Harvest Time Has Begun/Blanching Beans

Welcome back and as always thanks for reading.

August has arrived and the garden is really starting to produce nicely overall.

So far this season we have been enjoying lettuce, scallions, and peas.  Over the last week or so the green and yellow beans have been ready to pick.

Green Romano Beans

Although I didn't post an entry on planting beans, this year I planted yellow wax beans and a Romano type flat green bean.  The Romano beans are delicious and I have found that I prefer this type of green beans as compared to the typical green bean.  

After being away on vacation for 4 or 5 days, I returned to find a decent amount of vegetables to pick, including a few surprises.  There were also some disappointments:

Garden Harvest

The best surprise was the tomatoes!  I picked some of the Artisan and Corbarino varieties.  For information on these varieties, refer to my post on March 25, 2014 (http://dansgardening.blogspot.com/2014/03/its-tomato-starting-time.html).  In the basket above the Corbarino tomatoes are in the center, the Artisan tomatoes are in the right corner.

Another nice surprise was the lemon cucumbers, an heirloom type, which are producing very well.  See my post on June 4, 2014 for information on this variety (http://dansgardening.blogspot.com/2014/06/planting-cucumbersa-visit-from-turkey.html).  This cucumber is delicious, the best I have ever tasted, as they are slightly on the sweet side.

The cucumbers overall, however, are a disappointment since the vines seem to be dying off for some reason. It may be it has been too wet, or there is some sort of blight that is affecting them.   The same is true for the Zucchini and yellow squash, which are planted next to the cucumbers.  The squash seem to be producing fairly well despite the vines not being too healthy.

The pepper plants are also starting to yield, as I picked a couple of Hungarian Wax ones that were included in the hot pepper mixture I started from seed (http://dansgardening.blogspot.com/2014/03/planting-peppersspringtime-birds.html).

Finally, since I ended up with a fairly large batch of beans, I decided to freeze a bag of them so we can enjoy them later on this fall or winter.  To freeze the beans, I used the following procedure:

• Wash the beans thoroughly in cold water and then cut off the ends.  You can leave the beans whole, or cut up into smaller pieces, depending on your preference.

• Bring a pot of water to a boil.  A pinch of salt can be added if desired.
• Place the beans in the boiling water ans set a timer for 3 minutes.

• After 3 minutes, drain and place the beans in an ice water bath for 3 minutes.
• Drain the beans and pat dry to remove some of the moisture.
• Place in a freezer bag or container and freeze.  Be sure to label with the contents and date. The beans should keep well for at least 6 months.

This process of boiling for a few minutes, followed by rapid cooling is called blanching.  Blanching stops enzyme actions that can cause loss of flavor, color and texture.  It also cleanses the surface of microorganisms.

In my next post I will share some photos of some flowers that I am growing in the vegetable garden this season.

Until next time.