Beans, Beans, Beans

My garden has been far from stellar this year.  As a matter of fact, it has been darn near disappointing.  We had no spring and summer didn't start until mid-July.  Like I said, very disappointing....  And to top it all off, now that some things are getting close to being ready to harvest (like beans) we are nearing freezing temperatures at night.  Luckily, my parents live in a less harsh climate and there garden is doing beautifully!!  So this weekend, I went to visit and help with the canning.  And boy oh boy did we can!

My mom and dad grow bush and pole beans and they were full!  Here is a picture of one of their three gardens.  Isn't it beautiful! 

I Have Garden Envy!

Once the beans were picked and snapped we put them in the sink and rinsed them three times before putting them in the jars.

A Sink Full of Beans

Once in the jars, a teaspoon of salt is added and then they are filled with hot water.

Salt Please

The lids and rings are put on to hand tightness.

Ready for the Canner

The beans are processed for 25 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure.  We had so many beans we got two canners going!

Two Canners Are Better Than One!

A Job Well Done

Several hours later and into the middle of the night we had 22 quarts and 1 pint.  And do you want to know what the absolute best sound to hear at night while you are sleeping is?  The pop of a jar sealing!

Zucchini Relish

Well - I had all these zucchini's more than I knew what to do with - which is wonderful because that is when I make zucchini relish!  And it is a darn good thing I did make it - because my plants have dried up - no more zucchini for me :-(  But I did get the one canning of relish in this year and for that I am very thankful!

I started out with several beautiful zucchini's (including one eight ball zucchini).  I needed 12 cups diced for the recipe and it was going to be really close.  I ended up not having 12 cups, only 10.  I adjusted the recipe with my handy-dandy calculator - Jerry.  He has a math mind - it is fabulous.  Math is one of those things that really shows how women and men think differently.  To Jerry it was simple - 80% of the original recipe.  To me, well let's just say it wasn't simple.  I liked his 80% - especially if he would calculate it for me:-)   I got my 3 cups of peppers and 3 cups of onions diced up using the wonderful attachment I have for my kitchenaid and then added salt.

Doesn't it look beautiful

The mixture sat over night and in the morning I rinsed the salt from the mixture.

Rinsing

Then I added the vinegar, sugar and spices and put it on the stove to start heating up.

Adding flavor

Once it got to a rolling boil, 20 minutes.  And bam - done.

Ready for jars!

Ladle into jars, wipe the rims, put the lids on, screw the rings on and good!  Fabulous and easy!  So I entered a jar in the fair - I will let you know how it turns out.  I could be a blue ribbon winner you know!!

The fruits of the labor

This zucchini relish is fabulous on soup beans, hot dogs, hamburgers....

I am sharing this post at the Homestead Barn Hop