Drying Seed Pods from the Fence

Photo 1: Mustard greens seed pods hanging from fence

If you live in an area that has dry summers, you can dry seed pods from the fence.  All you have to do is gather the stalks into a bundle, and then tie them together with twine or strong string.  Then hang the bundle from the fence.  I just use another string to form a loop, attach it to the bundle, and then hang the loop over a single fence slat.  See Photo 1.

Preparing and Freezing Green Beans

My bush bean plants are producing a lot of beans---too much for us to consume so I have been freezing them for later use.  To learn how to prepare green beans for freezing, see the photos and directions below. 

How to Prepare Bush Beans for Freezing

Tools

• Scissors
• Knife
• 1 Sauce pan
• Colander (or slotted spoon if you do not have a strainer)
• 1 large bowl
• Freezer Bag

Directions

Step 1.  Harvest your beans in the morning.  I use scissors to snip the beans off the plant.  You can harvest the beans at any size.  I like the flavor and texture of medium size beans.  Remove any debris by giving your beans a quick rinse under water.    

Step 2.  Boil a pot of water.  Use enough water to cover the green beans.  While you are waiting for the water to boil, prepare the green beans.  Snip the pointy ends off the green beans (See Photo 1).  You can stop here or if you rather have bite size pieces, slice the beans into 1 to 1 1/2-inch pieces (See Photo 2).

Photo 1

Photo 2

Step 3. Prepare another bowl filled with ice cold water.   

Step 4.  Pour your green beans into the water and boil your beans anywhere from 1 to 3 minutes.  Then remove your beans from the boiling water, and immediately plunge them in the ice cold water.  This will help preserve the green vibrant color and texture (Photo 3).  Then drain the beans in a colander.   

Photo 3

Step 5.  You can either serve the green beans or store them in a freezer bag for freezing.  If you choose to put them in a freezer bag, allow the beans to dry for about 5 minutes in the colander.  The dryer the beans, the less likely they will stick together in the freezer bag.  Then place them in a freezer bag.  Remove as much air as possible from the bag to prevent freezer burn.  

Drinking Straw Converted to Strawberry Huller

Did you know an ordinary straw can double as a strawberry huller?  Give it a try.  It actually works really well.  All you have to do is push a drinking straw starting from the tapered end of the strawberry so that it pushes out the pith, part of the cap and the green leaves.  See the images and directions below for more detail.  

 Photo 1: Starting at the tapered end of the strawberry, push the straw through the strawberry.

 Photo 2: As you are pushing, keep the straw centered so that the end of the straw comes out of the middle of the stem.   

 Photo 3: The straw has captured the pith, cap and stem.  Remove the stem from the straw and remove the straw from the strawberry.

 Photo 4: Some of the pith may remain in the straw.  That is fine.  When you are done hulling the strawberries, just rinse the straw under water and it will likely remove the remaining bits.  Also, as you are hulling strawberries, some of the pith will naturally be pushed out the other end.  

 Photo 5: I had half a Costco carton full of strawberries that I knew I would not finish before they go bad so I hulled the strawberries and placed them in a freezer bag to freeze.  I can use them later for breakfast smoothies.