canning green beans

Unbelievable! We Canned!

My Mother would be so proud of us!

If she were only still here to see us canning,  myself and my daughter. I hardly believe it myself, but we really did it. We canned.

Now before you really are fooled into thinking I am a vegetable gardener, just know that the “garden” where I picked (out) my beans was air-conditioned and had rolling carts to handle the load….LOL

pickingbeans -thehypertufagardener

We bought about 15 lbs of beans for our first try. I had looked up the info and found that a bushel was about 28-30 lbs , and wanted to have at least a full 7 quart canner load, so we bought the 15 lbs. We purchased these from the local grocery because the price was better…$.99 a pound compared to $2.69 a pound at the city farmer’s market.  Yes, I am frugal.

See more Easy Recipes here.

CanningSupplies-TheHypertufaGardener


I was very surprised that it took us only about 40 minutes to break the beans. ( I mean pinch the ends off and break it into pieces. Is that what you all call it too?)

My teenage nightmares had me breaking beans for 8-10 hours straight, and to me, I was just living in a nightmare, because I didn’t get to get out of there! Now, mind you, we did have a lot more. My parents had a large garden ( five children), so we grew beans and canned from the garden. So it was a lot more than my 15 lbs from the grocery.  Memories fool you sometimes.

Anyway, my husband and I, and my daughter and her husband, and Jacob did all the prep of breaking.  With all hands working, it didn’t take long.

Jenny had read up on Pinterest about how canning was done. Plus we had the canning book which came with the pressure canner, so we just did it!  ( I know every how and then, little sparks of ideas would come back about what my Mother told me, and I heeded those warnings too.)

Now, Kim, put your lids and rings into the canner water to sterilize. Don’t use a different pan, not necessary.

Dishwashers are a wonderful thing to have to clean the canning jars. Oh my, do I remember washing jar after jar when I was 12 and 13 years old.  Maybe that’s why I considered it an endless torture to can. ( Along with the horror of two bushels to break! And the repeat of it the next day!)

Jacob Helps Can - The Hypertufa Gardener

Jenny and I picked out this little magnetic stick she saw on Pinterest for us to use to get the lid or ring out of the hot water. It was the greatest little tool. Love it!

We had tongs, I know, but this made us feel like ” Yeah, see, I know what I am doing…”

 

This was really very simple!

After all is said and done, this was a simple thing to do. I think I was a little afraid to try it, since I had always had my Mom by my side when I did it. But now that she is gone, it is up to me to do it myself, and to teach my daughter how it is done. Sure, she can read on Pinterest and all over the web  ( which we did in order to re-learn), but doing all this canning side by side with your daughter ( or it may be a daughter-in-law in some cases) is really a fun experience together. Jennifer is really a “tradition” lover, so I know she will want to continue this each year.  She is interested in pickles, and maybe jam.  Not to mention the soups, sauces, stews, and even meats we are planning to try! Wish me luck!

CanningCollage-thehypertufagardener

I know my Mother would be so proud of me. And I am sure she was with us .  Weren’t you, Mom?

I am glad that she taught me what I needed to know and what are the important things to hand down to my daughter. It’s tradition!

Mother's Birthday June 28 2011


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