Tools and supplies you'll need:
10 pint-sized Mason jars, lid bands and new lids
Canning rack
Canning tongs
Ingredients:
4 lbs green (or yellow, or purple...) beans
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds, per jar
2 sprigs fresh tarragon, per jar
1-2 garlic cloves, per jar, halved
5 cups vinegar
5 cups water
1/2 cup pickling salt
Directions:
1. Clean jars and lid bands and sanitize in boiling water. Use a large pot for the boiling sanitation. This water-filled pot will be used again when processing the beans so make sure your canning rack will fit!
2. Rise new, unused lids, but do not place them in boiling water.
3. Add mustard seeds and fresh tarragon in the bottom of each sanitized jar.
4. Clean and cut beans to fit into Mason Jars.
5. Place your canning rack in your large pot of water (from step #1) and bring water to a boil.
6. Bring the vinegar, water, and salt to boil. This will become your brine. Turn down once salt has dissolved, this should only take a few minutes.
7. While waiting for the brine to boil, fill jars with beans. The beans should be packed pretty tight.
8. Pack garlic cloves in between the packed beans in the loose spaces on top.
9. Pour boiling liquid over beans. You may need to warm the brine back up if your timing is off. If your jars have cooled back down to room-temp, run hot water over the jar (without allowing any to get into your jar) before pouring the boiling brine.
10. Tighten lids (don’t screw them on super tight, just enough to hold everything in place, you can them tighten them after they have processed in the boiling water)
11. Process in boiling water for 15 minutes.
12. Use canning tongs to remove cans from hot water. I usually have a heavy kitchen towel in my other hand so I can assist the tongs as then cans are removed from the hot water.
13. Let the canning water (step #1 and #11) cool and then use it to water your plants!!
After the cans have cooled down and all the lids have popped, I usually remove the rings and wipe down the jars with a wet rag. I do the same to the rings and then place them back on the jars. Sometimes residual salt ends up on the jars after canning, so giving them a quick wipe down helps prolong their shelf-life.
There are so many types and varieties of beans to choose from, that picking the right types to grow in your garden can be confusing. In this episode we discuss the 3 main culinary categories that beans are broken into, and how each of these types are grown in your garden. We compare growth habits, crop lifespans, and productivity differences between beans, including sharing some of our favorite varieties.