Beans, Beans, Beans!

This year we had an over abundance of beans! After our first attempt at planting and not having any come up we replanted and then gave them some extra fertilizer. We soon had more beans than we knew what to do with. There is nothing better than fresh green beans right out of the garden, but you can only eat so many. So what do you do with the rest of the beans.. Freeze them!

Freezing beans is a relatively east task, but still a lot of work. I am every so thankful for my hubby who actually picked many of the beans since I have been traveling a lot for work. 

Sadie loves to tag along on the farm. After being scolded for digging in the garden, she decided it was best to take a nap!

After all the bean picking is done bring the beans into the house and prepare to wash, cut, boil, bag, and freeze the beans. You may be able to wait a day or two after picking to put them up, but it is best if you can do it right away.

Grab some beans and put them into a strainer.

Wash the beans thoroughly making sure to get rid of any dirt or leaves. 

After the beans are all washed cut the tips off and then cut into 2"-3" pieces.

You'll have a bowl with your clean cut beans and a bowl for the scrap ends.

After all the beans are cut, you can throw them into a big pot of water on the stove. Bring the water to the boil then cook the beans for 3 minutes. Once the beans are blanched you can start spooning them into quart size freezer safe plastic bags. Then simply put the bags in the freezer and store until you are ready to eat. I promise they will taste just as good as the day you picked them out of the garden.

If you are going to label your bags make sure you label them before you add the beans. It is best if you eat the beans within a year of freezing to assure the best quality.

What else have you been freezing from your garden?