The luxury of canning our own food, as opposed to going to the grocery and picking up a can, is a dying art.

And yes, I say luxury because not everyone has the opportunity to take advantage of canning their own food.

If you are fortunate enough to live in a place where a garden can grow, then consider yourself blessed and take advantage of what God has afforded you and bring this dying art back to life!

Here is the way I process my green beans.  This is the way my Grandmother did it, my Mother does it and I am so blessed to have this knowledge passed on to me, and now I am sharing it with you!

What you will need!

1 bushel green beans

I like Roma, but you can use any type green bean you prefer.  Roma is what is pictured.

12 to 14 Quart jars

Canning Salt

12 to 14 Bands and Lids

This is what you do!

Pick your beans just as soon as they are big enough.  Don’t let them stay on the vine too long as they will get tough.

Next, you will need to prepare and sterilize your jars.

Preheat oven to 225 degrees.

Wash jars in hot water with just a little bleach added to the water.  Not only does the help in the sterilization process but it also helps to remove any rust that may be around the top of the jars.

Once you have your jars thoroughly washed and rinsed, place on oven racks.

Now that you have your jars getting ready to be filled it’s time to prepare your beans.

Thoroughly wash your beans.  I usually wash mine about three times.

Remove any beans that have “rust” spots or bug bites on them that may have been missed in the breaking process.  Just like the one that was missed in this picture.  Just pick them out and discard!

Once you have your beans thoroughly washed, spread them out on a clean towel to drain.

Now your ready to pack you beans into the jars.  Put a couple of handfuls of beans in the jar and kinda gently shake the jar to “pack” you beans. Hitting the bottom of the jar against the palm of you hand will help move the beans around and they will pack better.

Repeat this process after each couple of handfuls of beans.  When you get your jar about 3/4 full, take your fingers and gently push the beans down into the jars.  This also will help to get a tight pack on the beans.

Finish filling the jar leaving a 1 (one) inch head space.  Repeat this process filling each jar.

You may be tempted to keep a few beans out to cook for supper.

And that’s okay, but you may get to the end of your beans only to find you don’t have enough to fill a quart jar.  And that’s okay too, just put them in a pint jar.

When you have all your jars filled you are ready to add the canning salt.

Add 1 teaspoon canning salt on top of your beans to each jar.

Yes, that is an old orange Tupperware teaspoon I am using.  I have used it for years.  Hey, if it ain’t broke, why fix it?

Sometimes you keep stuff around just for the memories!

After you have your salt added, fill each jar with water covering beans.

Make sure to leave a 1 (one) inch head space.

Now you are ready to place your lids and band.

I use Ball brand lids most of the time.  They seem to hold a better seal.   I have used Kerr brand when I couldn’t find Ball lids.

I highly recommend using Ball or Kerr brand lids.  Using a cheap off brand could result in food spoilage due to a weak seal.

With a clean dish towel, wipe around the lip of your jar to remove any water drops. The lip of the jar has to be dry for the lids to seal.

Place lids and bands on jars.  There is no need to heat the lids before processing, they will form a seal during the canning process.

Fill pressure canner with about 3 quarts hot water.  Turn stove eye on high.

Place jars in canner.

I guess you can tell by this picture we had green beans for supper!

From this point you will need to follow your pressure canner manufacture directions.

If you have any questions please let us know.  You may ask by simply replying to the post or sending us an e-mail to southerngalscook@yahoo.com.

HAPPY CANNING!