This is my first year for growing kale.
Although the rest of my garden isn't doing all that well, the kale and beans seem to be thriving.
Freezing Beans
To freeze the beans I snipped off the stem ends while checking for ugly spots and debris, then rinsed them in cool water.
After blanching them in boiling water for 3 minutes I rinsed them again in cold water until cool.
It's best to plunge them into a bowl of ice water, but my ice maker just can't keep up and the cold water rinse works to stop the cooking process too.
Next I put them into plastic storage bags, label them and into the freezer they go.
Freezing Kale
The leaves first need to be separated from the stems as they tend to be bitter.
The easiest way to do this is to fold each leaf in half and tear them from the bottom up.
Then I rinse them and soak them in cool water with a few tablespoons of vinegar for about 20 minutes just in case I missed any tiny bugs while rinsing.
Next I blanch them in boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes.
Then rinse them in cold water or plunge into a bowl of ice water.
After they are cool I used my salad spinner to remove as much water as possible before putting into plastic storage bags and into the freezer.
It's nice to have vegetables that I've grown myself, without chemicals, all packed away for future use.
karen
