How to Preserve Your Green Bean Harvest

Green beans can be grown in your own garden, local farmers market or roadside stand, Farms or Orchards where you can pick for yourself, or CSA Community Supported Agriculture. I personally recommend finding them local if you can’t grow them in your own backyard.

The Harvest

Picking first thing in the morning will give you nice crispy produce. If you are picking in your own garden….. go ahead and snack on a few! ….. yum. And Oh so good for you. You want to pick while the pods are young and seeds inside are still immature. Look for a diameter of a pencil. If you wait longer they get tough.

Save the Seeds

If you use heirloom beans let some get overgrown and leave them on the vine until late in the season. When they start to dry out at the end of the season pick them off the vine and allow to dry completely. Save the pods until next spring and you have your seeds for next years garden.

How to Preserve Green Beans

Canning Green Beans

Home canning green beans is easy with a pressure canner. You’ll need about 14 pounds of beans for a canner load of 7 quarts.  

Learn how to can green beans here.

Freezing Green Beans

Freezing green beans picked fresh from the garden is a great way to preserve them. Bush beans or pole beans are all treated the same. This page explains how to freeze green beans of all types, including yellow beans.

Learn how to freeze green beans here.

Dehydrating Green Beans

For dehydrating green beans, you want to start with fresh, tender pods. Picking first thing in the morning will give you nice, crispy produce. If you are picking fresh…go ahead and snack on a few beans. Yum. And oh, so good for you.

Learn how to dehydrate green beans here.

Dilly Beans

These dilly beans (pickled beans) are a hit with my pickle lovers.

Dilly beans are made with sprigs of dill weed. Fresh dill heads or plain dill seed can be substituted. This recipe for dilly beans makes 4 pints. Make it once. If you really love it like we do, double or triple the recipe.

How to make dilly beans. No pressure canner needed!

Is Water Bath Canning Green Beans Safe? Learn the truth!

Many ask if water bath canning green beans is safe. Many say their grandmother did it that way for years and no one got sick. The truth is, you can still get botulism. SimplyCanning.com explains why!

Canning green beans in a water bath canner what is recommended and why.