Harvest Time

Since I missed posting a Mid-Month Make something in August, I'm combining it with my end of the month rhyme. I love to garden and give gifts from my garden at Christmas time. This year I tried something new: pickled green beans. I tried them a few months ago at a friends house. She served them with cheese and crackers and other finger foods. I loved them and decided to grow and make some for myself. I'll share her recipe with you. But first I want to share my rhyme for August.

HARVEST TIME

I love to garden come summer time

I grow some food to save a dime.

I plant some seeds in my yard

Then work all season, long and hard.

When I came to harvest in the fall,

My corn was sparse, my spuds were small.

So this year, despite the late May frosts,

I decide to tally all of my costs.

I figured my salary at minimum wage,

adding costs of plant food and a tomato cage.

I’d discovered I’d done my wallet a big disfavor.

But when I sat down to supper, I savored the flavor.

PICKLED GREEN BEANS

4 lbs of gresh green beans, snipped and cleaned

8-16 heads of fress dill

8 cloves garlic

1/2 cup canning or pickling salt (non-iodized)

4 c whiet vinegar (5%)

4 c water

1 tsp hot red pepper flakes

Place beans, 1 clove garlic, and 2 heads of dill in pint jars, leaving 1/2 " head space.

Combine salt, vinegar, water and peppers in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.

Add hot solution to beans, leaving 1/2" headspace. Adjust lids and process in boiling water canner for 10 minutes.

Yeild: 8 pints