It's now August and I am deep into the harvesting season, canning and freezing the garden's bountiful produce. The Blue Lake green beans are the first vegetable I preserve and they are the most work. Each individual bush has a hoard of beans dangling from the plant, and it takes

several minutes to pick them all. Multiply that by nine rows and there are a whole lot of beans! Picking is just the first step and I normally fill a paper grocery sack every three rows. My back usually protests this exercise and it can get tiring, however, the fun is just beginning. Next, I have to "snap" each bean into small segments and take the ends off. I usually do this while watching television as it can take a good two to three hours for this step.

Now the actual canning process can begin. I have to gather all my equipment, including the vintage pressure canner that I inherited from my Mother. This canner has stood the test of time and provided our family with pint jars of vegetables too numerous to count, for over 40 years. Having grown up with my Mother canning most all of our food and enjoying the taste of home grown vegetables, I have continued in my Mother's footsteps and each summer is a flurry of planting, growing and harvesting. Yes, it is a lot of work, but believe me, the taste of summer goodness continues all winter long and I know exactly what has gone into my food, or rather, what hasn't gone into my food. The tally is now at 32 pint jars, and the beans are still coming. I also cook up a huge pot of them with bacon, mushrooms and onions, which is a treat we look forward to and only make when the beans are seasonal and at their peak.

Their is nothing like the sound of a canning jar lid when it pings and signals that it has sealed. You know all that summer flavor is safe and will be savored until the next harvest season rolls around.