Reflections of katlupe: canning green beans

Showing posts with label canning green beans. Show all posts

Saturday, July 20, 2013

First Crop From The Garden Is Canned!

Fresh out of the canner!

Spending time in my garden means we will have food on the shelves. Last night I canned my first crop of green beans. It was very hot and humid picking them yesterday. I had to keep getting more water. I keep my water bottle nearby at all times. I also kept a pail of cold water from the well, so I could wet an old tee shirt every now and then and put it on my head. Yes, I looked strange with a wet tee shirt on my head, but it worked!

Ready to pick!

I know it is not the same for everyone, as it is for me. I do not have to go every day to a job. I work from home and that gives me the opportunity to work in my garden daily. I didn't always do that, but back then I didn't have as good of a garden either. Every year, we have made more and more progress on our little homestead here in the forest. Soon that progress will include a wind turbine up and running, which will enable us to have running water, use a washing machine and best of all, a refrigerator! Which we ordered yesterday! Can't wait!

Summer Squash

My garden looks good, but it is not as good as it looks. My squash seems to have blossom rot and my two lettuce beds bolted as soon as it got hot and humid. I will replant the lettuce. The squash, well not much I can do about that. That is gardening! Some years are more plentiful than others.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

First Green Bean Harvest Canned

Four Raised Beds of Green & Wax Beans

As hot and humid, as it has been here in NY, yesterday I canned my first batch of green beans. They were ready and needed to be canned. If not, then our garden would be a waste. So my husband took it upon himself to go out and pick them all by himself. Not only that, but he cut them up for me! That is the hardest part of the whole process. Well, not really hard, but tedious. Picking in the hot sun was no picnic yesterday!

Cut up for the canner!

I canned them using the raw pack method in my Ball Blue Book canning book. I filled the jars with boiling water and put the lids and rims in a pan of hot water. Then I have a pot of hot boiling water that I add to each jar of cut up beans. You may add a teaspoon of salt if you like. As soon as I put the lid and rim on, I put the jar in the pressure canner that is on the stove with simmering water.

My Presto Pressure Canner

After the jars are in the canner, I tighten the lid and let it exhaust for 10 minutes. I canned it for 25 minutes at 10 lbs. pressure. Shut the burner off when the time is up and let it sit until the pressure has gone done to zero. I take the lid off the canner then and let it sit for about five minutes. Then I remove the jars from the canner with the jar lifter and put them on a thick towel.

Green beans for our food supply!

My finished product of 13 quarts of green beans! These are part of our food supply for the year. My last year's crop gave me enough quarts that we ate about two quarts a week through the year. I still have some left. Now I am replenishing it from this year's harvest! How about you? What have you canned this year so far?