I planted my beans today, my second crop in the upper beds. In forty five days, my beans will be fully mature and ready to harvest, provided the vermin don't get them first.
These upper beds are located rabbit steps from great cover and those little cretins make nightly forays into the vegetables for dinner. My beets look as if they have been rolled over by a lawn mower. I'll not take the same chances with the beans. I don't think that I can get any more seed this late in the game.
It isn't pretty, but I surrounded each bed with a wall of chicken wire and secured the wall to the bed with landscape staples. I'll add razor wire, gunner's turrets, and flood lights if necessary.
I am considering canning beans with a pressure cooker this year. I've never tried it before. I have a small one for meals, but I haven't tried canning.
Typically, I can using the water bath method, but this only works for more acidic foods, like tomatoes and fruits. Beans must be canned at a higher temperature and only a pressure cooker will provide that. Of course, freezing is also an option. I blanched mine last year, froze them on cookie sheets, and then vacuum sealed them. They were a little limp though.
I am getting a little ahead of myself. My beans are just seeds in the ground and the rabbits may still eat them. Or I could eat the rabbits with the surviving beans.
I let the dog into the garden the other day to sniff them out, leave her doggy scent about, scare up any potential suspects. She dug holes. I can't count on the dog. I probably can't legally shoot rabbits and squirrels within city limits. So I am relying on the chicken wire fencing to keep the vermin at bay. We'll see how it works.
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