Are those edible seed, which will be immature and often kidney-shaped or dried seed (round) for planting?

Test for germination, by planting a few seed 1-1¼" deep, in a pot where the soil temperature is 70°F or more. Place in a sunny or bright location and keep the soil moist at all times.
If viable, a radicle should emerge within 2-3 days and they will emerge from the soil within 7-10 days.

If you plan to plant in the garden, wait until the soil temperature is about 60°F or higher, about mid-May, depending upon where you live. The warmer the soil, the better the germination rate and less likely they will develop a disease or dampen-off.
Space the plants about 6-8 inches apart, so that they will shade all of the soil underneath, to prevent weed growth and will grow taller, so that the seed pod development will be near the top of the plant, for better yield.
A healthy plant will produce 20-25 pods, with 3-4 seed per pod.
Depending upon the variety (there are thousands!), harvest could begin within 2½ months or as long as about 4 months.

If you want to save seed for next year's crop, let the pods dry on the plant, they will turn to tan, yellow or brown in color and can be harvested when the pod separates with pressure between thumb and forefinger.

In my younger years, on a Midwest farm, we grew 200+ acres of soybeans, each year, all organically, low till.
They were the commercial variety, grown for oil, animal feed and pulp.

I can't offer you any tips on growing soybeans. However, I just had to say that it's a little surprising for me to hear that anybody would love soybeans as a food. You're lucky to have kids who enjoy something that's good for them.

Considering all of the beans grown in Georgia that I'd love to grow, soybeans would not even be on my list. On the other hand, I've never tasted them so I might be missing out on something very yummy.

I've seen them growing in GA most of my life and I know they're used for a lot of things. I just didn't realize people actually grew them to eat. I'm going to get a mess of them from one of my mom's farmer friends this summer and cook them up. The things I learn on GW! LOL

Please don't think I'm making fun of the idea. It's topics like this that help us all to grow and encourage us to try new things in our gardens. I only learned recently that we can grow bok choy (I love bok Choy!) here. Before I plant that, I'm going to wait for a progress report from Esh.

Anyway, I say go for it. Good luck to you!

Lots of folks grow soybeans here, and kids seem to really like them. They grow like a regular bean, in sunwarmed soils, planted shortly after the last frost for your area of Georgia. In Atlanta our last frost is approximately April 10th however check the 10 day forcast around this time as we sometimes get a surprise. I would plant my soybeans in early May.
Savannah, I just in Savannah on the weekend. Your weather is about a week or two ahead of us right now, and I would most certainly plant my bok choi now. It likes cooler weather (the most common types do, anyway).
A great way to see what is going to work for you in your area is to visit the Che Bella farm. 3 acres of organic bliss!!! We at at the restaurant and the food was fantstic! Water cress soup over a poached egg. Local food heaven.

GGG, thanks for the info. We'll have to try to visit Cha Bella when things settle down after St. Patrick's week. We always enjoy trying a new restaurant, especially when somebody's been there & raves about the food.

We stopped going to the state farmer's market here because the selection of vegetables offered there was a joke. I could not find a GA grown tomato there. Unbelievable!!! It's good to know that we have options. Cha Bella farm will even deliver.

For sure, I'll try cooking some soybeans this summer. We do love our beans.

Thanks, GGG.

love_savannah__

You probably should check with your Mom's farmer friend, to determine if the soybeans he grows are the food grade type.
Few farmers grow those, because the harvest window and storage is crucial.

The attached document lists some of the preferred food grade varieties.

The nutritional value of food grade and field (commercial) types are similar, but the taste is much different.
I have tried the field type and the taste did not suit my palate, a'tall!

Here is a link that might be useful: Edible Soybean

Ladywindsurfer, thank you so much. Mama's farmer friends probably do grow soybeans for commercial use. Had I cooked up a mess of those, I would have been turned against soybeans forever.

I appreciate the link. Thanks to you, I've avoided a big mistake.

Bon