Until a few weeks ago, I already knew what we were doing and our future plans, but I hadn't anticipated how much further I'd come. Where I initially encountered certain obstacles that prevented me from moving forward, I now suddenly have the opportunity to truly move forward. I've passed the point where I was stuck, and things are going well now. The days are flying by, and before I know it, it's dark again. Now, of course, summer is truly saying goodbye to our country, so yeah, it's getting dark a little earlier every day. That might also play a role. In my mind, I wasn't ready for the approaching autumn and winter, but unfortunately, living in a country with seasons brings that with it. Today is also one of those days when it rains all day. A month's worth of rain falls in a single day. I'm not happy about it, and Skipper certainly isn't... But we have to make do.
So when I look outside and see the rain coming down, I'm glad I took the time yesterday, amidst all my website work, to pick the beautiful, long, fresh runner beans in the garden. We didn't grow those beans to leave them hanging on the vines for too long, of course. That doesn't make them any tastier. So yesterday, when I was in the garden with Skipper, walking past the beans, I actually, more or less by chance, noticed that many more beans were hanging there than I'd seen before. I swear, those beans do such a good job of hiding. You just happen to spot them, and then you see there's much more than you thought. Anyway, when I saw that, I went inside and grabbed a bowl because those beans had to come off the vine. They had to be picked. As soon as I started searching the vines for those green beans, Skipper came to help me. He loved it, and I was laughing so much at his big snout in my bean plants that I didn't take a picture. But it was fun! Searching for beans together in the sun among the plants. We only have two containers of bean plants, but this is already the third time we've been able to pick them. The first two times, it was just enough for the two of us, but yesterday I had a really good harvest and picked about a kilo of beans.
And once you've picked your beans, what do you do? We hadn't counted on so many beans yesterday, so eating them right away wasn't an option... not a big deal, though. Fresh beans are still delicious later. So in the end, I decided to give them a quick bath, then cut off the ends. And that's the secret: if you don't leave them on the plant too long, you won't have any problems with those tough strings. After that, it was time to grab our new vacuum sealer. We've had it for over two weeks, and I haven't even had time to unpack it and try it out!
So this was the perfect time to do just that.
Time to cut a bag off the roll, first seal it at the bottom, of course, slide a portion of beans in, and then, with the push of a button, make the magic happen. The machine automatically extracts all the air and seals the bag shut. Wow! I felt like a pro watching it happen right before my eyes, and just like that, after about an hour's work, from picking to finally vacuuming, I had four portions of beans. Ready to be tossed in the freezer for later. And I can tell you right now... when I take these beans out of the freezer again, which will most likely be on a rainy, cold day, I'll definitely be reminiscing about one of the last sunny summer days in the garden.
Skipper and I enjoyed our bean mission, and I'm curious to see how you handle it. Do you also pick with the help of a furry assistant? Or do you have a different routine in the garden? Let me know; it's always nice to hear I'm not the only one whose gardening can get so chaotic. Or am I?
