Beans! Oh my!
Sissy and I went out to the back garden to pick beans this morning. It was 100% humidity and very warm, even at 10. We picked and we picked. Soon we had our four ice cream buckets overflowing with beans.
Ummm, now what? We dumped them into the bed of the Ranger and continued picking. Sissy took a break and picked the ripe tomatoes to give her back a rest.
Unable to sweat, I was turning more and more red the more I picked. Would picking beans be the death of me?
We finally finished and had 7 buckets overflowing with beans. SEVEN!
Now, typically I put water over the beans and stick them in the fridge overnight. They snap better when they're cold, so I clean them the next day. But this time I had too many to fit in both of our fridges. I put some cold water in the sink and Sissy and I began the work of cleaning them. I did two bowls, until my hands cramped up. Then, Sissy took over.
She outworked me. No surprise there. She is a little bit younger than me. Not much, though. I had her when I was six, you know.
She finished up the two bigger bowls. I had to add more water to the sink! We had to leave them there until later as we had an appointment in town.
Later in the evening when Mr Farmer was here to help, I blanched and packaged all of them for the freezer.
We ate beans for dinner, and I froze another big bag of them. For once, I didn't have to give them all away. They are so good, I think I could eat them every day. Mr. Granny, on the other hand, never wants to see another bean in his lifetime. Anyway, I've been reading more and more blogs about freezing them without blanching, so I gave it a try. I figure I'll use those first, and if they aren't good they can always go into the dog food. If they are as good as is being said, it sure would save a lot of work. I wouldn't expect them to freeze for the length of time the blanched ones. I hope I am pleasantly surprised.
ReplyDeleteMy family can eat an enormous amount of beans at a sitting. I found that they really like them with a bit of crunch and some worchestershire sauce. I'll be interested to see how your beans turn out. It sure would save a lot of time not having to blanch them first.
DeleteI ended up giving away bags of beans because I got sick of dealing with them! It's been quite a bean-y year all around!
ReplyDeleteThis is my first year of really growing them. It won't be the last one, though, because we found a way we like to eat them that doesn't involve canning them. Canning beans is just way too much work for me, especially if I don't get many in a picking and have to freeze them anyway.
DeleteLooks like a good year for beans this year. Do you use treated water or well water for your garden?
ReplyDeleteIf I water, which I haven't this year at all, I use the rural water that we use in the house. We don't have a well. I think we have all the beans we need for the year. I'm sure glad we have kids to help pick, even if they complain.
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