2020 Little Easy Bean Network - An Exciting Adventure In Heirloom Beans !

[Blue-Jay]

I cut more garden fabric and fitted my backyard bean plot south (22 x 11 feet) with the material today. The fabric is custom fit for these rows and I can store the material and use it again next season. Fabric is pinned down with tent steaks about 99 cents each. 2 tent steaks at each end of the row. Another thing that I can use over and over for years to come. Bricks at 49 cents each placed in the middle of the row. Plants will have less soil splashed on them durng rain events and that will keep them healthier. Past years I've used grass clippings and that has made the plants healthier, but even then after a good rain the plants lay against the wet grass clippings and during the time when pods are drying this spoils some of the seed. I think this will even cut down on the amount of spoiled seed.

 

[flowerbug]

I cut more garden fabric and fitted my backyard bean plot south (22 x 11 feet) with the material today. The fabric is custom fit for these rows and I can store the material and use it again next season. Fabric is pinned down with tent steaks about 99 cents each. 2 tent steaks at each end of the row. Another thing that I can use over and over for years to come. Bricks at 49 cents each placed in the middle of the row. Plants will have less soil splashed on them durng rain events and that will keep them healthier. Past years I've used grass clippings and that has made the plants healthier, but even then after a good rain the plants lay against the wet grass clippings and during the time when pods are drying this spoils some of the seed. I think this will even cut down on the amount of spoiled seed.

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i hope that works out as you'd like!

 

[thejenx]

Coffee Diamonds has a few purple stems, I like it!

This wigwam is where I grow 5 kinds for green beans. I planted it over an 4-5 year old strawberry bed and I'm still harvesting a few strawberries every other day.

 

[baymule]

Russ that weed cloth sure makes a difference! Looks real nice too.

What is everyone’s favorite green bean for canning? I planted Kentucky Wonder beans and they have just started bearing. I canned 6 jars, need to bust one open and see if I like them.

 

[flowerbug]

Russ that weed cloth sure makes a difference! Looks real nice too.

What is everyone’s favorite green bean for canning? I planted Kentucky Wonder beans and they have just started bearing. I canned 6 jars, need to bust one open and see if I like them.

i'm not much into canned beans. i can eat them if i have to, but i'd rather have them freshly steamed, shellies or even picked and raw right there in the garden. as canned beans i like the three (or more) bean salad with onion and cooked kidney beans added. i like the sweet and sour flavor with the beans. dilly beans are also pretty good. i prefer them to pickles. i need to make a batch of dilly beans this summer if i get a chance.

the other reason i'm not much into canned beans is that they really need to be done in a pressure cooker to be safe and we don't have one of those nor do we really want one. Mom is so used to oven-canning that she will do some things that way and since it is low acid i won't eat them (i don't trust 'em) but to me they are mush anyways and i'd rather eat something else than mush if i have a choice. in starvation rations speak though i would gladly eat them.

for texture and flavor, i have rarely found beans i don't like, but a few i do like more than others (wax beans i like more than most green beans, but i am finding a few green beans i like even more than wax beans) and some are more suited to shellies or dry beans than eating as a fresh bean or right in the garden eating (which is what i like a lot).

 

[Blue-Jay]

Russ that weed cloth sure makes a difference! Looks real nice too.

What is everyone’s favorite green bean for canning? I planted Kentucky Wonder beans and they have just started bearing. I canned 6 jars, need to bust one open and see if I like them.

Last few years I also got grass clippings from two of my neighbors. This year with this Covid thing one of the neighbors is keeping his distance from me and has not offered his grass clippings to me. He just keeps mulching his clippings back into his lawn. The other neighbor seems is mulching the clippings back into their lawn and my lawn doesn't produce enough clippings fast enough to mulch out the weeds so looks like I have to pretty much turn to the weed cloth. It is faster and easier way to cover ground than with gathering and spreading the clippings.

As far as green beans goes I haven't eaten a canned bean since I was a child when my parents canned veggies from thier garden. I do prefer frozen green beans so I blanch and freeze them. One of my favorite green beans is a pole bean called Louisiana. Very productive variety. Most any variety of green bean are good steam cooked fresh or steam cooked after they've been frozen. If I don't have enough frozen green beans of my own frozen to last me through until the next season. I buy them frozen at the grocery store.

