Fresh Beans

When I was growing up, there wasn't a summer we didn't have a big vegetable garden. It wasn't just a hobby or because my parents liked the extra work, it was simply a way of life. I grew up helping with the weeding, picking, and freezing of the veggies. I didn't like all the work when I was younger, but loved eating my mom's fresh veggies all year long. I rememeber thinking as I was growing up that everyone had a garden. It wasn't until after Erik and I had been married for several years and bought our first house that I realized this wasn't true! Erik hadn't growen up in the type of gardening family that I had and he had absolutely no desire to have any kind of garden. Now after buying a house with a spot for a garden already in the back yard, Erik encouraged me to have a garden.

The kids and I got a little carried away this year and planted a few too many kinds of veggies in our garden! We no longer have rows, but waist-high plants all tangled around each other. I can still pick out the different plants, though, and have been so excited to see our carrots, cucumbers, peas, beans, pumpkins, tomatoes, and watermelon plants come up! A couple days ago, I showed the kids some pea pods and we shared some fresh peas. Yesterday I picked an ice cream bucket full of green beans and Klaasen helped me freeze them. There is nothing like fresh green beans! We are so excited to see what else our garden successfully produces this year!

Our freshly picked beans

First we washed them

And then maybe tasted them!

Scrubbed them good

Cut them up

Boiled them for four minutes

Immediately put them on ice to cool them quickly

And put them in bags and into the freezer!