hello, tend friends! this morning i have been busily working around the farm with a renewed sense of peace & an abundance of energy!
our trick is freezing!
when we purchased the farm, my parents gifted us a bit of money to purchase a freezer chest. we are so thankful they did! we have already filled it up with homemade chicken stock, pesto, tomato sauce, tomato soup, bell peppers, corn on the cob, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries & so much more!
we also added four gallons of green beans to the freezer. luke harvested the last of our green beans earlier last week (a wonderful surprise given we rarely have green beans this late in the summer season!) & we were very surprised to fill four baskets of those delicious beans. instead of crossing our fingers in hopes that we would eat that many throughout the next handful of weeks, we set aside a little over an hour & processed our garden bounty!
how to freeze green beans:
1. depending on the size of your harvest, fill an appropriately-sized pot with water & bring to a boil.
2. while you are waiting for your water to boil, wash all of your green beans thoroughly. chop off the end where the green bean was attached to the plant.
3. once your water is boiling & all of your beans are cleaned & chopped, add them to the pot of boiling water. depending on the amount of beans you have, keep them in the water for 3-5 minutes. you will know the beans are ready once they turn a bright green color but remain fairly hard instead of limp.
4. once your beans have finished boiling, place them in a bowl of freezing water until the green beans have fully cooled.
5. transfer your beans to plastic freezer bags. (tip: if you have a bit of extra time, you can place them on a cookie sheet & freeze before placing them in the bag to prevent the beans from sticking to each other.)
don't forget to label your bag!
cook & enjoy during the winter! we love seasoning our green beans in a bit of bacon drippings with salt & pepper.
- natalie
