Q and A: drying beans and canning green tomatoes

Drying beans

I planted cranberry bean for the first time this year. The majority of them dried fine in their shells but some are still in green shells (even thought I dried them in dehydrator) and some just have a green tinge to them. Are any of these green, greenish, etc. bean safe to eat?

Sandra Swanson
Lake Stevens, Washington

Yes, they are safe to eat as long as they didn’t mold. — Jackie

Canning green tomatoes

I’d love to can some green tomatoes. I’ve seen recipes to just stack sliced green tomatoes in the jar, add 1 t lemon juice, but no water, and process in boiling water bath for 45 minutes. I’ve also seen put sliced green tomatoes in jar, add boiling water, and process in boiling water bath for 7 minutes. What do you think? I’d love to not add water, but am afraid the long processing time will make the tomatoes mushy.

Jo MacDonald
Mount Horeb, Wisconsin

The recipe my aunt used was to stack the green tomato slices in a hot widemouth jar, adding 1 tsp lemon juice, 1 tsp salt, and fill jars with boiling water, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. Process in a boiling water bath for 25 minutes I do think 45 minutes might be a little overkill. — Jackie