Summer is in full swing! Every day I can see changes in the garden. Of course, with the exception of lettuce and radishes we need to be patient with the rest of the produce. I know folks at the Farmer’s Markets use greenhouses and hoop houses to get produce earlier. I’m sure the Amish Markets provide produce from their friends and families that live farther south. If I want a big watermelon for the 4th of July picnic, it has to come from outside our area!
I can see our green beans are a week or two away, and tomatoes will start to ripen in 2-3 weeks. Two things that I want to get canned before our own produce demands attention are my 4-Bean Salad and Pickle Relish. Right now, at the Amish Market the green and yellow beans are piled high on the tables; cucumbers are just the right size and also piled in boxes. So…while I wait for our vegetables to be just right, I made a big batch of my 4-Bean Salad and we canned it last evening.
You can read all the details about how to make this salad in my post from a year ago at https://marykisner.com/revised-four-bean-salad-recipe-for-canning/
I’m so grateful I went into such detail of the process in my post. It made it easy to do it again. In face, I’m keeping the notes on the revised recipe sheet so I can remember how to do it again.
I picked up 3 pounds each of green and yellow beans at the Amish Market. I snapped them and put them in the refrigerator.
I bought sweet red peppers, celery and onion at the grocery store and chopped them up yesterday.
The five cans of beans (kidney and garbanzo beans) were ready on the shelf and just needed to be drained.
Bert had picked up another gallon of White Vinegar and extra sugar for the brine. Seems like a lot of work, but I’ve tried just buying a jar/can of this salad at the store. I can’t seem to find any that doesn’t use High Fructose Corn Syrup! I can do better!
At the end of the day yesterday, I had 18 pints of 4-Bean Salad ready to put on the shelf. Feels good! Later this week I’ll take the cucumbers I bought at the Amish Market and make my pickle relish! THEN…I’ll be ready to deal with my own produce!
Take advantage of Farmer’s Markets around your area to fill in with produce that you don’t grow, or is ahead of your own garden produce. Enjoy!