Canning Green Beans

Had a day off today wither I wanted it or not.  So I was able to can the green beans I picked.  I ended up with 6 pint jars and some left over for supper.  I’m thinking I’ll go up in the garden and pull up one of the potato plants and put the small potatoes in with the beans.  If only I had some bacon to add to it.  Now that is yummy, but fattening. Ah.

Anyway here’s a tutorial, of sorts, about canning green beans.

Wash your beans and snap them or cut them, I used scissors, into about 1 1/2″ links.

Place your cut green beans in a enamel or stainless steel pot and cover slightly with water.  Place on stove and bring to a boil.  Boil for 3 minutes.  Place your canner on the stove and add 2″ of water and bring to a low boil.  Make sure your canner has a rack in the bottom of it to keep the jars off the bottom of the canner.

While the green beans are heating to a boil get your jars, lids, rings, canning salt, scoop or measuring cup, tongs, and bubble free-er at the ready.  My mother taught me to place my lids in a stainless steel  saucepan (see Pic #2 above) covering them with water.  Bring the water to a slight boil and reduce heat to low; just enough to keep the water good and hot. This softens the rubber on the lids and allows them to seal better when placed on the jar.

Once the green beans have boiled for 3 minutes use your scoop or measuring cup to pour them into the jars.  Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt to each pint jar and fill the jar to within a 1/2″ from the top with the liquid from the green bean pot. Now you’ll want to remove any air that is trapped in amoung the green beans.  I use a bubble free-er which is a thin flat plastic stick.  You use the stick by sliding it along the inside sides of the jar. If you don’t have a bubble free-er you can gently tap the bottom of the jar on your towel covered counter.  You should see bubbles coming to the top. Next wipe the top rim of the jar with a clean moist dish cloth.  Remove the lid from the hot water, with a pair of tongs, and place on top of the jar.  Immediately screw the ring on the jar.  You might have to use your dish cloth to hold the jar while you tighten the ring.

Place your jars in your canner leaving some space between the jars. Next tighten down your canner lid, leaving your pressure valve open for 7 to 8 minutes and then close it.  According to my Kerr canning book you bring the canner to 10 lbs. of pressure and let stay there 20 minutes for pints.  DO NOT LEAVE YOUR CANNER UNATTENDED.  Keep your eye on the pressure dial incase you need to raise or lower the temp. setting on your burner (stove).  It may take up to 10 minutes or more for the canner to reach 10 lbs of pressure.  Hang in there.

After 20 minutes remove the canner from the stove and let sit until the pressure dial has gone down to zero and the canner has cooled some.  Remove your lid and take your jars out.  Sit them on a towel, away from a draft, and allow them to cool and listen for that wonderful lid popping sound of a successfully sealed jar.
Note: The canner I use belonged to my mother.  I’m not sure how old it is.

Home canned things are so pretty.

Oh yeah, while the green beans were in the canner I made two quart jars of dilled mixed vegies: cucumbers, sweet banana peppers, and onions.

Tutoral to come…

Good news!  Sears called the other day and said my Craftsman Mini Tiller was not fixable and they would replace it.  I went to town this afternoon and got a brand new one.  YEAH!

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May YOUR garden produce beyond your expectations.

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Fruitful Day

The weather this evening turned cooler after 7:30 so I went out into the garden.  I’d planned on picking the green beans in the morning but since it was cool  I went ahead and picked three of the 5 rows.  I didn’t get much, but not bad for the first picking and the plants are full of blooms.  I’ll finish picking in the morning.  Looks like I’ll be canning tomorrow when I get home from work.

I picked 16 more Sweet Banana Peppers this evening.  That’s a total of 38 off 4 plants.  I remain stunned that my pepper plants are doing so well.  The Bell Peppers are getting big enough to pick, but they are not turning orange like they should.

Waiting for the red…

Pretty little cantalope…
One last note:  Sears called today and said my tiller was not repairable and would give me a replacement.  YEAH!  I can till the garden again; it needs it…BAD.

 

Tiller Down – Garden Growing

I had to take back my new mini tiller to Sears today; it would not start.  I was tilling the other day and the tines became filled with Bermuda grass; all wrapped around.  The tiller died and I cleaned the tines but it would not start.  Started yesterday for 1 min. and died again; to never start again.
Here’s something I learned about the gas you put in your gas-powered equipment.  The gas today has some Ethanol in it, usually 10%, but if it is over 30 days old in your gas container (can) or container on you equipment  DO NOT USE IT.  The gas becomes like varnish according to the man at Sears I spoke with.  He said, “that is the biggest killer of these small engine machines.”  The instruction book specified to not use gas older than 30 days but never said why. I do hope that is not what is wrong with my tiller.  The gas was about 45 days old.  We shall see. Sears is sending it off to have it looked at and will let me know before the end of the month.  We do still have the big (OLD) tiller I can use if I can get it started.

