Even as summer draws to a close, our late season crops continue to produce amazing harvests. After a few soaking rains, I simply can’t keep up with my pole beans! We plant the variety Blue Lake Pole Bean and use a cattle panel trellis to support the growth. Because we love fresh green beans (our favorite recipe is a simple sauté with sesame oil, soy sauce, and sesame seeds) we eat most of our harvest fresh from the garden. However, we try to preserve green beans for winter enjoyment with at least one of the following methods: canning, freezing, dehydrating, or fermenting.
Four Ways to Preserve Green Beans
Harvest Festival: Preserving Tomatoes, Green Beans, & Peppers
Canning Green Beans
Canning is an easy way to preserve large quantities of green beans because you can store your finished product on a shelf. When you add vinegar to green beans, as in dilly beans, you can safely water bath can. However, most “plain” methods of canning green beans will require a pressure canner (this is the one I use).
Canning Beans for the Time Crunched
How to Can Green Beans at Home
Canning Green Beans for Food Storage
Canning Green Beans from the Harvest
Freezing Green Beans
Green beans taste delicious out of the freezer, but for best quality and flavor, you will need to blanche the beans before freezing. This video shows how to blanche and freeze green beans.
How to Blanche and Freeze Green Beans
Dehydrating Green Beans
If you’re short on space, dehydrating may be a great option for you. Dehydration is also a great way to prepare food for camping, backpacking, or emergency preparedness.
Fermented Green Beans
This is probably my favorite method of preserving green beans, and I use the same exact recipes and techniques that I use to make pickles. Fermentation adds vitamins and probiotics to your food, so it is a very healthy and gut-friendly preservation technique.
What is your favorite way to preserve green beans?
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