The More You Grow: Green Beans

When I was little, I absolutely despised green beans unless they were raw and straight from a garden. I remember being at my grandparents house and picking green beans from the plants and eating them. Delicious! The bulk of the green beans we consumed growing up were in a can from the store and they tasted completely different, with the texture being my biggest complaint. My parents would ask me to eat as many as I was old each time we had them for a meal, and most of the time, even THAT was difficult for me.

Fast forward to when we began canning our own green beans. I can't explain the difference, but there is just something about growing food and then preserving it yourself that makes you want to eat it. Probably because you see the fruit of your labor fairly quickly! I love our green beans now, and our kids do, too. Thankfully they didn't inherit green bean pickiness from me. :)

Sowing and Harvesting

Green beans start from seed, and are usually best planted in May, or whenever planting tomatoes and peppers is safe. Each seed is planted in a row about 1 inch apart. They grow into beautiful bushes with white blooms. Green beans usually mature and produce beans after about 2 months, and can continue blooming and producing for longer if watered consistently!

The end of summer is a perfect time to plant any additional rows of green beans for a Fall crop, around the first of August. They would be ready the first of October!

Health Benefits

Did you know, green beans have about 4g of fiber per cup? Consuming them regularly can be a great way to lower cholesterol. The folate and potassium they contain is helpful in lowering blood pressure and improving blood vessel function. Like many other vegetables, green beans are also high in Vitamin C and the anti-oxidant, beta-carotene. Source

You can preserve green beans straight from the garden by flash freezing them, or pressure cooking them in a canner for longer storage. We have done both methods and find that freezing in freezer bags green beans preserves that dark green color and fresh flavor, but they are best if sautéed in a skillet with olive oil instead of traditionally cooked in water. Canning in jars gives the classic matte green color with more of a traditional green bean flavor that's better than you'll find in a store, perfect to add to any meal as a side dish all year long. You can find our method for canning green beans in this post!