Well, Keith, you know how I am. I don't grow a little bit of anything, so I grow a ton of green beans and freeze enough each spring and summer that we never have to buy green beans at the store.

To freeze them, you just trim them down to 2-4" pieces after washing them and cutting off the ends. Then, blanch them in boiling water for 3 minutes. Cool them. I do this quickly (for a higher quality frozen product) by draining off the boiling water and them pouring the beans into another stockpot filled with ice water. Once they've cooled down, you drain them and let them dry off some and then pack them into freezer containers or freezer ziplock bags or FoodSaver vacuum bags---whatever your preferred storage method happens to be. Seal, label, freeze. That's it.

And, if you don't want to freeze them all, remember that you can pickle excess green beans to make Dilly Beans.

By the way, I loved my grandmother's cooked green beans when I was a kid. I knew they were from my grandparents' garden and had been frozen, but by the time I had my own garden as an adult, I couldn't figure out why I couldn't replicate the texture of my grandmother's green beans, and she no longer was around for me to ask her about that. I cooked the beans with enough bacon fat and black pepper and salt that I could replicate the flavor exactly, but not the texture. It drove me nuts. Finally, about 15 years ago I mentioned to my uncle that I just couldn't get my green beans to cook to the texture of Mamaw's green beans so he had me describe how I preserved them. When I said I blanched them (as we are supposed to do!), he stopped me and said that she never blanched hers--they went from the garden to the kitchen to the freezer with no blanching. I was astonished. I always intend to freeze some without blanching each year to see if that would give me the same texture as her beans but I never do it. It is hard to ignore a basic rule of food preservation like blanching, I suppose.

Dawn

Thanks Dawn,

Part of the reason I've usually only grown a small amount is the rabbits eating my tender young plants. This year sis recommended Irish Spring soap. So far no rabbit damage.

This photo is a wide row about 20' long , no blooms yet but any day now.

Keith

You're welcome. Now, don't go counting your chickens before they hatch. : )

I've been harvesting bush beans for a couple of weeks now and then there will be pole beans later on. I did plant my beans ridiculously early this year because we were warm so very early. Most years, I don't get a harvest from the bush beans until later in May.

Rabbits do not often find a way into my garden---maybe once a year one finds a way through or under the garden fence, but when they do, they seem to head straight for the beans or the nasturtiums.

I used Irish Spring soap one year when the garden fence was still short to try to keep the deer from coming over the fence. It worked great for a little while, until something started tearing into the knee high stockings that held the soap, and started eating the soap. (Hard to imagine, isn't it?) I never figured out what was eating the soap. I know it could have been the deer, because the soap was tied to the shorter fence about 4' above ground, but it could have been something like coons that could climb the fence to reach the soap. Either way, after some wild animal started eating the soap, I stopped using it. I hope it doesn't lose its effectiveness for you, and I hope nothing starts eating the soap. That is probably one of the strangest things I've ever found happening in/near my garden (not counting the cougar visits) but it was a drought year and animals that are very hungry will eat almost anything and, apparently, that includes Irish Spring soap.

I don't even bother cutting the beans and blanching them any more. I simply wash, let dry, then freeze whole. I do not notice any taste problems. Then again, I eat them by next year's harvest time. These also go into the deep freeze freezer.

My grandmother would be so proud! : )

Like Dawn, I blanch and freeze. I leave the tenderest, straightest ones whole and saute them Oriental style with garlic and red pepper flakes. I never buy green beans either.

That's the way we do sweet corn. I clean all the husk off at one time, no messes at cooking time, put them in bags and put them in the freezer. If I get a lot of green beans this year I'll try freezing some. Thanks for the info.

Today I'm going to rob some new potatoes to cook with green beans for supper. Green beans with new potatoes is one of my favorite springtime/early summertime meals. I suppose I'll grill some chicken to go with it, but honestly, Tim and Chris can eat all the chicken as far as I'm concerned and I can make an entire meal out of green beans and new potatoes. Hmmm. Maybe with cornbread. And, if I pick strawberries, we could have strawberry shortcake for desert. I love springtime meals straight from the garden, and now that stockergal mentioned corn, I'll start watching my corn plants anxiously. We're not even close to a harvest from them yet, but they are going to tassel and silk before the real summer heat arrives, so it ought to be a great corn year too. Now, if only we could get a break from the rain for a few days just so I can get everything harvested. I have fallen behind this week.