As we roll toward the months of fall, the time has come to begin canning. We held two Grow Appalachia Canning Workshop sessions on Tuesday, August 10. The first, at 2:30 pm was packed with eager, Grow Appalachia participants. Along with cucumbers, our gardens have been producing the sweetest, crispest beans at an extraordinary rate. We decided on two recipes for canning, one being bread-and-butter pickles, the second, pickled green beans (dilly beans).

There’s nothing like baskets of harvested beans, cucumbers and the pungent smell of vinegar in the air. The room radiated with joy as we all gathered to hear instruction from a fellow Grow Appalachia participant on creating pickled cucumbers and green beans. Along with preparing their individual jars, each participant pitched in on the preparation of the collective cucumber and vinegar mixtures. It was exciting to create a hands-on learning environment.

Due to Covid-19, this had been our first in-person Grow Appalachia workshop in almost 2 years. It appeared to be a breath of fresh air for each person involved. Having the ability to interact and catch up with new and old friends is unparalleled, we were thrilled to have the opportunity to host this workshop in person. The recipes used for our canning workshop are added below!

And here is a great website where you can find all the important information about how to can safely:

https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_home.html

Canning is such a great way to provide nourishing food for your family, just make sure you follow the guidelines exactly, and don’t just use a recipe you found on the internet if you can’t see how it was approved by the National Center for Home Food Preservation.

Bread-and-Butter Pickles

Ingredients:

6 ½ pounds small pickling cucumbers, cut into ¼-inch slices (about 33 cucumbers)

4 large sweet onions, thinly sliced

½ cup pickling salt

5 cups white vinegar (5% acidity)

4 cups sugar

2 tablespoons mustard seeds

½ tablespoon ground turmeric

½ teaspoon ground cloves

Directions:

Step 1: Combine cucumbers and onions in a very large Dutch oven; sprinkle w/salt, and add water to cover (about 18 cups). Cover and let stand 3 hours. Drain well. Rinse w/cold water.

Step 2: Combine vinegar, sugar, mustard seeds, turmeric, and cloves in Dutch oven; cook over medium heat 5 minutes. Add cucumbers and onion; bring to a boil. Remove from heat.

Step 3: Pack hot cucumber mixture into hot jars, filling to ½ inch from top. Remove air bubbles; wipe jar rims. Cover at once w/metal lids, and screw on bands. Process, in 2 batches, in boiling-water bath 12 minutes; cool. Chill pickles before serving.

 

Pickled Green Beans (Dilly Beans)

Ingredients:

4 lbs green beans

½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, per jar

½ teaspoon mustard seeds, per jar

½ teaspoon dill seed, per jar

1 whole garlic clove, per jar

5 cups vinegar

5 cups water

½ cup salt

Directions:

Clean and cut beans to fit in tall Mason Jars (one pint)

Place ingredients 2-5 into each jar

Add beans to jar(s) until full

Bring to boil ingredients 6-8

Pour boiling liquid over beans

Tighten lids

Process in boiling water for 10-15 minutes