tessagin

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

tessagin

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.

tessagin

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.

Jshep

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

sjwnana

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....

Geri B

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.

quiltingcandy

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.

Onebyone

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.

FAYE

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

Tothill

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.