Green beans: the easy vegetable

I've canned lots of tomatoes this year. So many, in fact, that I suffered an overload and found someone who will come and take some tomorrow. Tomatoes are messy to can because of the way you have to put them in boiling water to loosen the skin, then transport them to a sink full of cold water, then take the skin off and remove the core. Yes folks, it's messy. And there's enough natural sugar in them that the jars are a little sticky when they're done.

Peaches are sticky and messy too; there's that syrup that must be poured over them in the jar, and some of that always ends up on the counter and floor.

Stickiest of all, the sweet pickles.

Now I'm not complaining, mind you. It was my choice to do all these things, and it's fun.

But today I canned green beans, and I realized how I love the simplicity of doing that.

Normally, when you pick green beans, it involves a lot of stooping and bending. Not so for me this year, though, because I planted pole beans, and most of them are well above ground level. So the picking was actually fun in the cool of the early morning.

The next step was breaking them and removing the ends. I did this sitting in the shade of a tree with Sadie by my side. It was a piece of cake, very relaxing.

Then all I had to do was pack them into pint jars, pour hot water over them, put lids on, and put them in the pressure canner.

No mess. No fuss. No stickiness. Sixteen pints, ready for winter.

Green beans, I love you!

*Thanks to my daughter for adopting a few of my butternut squashes this evening. They really needed a good home.