 

[Ridgerunner]

What is everyone’s favorite green bean for canning?

Whatever snap bean I have. With me that's pretty much limited to Bluejay cause that's about all I grow. In Arkansas my wife really liked the flavor of Blue Lake Pole beans so I'd grow those too but space is more limited here..

Bay, how long do you cook your fresh snap beans? I'll guess less than 10 minutes. I don't cook them that long. Do you use the cold pack or hot pack method when canning? For hot pack you bring them to a boil. I'm at sea level so I process mine in the pressure canner 20 minutes for pints and 25 minutes for quarts at 10 pounds pressure which means they cook at 240 degrees a minimum instead of at boiling temperature for at least twice as long as you would on a stove top for supper.

The point of all this is that you will probably not like the texture of those beans. It will be the same as the canned beans you buy at the store. You might like the flavor better. I like the idea that I grew them and canned them. I'm not real happy with frozen snap beans either, they are not fresh at all and I don't have freezer space.

 

[thejenx]

i'm not much into canned beans. i can eat them if i have to, but i'd rather have them freshly steamed, shellies or even picked and raw right there in the garden. as canned beans i like the three (or more) bean salad with onion and cooked kidney beans added. i like the sweet and sour flavor with the beans. dilly beans are also pretty good. i prefer them to pickles. i need to make a batch of dilly beans this summer if i get a chance.

the other reason i'm not much into canned beans is that they really need to be done in a pressure cooker to be safe and we don't have one of those nor do we really want one. Mom is so used to oven-canning that she will do some things that way and since it is low acid i won't eat them (i don't trust 'em) but to me they are mush anyways and i'd rather eat something else than mush if i have a choice. in starvation rations speak though i would gladly eat them.

for texture and flavor, i have rarely found beans i don't like, but a few i do like more than others (wax beans i like more than most green beans, but i am finding a few green beans i like even more than wax beans) and some are more suited to shellies or dry beans than eating as a fresh bean or right in the garden eating (which is what i like a lot).

Would you share your recipe for dilly beans? Sounds good, never had them.

 

[flowerbug]

Would you share your recipe for dilly beans? Sounds good, never had them.

i trim up the beans, put dill in the bottom of the jar (as much as you like - i never can have too much - i really like dill) pack the jars with beans and then top the jar off with a typical brine used for pickling. apple cider vinegar and water with a bit of kosher salt (or non-iodized salt if you can't find kosher). if you want sweet and garlic or other spices you can put those in the brine as you warm it up. leave some head space as usual when you can anything. then i process for the time needed to get the seal set. the ratio of vinegar to water is about 1 to 2 parts. if you pack the jars pretty tightly you may want to add a bit more vinegar to compensate. i rarely measure things exactly.

i don't use spices other than dill, salt and apple cider vinegar. i prefer to get the flavor of the beans and dill. since the beans are not fully cooked they stay crunchy. a lot more crunchy than pickles.

 

[Zeedman]

I cut more garden fabric and fitted my backyard bean plot south (22 x 11 feet) with the material today. The fabric is custom fit for these rows and I can store the material and use it again next season. Fabric is pinned down with tent steaks about 99 cents each. 2 tent steaks at each end of the row. Another thing that I can use over and over for years to come. Bricks at 49 cents each placed in the middle of the row. Plants will have less soil splashed on them durng rain events and that will keep them healthier. Past years I've used grass clippings and that has made the plants healthier, but even then after a good rain the plants lay against the wet grass clippings and during the time when pods are drying this spoils some of the seed. I think this will even cut down on the amount of spoiled seed.

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That looks really good, @Bluejay77 . Up until this year, I've always mulched the garden (and especially the beans) with hay. As long as the hay was relatively weed free (I inspect carefully before buying) the beans do wonderfully, perking up visibly a day or two later. This year though, my rural garden is so heavily weed infested that I may need to lay down weed fabric to keep the weeds manageable. The fabric you are using looks similar to what I've seen on Heritage Farm... could I ask what your source was?

In a rural location, I would probably need more anchorage to keep the fabric from being moved or torn by strong winds.