I need to do is open their gate and shout "Beans!" and they take off running toward the hill.
Before Em and Ellie discovered these tiny, crunchy pods, I knew almost nothing about this useful and highly-nutritious legume (part of the pea family). Tofu, anyone? Apparently (we now know) soybeans are integral in many edibles like flour, milks, oil and marshmallows. In addition, the beans are used in the manufacture of adhesives, linoleum, pharmaceuticals and the chemicals in fire extinguishers. Who thinks up these things??
Soybean gleaning for goats takes a careful eye (unless you are a goat, in which case you root around in the dirt and find them by smell...) Their tan color blends into the ground, so it becomes a treasure hunt to spy either individual inch-long pods, or better, a long stalk somehow missed by the harvesting machine (bean bonanza!) Sometimes we fill buckets while the goats are distracted, treats for later. It is a labor-intensive chore but Megan and I count it as a workout because of all the bending and stretching...
Initially I worried about the result of soybean gorging on goat digestion, but I have seen no ill effects. According to my research, soybeans are a key component of many commercial animal feeds. Highly nutritious for humans as well, soybeans contain more calcium than milk and more protein than beef, and are rich in many vitamins and minerals. I'm tempted to eat them myself, but the goats might get upset...
Here's the saddest part of the story. My husband claims that the farmer who owns this field only plants soybeans every three or four years, something to do with nitrogen levels in the soil. Come spring this will likely revert to a cornfield strictly off-limits to the goat-boys. Four years from now they'll be eight years old - will they remember? Elli, Elli, the beans are back! Come on, brother, follow me to the field...
The anticipation is already killing me.
