Canning - Green Beans to start
 

My dad gave me a 5-gallon bucket almost full of green beans. He's 95 and his garden is one of his best pleasures. Anyway, I snapped all those beans and canned them last night. I got 7 pints, 6 quarts, and a large "mess" to have for supper tomorrow night.

I love to can our garden bounty. We didn't plant beans (since Daddy did) but have cabbage, onions, tomatoes, squash, 3 kinds peppers, radishes, lettuce, and cucumbers. I can my own tomato salsa plus Ro-tel-like tomatoes with jalapenos. We'll make pickles when the cucumbers are ready.

With all the rain we've had this year, the cabbages have really grown. My husband gave my sister a cabbage that weighed 10 pounds! She used it for herself plus her two grown children and their families, and still had some left. Last year our cabbages grew so big we learned to make sauerkraut. We made 25 pounds and it turned out very well.

Now we're anticipating putting up sweet corn. We're going to try that in vacuum freezer bags this year. We'll blanch the ears, cut off the corn, and pack it into the bags. Easy-peasy!

There's nothing like home canned goodness!

I am so jealous. I quit canning when I no longer had access to local growers and the prices went sky high. We do have 2 apple trees so I do still can applesauce. There is nothing better than home canned jams too. We just don't eat enough of it anymore - when I do get the urge I give more than half away.

My niece lives in central WA and I love to visit in the summer with all the fresh fruit and vegetables. Their farmers market is fantastic!

The best frozen corn I ever ate was frozen shucks & all. When ready to cook, was microwaved shucks & all, still on the cob. For the life of me, I cannot remember how long I cooked it in the microwave. That last bunch I did this way was over 5 years ago, and I've never been sharp on details when it comes to memory.

You are making me hungry with tales of your garden. Your words paint a beautiful picture.

Wow, I only just got my little garden tilled and haven't planted yet. On the sweet corn... I freeze it every year and don't even bother blanching. I just cut it off the cob and put the kernels in ziplock bags. It is as good as it was fresh picked!

I also love canning. I've got a "summer kitchen" that is now in the corner of the building with my long arm (summer kitchen was there first LOL!)

I do both water bath and pressure canning, so I put all sorts of food. My DH has a reaction to sufites and they are commonly added as a preservative to a lot of store bought foods.

I prefer corn frozen, but love canned green beans. I also can fruit in very light syrup, and then I can dump a few jars worth into a pan, and a crisp topping and have a yummy desert in short order.

We cook our corn with the shucks for 5 minutes in the microwave. Hope this helps.

my corn is only 6 inches tall in the garden.......long wait

Be careful canning green beans. My mother told me that they can easily get spoiled, probably because lack of acidity. Freezing doesn't have the same concern.

I will be planting my pole beans this week end, want to can dilly beans in place of dill pickles.
Jan

I do the same when I go to the farmer's market. It's just too easy!

My cousin has been canning green beans for decades and has never had a problem. Not sure how she does it but now has a DIL who came from a family of canners. So she helps.

In our town the city wants to sell some of the parks. A couple of them are near where the homeless are plentiful. Along with a few others a suggestion was made to put up a garden. One master gardener was willing to get his group to come in and till. A 1/2 acre would feed a lot of people and if some of the homeless wanted to help who knew anything about gardening, they could register/sign up and volunteer so many hours, they would have a chance of employment with one of the nurseries. It would help with the shelters and soup kitchens. It was voted "no" because of cost. One gardener stated "seeds' could be obtained from many of the foods already grown like pieces of potatoes with "eyes" and other foods. Another "no " factor was vandalism from those who were just mean people. So many opportunities with so many consequences. it's sad. The little town where I lived most of my life, many had gardens and shared with the less fortunate. those less fortunate would help with the gardens. They eventually learned to grow their own.

