I have been growing food for my family now for 15 plus years and one of the problems I struggled with was getting the delicious food I grew out of the garden and on to my family's plates. 

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I can vividly remember a time when I had an amazing green bean crop. I had green beans coming out of every drawer in my fridge and even every bowl I could find was full. But I'm going to tell you right now, with a heavy heart, that three-quarters of those beans went to the chickens.

 

I was new to preserving food, so while those beans sat in my fridge, I was researching how to preserve them. I wasn’t sure if I should freeze or pressure-can them. On top of that I had to make a trip to the store and search for supplies once I figured out my preserving method. I had chosen to freeze them because, I will admit it, I was scared of my pressure cooker back then. So, I rushed off to the store to get freezer bags, while my beans continued to sit in the fridge.

 

Guess what I found at the grocery store, like two boxes of the pint freezer bags I needed and a bunch of gallon bags that were too big. I traveled to several stores and let me tell you I was lucky to find the two I did. (Hint: I was not the only Gardner out looking for bags last minute. Plus everyone was getting ready for school to start on top of that) So, I returned home with my two boxes and got about half of them in the freezer that night. The next day I worked on the rest. However, because I had waited so long in getting this done the first two bags I picked weeks ago went directly to the chickens covered in mold. 

 

But that is not even the worst of it!

 

The beans that were stored in the wrong size bag freezer burnt quickly and had to be thrown away within 3 months. After tasting freezer burnt beans, I was weary of using them at all. 

 

Well, that brings me to the next point and why more of these beans sadly went to the chickens.

 

I didn't know how to use frozen green beans in my recipes. I had many recipes that use canned green beans but not frozen. I knew I needed to find some new recipes or experiment with them. But, when was I going to fit that into my already busy schedule. When I made supper I had just enough time to get it on the table and then run off to the next event. Raising three boys is time consuming with all the running from here to there. 

 

The truth is, all of this could have been solved by simply planning for the harvest and beyond.

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Let Me Show You How!

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