In the mean time the grass in growing in the garden as are the vegetables.  It is almost time to dig up the onions.  The tops are drying out.  I pulled up two today to have for supper and they were small.  I don’t expect to have much of an onion crop this year since it was so dry. 
My Dad is anxious for me to dig up the potatoes.  I pulled one up on Thursday and the potatoes were small.  I am hoping this rain we’ve been getting will help the along.  The plants are still green, but are starting to sag to the ground since the blooms died.
I went out in the light rain around 7 p.m. yesterday to sprinkle 10-20-10 fertilizer on the ends of the corn and green bean rows.  I don’t know why but the back ends of the rows are not doing as well as the front ends of the rows.  The garden does tilt slightly toward the front, perhaps it is getting more water there.  10-20-10 melts when it gets wet and soaks into the ground.  We got another good rain last night. YEAH!  Today was hot again though.  I love to garden but I love cool/cold winter weather just as much.

I recently posted a picture of last years Queen Annes Lace out by our mail box.  This years is bigger and prettier.  It is rounded instead of flat.  I did some research on the internet and couldn’t find any Queen Annes Lace that looked like this. I thought it might be something else but I ran out of surfing/hunting time this morning.  I am keeping an eye on it to see, as it ages, if it will go flat like the others growing 7 ft. away from it.   Here’s two views:
 

Oh I Wish It Would Rain

It has not rained in over 2 weeks now and the ground is very dry.  I’ve noticed that the ground in the deep woods along our lane to the house are looking dry.  Even though, the queens anne lace, yarrow, and the black-eyed susans are blooming like crazy along the road sides and fields.  There is a queens anne lace that bloomed last year right next to the mailbox and this year it is back; so pretty.
This is last yrs. bloom:

    The garden is doing well.  I am having to water something everyday.  I’ve a rotation on the watering of the corn, green beans and tomatoes to every other day.  I keep waiting for the green beans to bloom, but I’ve not seen any.  I just know that they would if the rain would shower on them.  There is just something about rain water that is better than tap water that just makes plants come alive.
     The potato plants still have blooms on top of them.  I’d say the blooms have been there a couple of weeks; looks like a flower garden. 

     My orange bell pepper plants are making, but the peppers are green so far.  I am new to growing these and I don’t understand why they’re green and not orange.  Perhaps they will turn orange as they mature. (?)  I know if they don’t I’ll have to give them away; green bell peppers don’t like me.
     It is time to plant the okra and I’ve got a bit of a grassy patch in the garden where they go.  This morning 7:00 ish  I headed up there to till and in the end it didn’t go well.  I started with the grassy patch (did I mention Bermuda Grass? Previous Post) and just as I finished that the tiller died.  I discovered it had Bermuda grass wrapped all around the blades; so I cut that out with some sissors.  The tiller wouldn’t start.  I looked at the blades and discovered that one of the locking pins was not sitting right  so I took it out with much effort.  I compared it to the other side and that sides pin moved freely.  So I reset the blades by pushing them toward the center (the blades are removeable for putting on an attachment) and replaced the locking pin.  The tiller did not start.  The tiller went back into the shed and I am in my cool house in front of my fan.  Bad side…I did need to till a few patches of grass here and there.  Good side of this story…I did what I went out to do.

Potato Farming

Yesterday morning I felt industrious and built up the dirt around the potato plants; all 55 of them. Oh MY! I’ve never planted this many and thank goodness I LOVE TO CAN.  I read that covering half of a 6″ tall potato plant helps it become stronger and gives the potatoes some looser soil to grow it.  I’ll repeat this process again when the potatoes grow a bit taller.  I did this last year and it worked well and made it easier to dig up the potatoes.
I used my favorite garden tool to pull the soil up from both sides, my metal leaf rake. I love the fact that it has a wide swath and with my sandy soil it is easy to use for raking the soil. It also picks up the loose dead pieces of Bermuda grass that are along the top of the soil.

The carrot seeds I planted have yet to make any sort of appearence. The package said “guaranteed to grow”, well we shall see; if not I’m sending for my money back. I paid over $3 for the package.

On another note your have to forgive the lack of post as of late. My father just had a new knee replacement last week and I’ve been busy working and going to the hospital…now going to Rehab. My Dad’s Dr announced him “amazing” after his heart valve surgery last Sept. and with this one he just shook his head and smiled. My Dad is 84 and a very active man. He will be helping me till the garden when he gets his strength back.

Later this week the planting signs will be right for above ground planting and I will be planting the corn and green beans.

By the way…Here’s a picture of my new toy.

A Craftsman Mini Tiller. I just LOVE it. Though it is a bit harder to handle than my Dad’s big one. I am sure with practice I will get better a handling it. Any suggestions?? Right now I can get it to skip along the top of the ground or dig in the soil about 4″ and then I have to pull it out. Slightly annoying.