Organic Canning; Dilly Beans with Fresh Dill Heads

The farmer’s market had a TON of fresh dill heads last week adn I decided that now is the perfect time to try out these dilly beans made with fresh dill. I’ve made these multiple years but have always used dried dill seed. Typically I’ve had a hard time finding fresh dill at the farmer’s markets but for some reason this year it’s been really prevelant (although I’m thinking that the season is coming to an end because it looked pretty dismal on Thursday).  We even found a farm with cut your own dill heads while we were up in Charlevoix. They also had pick your own flowers (dahlias, snap dragons, and more) which was super exciting, until I brought my toddler in the field to help me.  First flower cut, hand it to my toddler to hold, he smells it “mmm” then snaps it in half by smacking me over the head with it. This happened 4 more times until I decided we were done with the flowers. He was loving it but I couldn’t stand breaking such beautiful things! Anyways, these dilly beans are still hanging out because I made them a few days ago and I like to let them sit for at least 6 weeks or so before I do a taste test.  I made back to back batches, the first with fresh dill heads and the second with dill seed. I’m interested to see if I can see a difference and which I like better. I’ll update you in a few weeks.

::pic of fresh dill::

Before you get started make sure you have all of your canning supplies and brush up on your canning basics. The products I recommend are available via the following affiliate links. When you click through the link and make a purchase, I make a small commission to help fund my blog (it doesn’t have to be what I’m recommending and you’ll never get charged more). My full disclosure is here. For all canning, you’ll need to know the basics such as properly sanitizing your tools and jars and water bath canning. I would recommend reading this post from Ball on canning basics. You will also need something like I have, like this – Granite Ware Canning Kit, 9-Piece that includes the enamel pot and rack, a funnel, a jar grabber, a head space measuring tool, etc. For this specific recipe of you will also need Ball Mason Jars Wide-Mouth ars with lids and bands.

Dilly Beans with Fresh Dill Heads

Makes about 4 pints. Modified slightly from Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving

Ingredients:

2 lbs green beans, washed and stems removed

1/4 cup canning salt

2 1/2 cups white vinegar

2 1/2 cups water

4 cloves garlic

4 heads dill