Canning beans and planting notes

Happy Tuesday everyone! Was everyone outside yesterday?

I got the last one.

Good thing I raced right down to the feedstore right when they opened. The seed potatoes were flying right off the shelves. I got the last 10 pound sack of Yukon Golds. Yesterday I worked on the upper garden.

I finally wised up and cut the finger tips off my gloves so I could handle the seeds.

Most of the day was prep work but I got some purple onions, Yukon Gold potatoes, peas, radishes, and lettuce planted and covered. We are expecting 75* today but next week who knows if it will snow or just be a cold rain. My row covers continue to work out perfectly.

These taters are going right next to my garlic - it's going like gangbusters.

I also got caught up with canning - we were down to our last home canned jar of pinto beans which is a crisis around here. Why can beans when they are on sale for $1?  Are you kidding? It's the best value out there! I went on down the the Dollar Store and got a 2 pound bag of pinto beans and a one pound bag of black beans for less than $5.

When the steam cleared I had 21 pints of beans ready for whenever we need a quick supper. For those you don't like math - that's less than $0.25 per pint!

But what about all that time wasted in the kitchen? Wasted? What? Are you kidding? I quick soaked the beans while I was out doing chores, then simmered them for 30 minutes while I did some laundry, then ate lunch and got caught up on 'the facebook' while they were in the pressure canner. What time was wasted?

This is a great project to get started on canning - the jars almost always seal, it's easy and fun, and wow does it pay off!

When we want nachos we just grab a can of beans and a frozen bag of chicken (from when I made stock) and there you go. If we have a snack attack we mix up some of our home made salsa, a can of black beans, and some frozen corn that was roasted on the grill that summer - how's that for fun and easy - and cheap?

No sir, no time was wasted at all yesterday. Home canning beans is a great value and a couple hours one afternoon gives up just about all the beans we'll need for the next 4 or 5 months. Of course, now all I want for lunch is a big chicken and bean burrito...But first I have the rest of the taters to plant.

Happy Tuesday everyone! Now get out there and can some beans, plant some radishes, get some taters in the ground, and enjoy the day!