Working on his grandparents' farm in Kentucky and Oklahoma as a child, Richard Bernard knew he wanted to center his life around agriculture.

What he did not know was that he would dedicate 50 years of his life to the development of hybrid soybeans.

The University launched six new types of soybeans in 2000 and then six more in 2001, which Bernard proposed and developed.

Bernard coined the term "gardensoy" for these soybeans because he wanted to project the idea of these beans being for small scale production, such as in anyone's garden, and for human consumption.

That's right, they are edible, according to Bernard.

"Nine out of 10 times, I know what people are going to say: there is a lot that can be made from soybeans, not food," Bernard said.

Bernard is actively performing a variety of tests to create better soybeans and better-tasting soybeans.

The gardensoy beans are picked by farmers before they ripen and are then boiled. They can be eaten as dry beans or in foods such as soups, salads and stir-fry meals.

Gardensoy beans do not have the black and brown pigment that most unprocessed soybeans do, but rather are yellow seeds that are about 30 to 50 percent larger than common green soybeans, Bernard said.

The gardensoy is a cross breed between large green soybeans and edible soybeans, he said.

Bernard, a Detroit native, received his bachelor's and master's degree in crops and weed control from Ohio State University and his Ph.D. from North Carolina State University in plant breeding.

Bernard moved to Champaign in 1954, after a soybean specialist from North Carolina State who worked with Bernard at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) offered him a job as a soybean breeder for Illinois.

Ronnie Warsaw, an agriculture research technician for the USDA for 36 years, worked with Bernard on the field.

"These are high in protein and you can eat them cold and warm," Warsaw said. "We just need to get them out to the public now."

Barbara Bair and her son Julian Hartman have always enjoyed the taste of gardensoy.

"They are the children's favorite vegetable and very easy to cook," Bair said. "We started to use them when we were in Taiwan from 1989 to 1993."

Hartman, 12, said he likes the variety the gardensoy beans offer.

"I just pop one in my mouth from the pod," Hartman said. "Some are better than others."

Bernard left the USDA job in 1988, and joined the University staff in 1989 in the crop sciences department.

He retired from the University in July 2002 as professor emeritus of crop sciences and plant breeder at the University's National Soybean Research Laboratory. But he continues to do field work and communicate with the department staff.

The next challenge for Bernard is promoting the sale of his gardensoy beans.

"Americans are my target audience," he said. "The problem is that most Americans do not realize the beans are edible. The gardensoy beans sell very well at the farmer's market on the weekends."

Bernard also faces one more challenge — getting one of his granddaughters to like the gardensoy beans, he said with a laugh.

"My four kids and other grandchildren have grown up eating these, just like me," he said.

Former University Professor brings soybeans from the pod to the dinner plate