Sometimes, I forget to go outside. When that happens, I notice my mood plunges, my ability to concentrate disappears, and my sense of wonder seems lost. I’ve been spending far too much time indoors lately. Between law school, writing, and the copious amounts of bad weather we’ve suffered through for the past 60 days, I’ve become a stranger to my own yard. The result has been a sluggish me.

Sometimes,  I have to talk myself into doing things, even pleasant things. So, if you have to win an argument with yourself in order to get up and go outside, here are a few talking points that should help you squelch any objections from your stubborn side:

1. Going outside stimulates creativity. The change in light can actually stimulate your thinking process.
2. Going outside can help you lose weight. The fresh air invigorates your nervous system, giving you an energy boost.
3. Going outside can improve your sense of humor. Take a look around. Does Mother Nature have a sense of humor or what? Seriously, have you ever seen a toad? Funniest-looking thing alive.
4. Going outside improves your memory. It’s the vitamin D that comes from the sun that scientists believe stimulates the section of our brains that control memory.
5. Going outside has a calming effect. Just a ten-minute walk can take the edge off of a bad day much better than any prescription mood lifter.

So, on this beautiful day, when I’m staring at a hard deadline, a Torts class that I’m totally unprepared for, and a new website that needs my attention, I’m going outside to dig onions, pick cucumbers, and soak up a few rays. Just try and stop me.

It doesn’t make any sense. When a group of us wanted to start a farmer’s market here in our small town, we were told, among other things, that we couldn’t sell eggs unless they had been inspected by the USDA. The state is concerned about illness caused by eggs raised on family farms. So, can someone, anyone explain, how the USDA has allowed thousands of people to become sickened by eggs produced on large confined animal feeding operations?

Think about it. What are the chances of a couple of dozen of farm-raised eggs sickening people in 27 states? Zero. It’s almost impossible for eggs from a local farmer’s market to travel thousands of miles. In fact, locally grown food travels only a minute part of the distance as commercial food, and is handled by far fewer people. Once again, we see how a bloated government agency fails to do they job they tell the American people they’ll do.  I think I’m going to be sick, and from the eggs my neighbors Ann and Roger bring me. Rather, the Useless Department of Agriculture has turned my stomach.

You know, you can go to jail for selling unlicensed eggs. I wonder  who’s going to jail for sickening thousands of people with licensed eggs? Hmmm.

It’s official: the drought in North Central Wisconsin is over. There for awhile we were bone dry, and as a result, crops of every sort worked harder to bear their welcomed, but skinny fruits. Not so this year. Everything is growing nice an plump. Berries are filled to bursting, onions are compact and pungent, and the green beans are long and plump.

Ann Sherfield stopped by to drop of two plastic grocery bags of beans. She’s got more than she bargained for, and mine are just now flowering, so I gladly accepted them. She asked me if I minded that they were so long and filled-out. Nope. In fact, those big beans, are perfect for people like me often find themselves swamped during the summer months. I’m going to law school, and writing full-time for several outlets. I don’t want store-bought food, but I don’t have all day to spend in front of a stove canning green beans either. And I don’t have to.

If you pick your beans a little late and they’ve gotten a little big, good for you! You my friend are the picture of efficiency. You spent half the time, or less, of those perfect pickers who dutifully picked their beans at the height of green bean perfection. Yet, you will have the same amount of beans, and enjoy them just as much if you make one little investment: buy a green bean frencher.

You can find a frencher just about anywhere these days, even on Amazon.com. They run somewhere between $18.00 and $21.00 new. Once you have one, you’re ready to eat and freeze massive amounts of green beans, with the work of canning them.

To Freeze Green Beans

You know how the experts like to tell you to process your beans immediately after picking them? Who are these people? Usually, I have to pick the beans, weed the corn, not to mention till between summer squash before I have to come in and work. The green beans Anne brought over on Thursday morning, will get processed today (Saturday), and they’ll be just fine. Anyone who believes that commercially processed green beans are picked and processed the same day should drive by one of the large Green Giant or Libby processing plants in Southern Minnesota and take a look at the piles of beans dumped outside the plant, waiting to be processed. They’re in  pretty rough shape.

To freeze your large green beans, wash and snip them. Snipping is done the thumb and forefinger of your dominant hand. Simply pop the stem end of the bean off. Some people also snap the pointy end of the bean. I prefer to do a few pounds at a time so I don’t get overwhelmed. Once the beans are cleaned up, run them through the frencher.

When they’re frenched, either steam them for a couple of minutes until they change color, or blanch them in boiling water. Either way, make sure you drain them thoroughly before putting them in a freezer bag. After I let them sit in the collander for a few minutes, I transfer them to a clean, large towel to further drain and cool. This is a critical step in preventing freezer burn. The more moisture the better the chances for freezer burn.

When the beans have cooled and dried, pack them tightly in quart-size freezer bags and freeze. Now how easy was that?

Here’s a recipe for a dish we call bean stuff:

• A bunch of bacon, cook slightly on the crunchy side
• A bunch of frenched beans
• A whole onion from the garden
• Four or five gloves of garlic
• A couple of handfuls of walnuts or almonds
• Sea salt

Save some of the bacon grease after frying the bacon. Set the bacon aside and saute the beans, onions, and garlic in a little of the bacon grease until the beans are tender. Add crumbled bacon, walnuts, and some sea salt. Eat up!