I love to garden and one of my newest finds is beans, not liked baked beans but green beans or string beans I guess. I did not have much success last year with them but this year they have come to life. And oneof the things I have discovered is, if it says pole beans, get a pole (the package usually says on the outside). They will produce much better =) Just a lesson learned on my part.
I pick my beans when they are about 5 inches long or longer or they start getting really fat but don't seem to be getting longer. Probably some weirdness to do with water and soil and something I hope to fix someday. I collected these over 2 days and wait until I have a bunch before blanching and freezing since it seems a wasted effort to do it for 4 beans. I don't want to leave them in the fridge for more than 2 days either so they won't get nasty.
Have a large pot of water on the stove getting ready to boil. It will take a few minutes and you can trim your beans while it heats up.I cut the end off with a small paring knife, feel free to snap them with your fingers or whatever way is easiest for you. I am lazy and don't have a lot of extra time so I line them up evenly and cut several at a time. (read this to mean as many as I can get in my little paws at one time without messing up )
You will end up with a bunch of bitty ends which I throw in my compost bucket. and then you will have another lovely pile of trimmed beans ready for the hot water pot. Once it is boiling throw them in the water and cover them.
Boil for 3 minutes in the lovely hot pot. This helps get rid of bugs and anything else that might be residing in or on them and apparently helps with some enzymes of sort to keep them from getting nasty after freezing. You can look up the science of this if you wish. I just take them at their word. during this time have a large bowl or sink of really cold ice water ready for when your buzzer goes off. Once it does strain your beans and plot them immediately into the cold water. This stops the cooking process, since you don't want cooked beans until later, when you eat them.
Once they have cooled off, and you can feel them in the water to see, strain them again. I then put mine on cookie sheets I have lined with walmart sacks. I have found they stick to the plan sheets and using saran wrap was costing too much for my taste. I turn the walmart sack inside out, wipe it down and put them on in a single layer, like on the two trays above.
I then stick them in the freezer until they mostly frozen , I guess an hour or a bit more. Then take them out. They come off the lining really easily, just pick it up by the edges and they slide right off.
Now to put them in your freezer bags and feel successful one more time =) Be sure and mark your bags because no matter what kind of smarty parts you think you are, you will forget when you did this. Another lesson learned, by me. I have one full bag and another partial bag. I take the full one to the deep freeze and keep the half full one upstairs in the small freezer. The next batch at the end of the week will fill it up and then it too shall have to move.
My goal is to get enough to use through this winter and to also give some to my family and friends. A garden isn't worth much if you cannot share =) Have a great week!!
