Canning green beans brings back memories of long summer days and warm sun. Listen for the fresh snap as you prepare the beans for canning, right from harvest. Every speck of work needed for canning green beans will be worth it when you eat fresh all winter long. First, let's review some of the basics of preparing vegetables for canning recipes. Vegetables almost always need to be pressure canned. The hot water bath canner that is used to as a food preservation method for many fruits … [Read more...]
Preserve Farmers Market Produce
I will preserve farmers market produce again this summer. Sometimes the garden just doesn't have a good year. For me, lately this is the norm instead of the exception. I don't know when I lost my green thumb but it seems to be conversely related to the increase in animal life on our farm. Animals take time. Stall cleaning, coop cleaning, cleaning up everywhere, all takes time. Twice a day watering takes time. Feeding grain or filling hay mangers takes time. And that leaves less … [Read more...]
Sharing the Harvest, Being the Recipient
Sharing the Harvest Some years I had so much produce I would take bags of squash to work with me. We had some abundant years where the shredded zucchini in my freezer lasted much longer than the winter. We fed neighbors and left the anonymous bags of zucchini on doorsteps. We enjoyed sharing the harvest. And then, there was this year. In my effort to get enough produce for canning and freezing but not have an over abundance of food, I started a whole new garden plot. I added soil and … [Read more...]