Q and A: canning green beans and replacing native grasses

Canning green beans

I am at a loss! I have been canning since I was in my mid-twenties…not thirty years plus. I can and have canned everything from jams, pickles, vegetables, stew and meats…no problem…except for green beans. As an older woman I cannot can them and they stay sealed. They usually take one to two weeks to spoil and pop open. I could can them in my twenties…but not now. I have gone through the ‘list’. The jars are clean, they are hot, they lids have been simmered, the beans blanched and not tightly packed and under the curve of the jar. I process as the canning jar booklet says and it is the SAME canner that I can meat in and they stay sealed…two years now. What am I doing to the beans? It is at least twenty minutes of snipping to fill one quart and that doesn’t count picking them.

Susanne Andrischok
South Chesterfield, Virginia

Wow, that’s a new one. Green beans are usually THE easiest food for beginners to start canning with as they are so easy. But for you, this seems to be not so. Are you processing them for 20 minutes for pints and 25 minutes for quarts at 10 pounds pressure? Do you possibly live at an altitude above 1,000 feet? If so, you should adjust your pressure to suit your altitude. I’m at 1,400 feet and can at 12 pounds pressure.

Let’s run through the LIST, just to make sure you’re not missing something, okay?

I’m assuming you’re hot packing as you said you blanched your beans so we’ll do it that way.

Have your warm jars ready and be sure no rims have nicks in them. Simmer your lids and have rings ready and lids sitting in hot water.

Ladle your beans into the warm jars, leaving 1 inch of headspace. Pour boiling liquid on to fill jars, leaving 1 inch of headspace. Add 1/2 tsp. salt to each pint jar and 1 tsp. to quarts. Wipe rim of jar clean with damp, warm cloth. Place previously simmered lid on jar and screw down ring firmly tight (not just finger tight; pretty snug but NOT really, tremendously tight). Place jars into warm pressure canner filled with about 2 inches of hot water. Place lid on canner and turn up heat. Let canner exhaust steam for at least 10 minutes forcefully (not just little spurts).

Shut petcock or place weight on stem. With canner on burner turned on high, let pressure build until it reaches the desired pressure. (If a dial gauge, simply adjust heat to keep the pressure where it needs to be. With a weight, adjust heat so that steam rocks the weight several times a minute but not constantly.)

When the required time is up, turn off the heat. Let the pressure return to zero or with a weight, let it cool just until there is no more steam to spurt out the weight if it is bumped very slightly. (If it still does, let it cool longer. But don’t let it go really cold; you want it still hot when you remove the jars. When there’s no more pressure or the dial has remained at zero for a few minutes, remove the lid carefully away from you and remove the jars.

Place them on the counter, on folded dry towels to cool. DO not touch the jars until they are cool. Wiping the film off lids or poking the lids down will cause the seals to fail. When the jars have totally cooled, remove ring and wash jar with warm, soapy water. Dry and store in a cool, dark place.

I hope you can find something here that you’re doing wrong or not doing. If everything you do is right on, I’d suggest having your dial on your canner checked for accuracy at your local extension office (if it is a dial type). But if it were the dial, other foods would also have trouble staying sealed.

If you’re still having trouble, please let me know. We WILL fix this for you! — Jackie

Replacing native grasses

Last year we bought a small 15 acre place in southwestern South Dakota. The previous owners had many horses. The problem is the native grasses have been eaten or trampled away, leaving to a huge crop of Goatheads, Sand Burrs, and Tumbleweeds.

Laura and Scottie
Oral, South Dakota

Congratulations on your new homestead! I totally understand about your burr situation and especially the Goat Heads. We had ’em in New Mexico. Nasty things! The best things to plant are native grasses. You can buy native grass seed, such as Gamma, Buffalo and Big Bluestem grasses, often through local elevators or seed dealers. You can also check with your county agent for local sources for seed as shipping from online orders can get expensive. We got rid of our weeds and I’m sure you can do the same. But it does take work. Hang in there! — Jackie