Planting your bean crop

Friday, May 1, 2015

Grandma's green bean casserole, new potatoes and green beans, garlic green beans, smothered green beans - nothing tastes better than fresh green bean dishes. According to our Vegetable Planting Calendar now is the time to plant your bean crop. Varieties suggested for bush snap beans include: Contender, Provider, Derby, Strike, Tema, Tendercrop, Top Crop and Purple Queen. You will want to plant anytime between April 5 and May 10. You can also plant your fall crop between Aug- 1 - 20 (that's my birthday). Pole snap varieties to plant include Kentucky Wonder, Blue Lake and Romano. Plant anytime between April 20 and May 15. Half-runner types include Mountaineer, State, and Striped. Plant anytime between April 15 and May 10. When purchasing fresh beans at local markets, look for firm, crisp pods with a healthy green or yellow color and a regular shape. They should be free of bruises and brown spots. The beans are fresh if beads of moisture form around the break when they are snapped in two. Overripe or old beans tend to be tough and starchy. When harvesting fresh beans, they should be stored unwashed in a perforated plastic bag in the refrigerator. They will keep just 2 or 3 days. Wash the beans just before using them. Remove the top, tail, and any strings. Green and purple beans should be cooked with care in order to preserve their flavor, color, and nutritive value. Cook them as briefly as possible; allow 5 to 15 minutes for boiling or steaming, depending on the size of the beans and whether they are whole or cut. Just how nutritious is this veggie? Raw fresh beans are a good source of potassium and folic acid. They also contain vitamin C, B vitamins, and iron. Cooked fresh beans are an excellent source of potassium, a good source of folic acid, and contain vitamin C, magnesium, iron, vitamin A, and copper. Fresh beans may also be frozen after being blanched. Before freezing, blanch cut beans for 3 minutes and the whole beans for 4 minutes. You might like canned green beans better. They seem to be pretty tasty. For each 7-quart canner, you will need 14 pounds of fresh green beans. A bushel weighs 30 pounds and will yield 15 to 20 quarts. Snap beans are processed in a pressure canner for 20 minutes for pints and 25 minutes for quarts at 11 pounds of pressure with a dial gauge or 10 pounds of pressure with a weighted gauge. So consider planting some beans in the garden this month. For more information on gardening and food preservation contact your local University of Missouri Extension Center. The Butler County office is located at 222 North Broadway in Poplar Bluff (686-8064). Bring your pressure canner lid in to have the gauge tested. It just takes a couple of minutes to test. Plan to enter green beans in the Butler County Fair which will be held September 16-19.

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