Would you mind to share your recipe for canning green beans? When I can mine, they turn out tasting like store bought.

if the green beans are canned in a........... pressure canner .............for the time needed.........there is NOTHING.. that can go wrong.. [I]canned a hundred qts year before last....been canning all my life and mom did also... so no frozen beans for this ole gal.............and no truth to that statement either and like the other lady... if it can go in a jar ...i put it there... chicken,, turkey,,, dried beans.. pickles.. cowboy candy you name it i bet i have put it there...and lost very very few over all the years....

Tessagrin- sad that your town voted no to that great idea........in the town next to where I live there is a community garden.....each plot is purchased for $10, and all donate some of the veggies grown to the local food pantry...vandalism has never been a problem.

I would safely bet that if organizers wanted to solicit help...garden tools, seeds, seedlings, local merchants would have been willing to donate.

sad, that there are hungry and homeless among us.......eatable food is daily thrown into dumpsters by stores, restaurants. We certainly are a wasteful society.

Geri B, you are SO right about the amount of food thrown away daily is almost criminal. My family attended a function at the local university and food was served. They were encouraging us all to take home the left over food because it was going to be thrown out. I was rather surprised since we were on a college campus and there were students all over the place. And when I had two 18 & 19 year old boys staying with us we had no left overs. The university cooked all the food on premises so it was fresh. They weren't even able to take it to a local shelter.

The local hospital has a great buffet style cafeteria. I was shocked when I found out that when a big tub of food was unwrapped it had to be disposed of the same day it was opened no matter if any food was taken out of it or not. They throw massive amounts of food away daily. I suggested that at least the hospital employees could it for free instead of throwing it out. I was told no it violated policy. The hospital administrator thought the food waste was normal for the size of the hospital and if the food budget wasn't going over budget no problem. Stupid. Stupid. We need people with common sense about money and waste in charge.

I used to can green beans this way...put them in the jars-sealed -into the oven over night..set the oven timer - in the morning the cans had cooled down & ready to store . Never had a problem with spoilage

We have several Community Gardens in my small town. I do not know what the charge per plot is (I am lucky to have my own garden), but there is a very large plot set aside for the food bank.

Our food bank will also pick extra fruit in the fall from those with an abundant crop.

When I have a bumper crop of plums, I take them to the food bank.

I wish food crops would be used as landscaping in parks and low income housing projects. An apple tree is just as attractive as an ornamental plum, but provides much needed nutrition. Blueberry plants can use used in gardens, providing fruit and beautiful red stems in the winter.

I don't think I've ever read anything that was more frightening! How do you spell BOTULISM ? There was a time when some people thought it was safe to can vegetables in a dishwasher. Even the Ball Blue Book has changed it's advice through the years.

Showmama's original post was about preserving the bounty of her father's garden and of her garden. Who could have known what tales that would unleash.

I've never canned anything but I'm determined to learn how! Once my gran passed away my family lost that - nobody gardens or cans anything in my family anymore. I miss all the rows of jars of produce my gran kept in the garage, and her homemade jam!

My backyard is about to be remodeled and I'm having about half of the (small) yard turned into a veggie garden, with raised beds. I have had a (very small) garden before but this one will be about 3X the size of the last one - I think I can fit six 8'x3' beds back there. Some will end up in partial shade but most will have full sun so I think I can make it work.

I intend to grow heirlooms as much as possible as I want to learn how to save my seeds from one year to the next. I intend to can, pickle or freeze as much as possible - I don't want a single bit of it to go to waste!

It won't be finished until nearly August (it's part of a larger remodel project) so I won't have time to grow much of a crop this year, but I am SO excited about next spring! I've been reading up on freezing and canning produce...

Nothing beats home grown veggies!

Green beans that are pressure canned for the proper time are very safe to eat.

[QUOTE=elnan;7559189]The best frozen corn I ever ate was frozen shucks & all.

this is how we did it growing up. its so easy. The good thing too is that if you want to grill it, take it out and thaw, theres already enough moisture for it. We did take out the silk, just to make it easier later on. I love my vacuum sealer by the way. I'm single and sometimes I get cravings when I'm shopping and end up with too much in my freezer and yep,end up with freezer burn. The sealer protects my food.