Vine Procedures

Call me crazy or perhaps just agriculturally inept, but I was unaware of the rules and regulations regarding green bean harvesting. According to my dad, there are certain steps one must take in order to successfully pick and, eventually, bottle beans. Because I don't want you to be caught in a harvest situation naive of these vital, life-altering vine procedures, what follows are four steps to successful green bean picking.



1. Straddle the bean plant. This stance can prove a little awkward if more than one picker is harvesting a row but ultimately the straddle makes locating hidden beans easier.

2. Grasp and pull. When removing the bean from the plant always, ALWAYS hold onto the plant as to not pull it from the soil.

3. The Pencil Rule. Only harvest beans the circumference of a pencil. However, if a bean will grown beyond this size in a week (refer to your commonly held knowledge of bean growth patterns) grasp the plant and firmly pick the bean.

4. Review, Review, Review. Comb the same bean plants a minimum of three times to ensure all vegetables have been harvested.



After all of your green beans have been gathered, proceed to bottling where there are only about 500 rules to getting a nice jar of homegrown beans that can be enjoyed all year long with ketchup, potatoes or just on their own.