Hi BP, sounds like your mom either used a regular canning recipe but didn't can the beans, or possibly made fermented pickles. I included a link below to a thread on fermented pickles. I can personally recommend the Ball Blue Book's "dilled green beans" recipe, and Emeril's lemon-rosemary pickled green beans. I believe you will be able to find both of those recipes by searching this forum (remember to use the search at the bottom; the one at the top searches all of gardenweb). Let us know if you have specific questions about the recipes or anything. Melissa Here is a link that might be useful: fermented green bean thread

angiepangie: "I have been making dilly beans and pickled beets by just blanching the beans, boiling the beets- and pouring over hot seasoned water and vinegar mixture. I keep them in the fridge and then are eaten within a couple of weeks or months. I've always heard that you are supposed to heat process things or you could get sick. However this is the method my grandmother uses and I've never gotten sick with it....." "...Please don't tell me to invest in a canner and learn how to heat process! I don't have the money to do so, no matter how cheap- I only come across organic beans and beets etc every so often, and only make pickles a few times a year. my basic question here is, can I just pickle up all these beans by blanching, then hot vinegar/water/sugar/spices- and leave them in the fridge indefinately? I don't want to make my family sick." Have you ever tried to lacto ferment your dilly beans? This was actually my first year at fermenting raw unpasteurized unblanched live Fortex beans and we like them nearly as much as we do the half sour/full sour cukes; I served them at a cookout last weekend and they were a huge favorite with most of the folks there. It's soooo easy, and absolutely no heating energy or special equipment is required; they will keep for months in the fridge, and they're not only 'safe' for your family, they are very nutritious for them also. This is the basic recipe I followed: "These pickled green beans make a tasty snack anytime of the day…they have a wonderful garlicky taste and are a great little “finger-food”. I like to grab a few straight from the jar and munch on them….betcha’ can’t eat just one Recipe type: Lacto-fermentation, Appetizer, Condiment Serves: 1 quart Ingredients ¾ to 1 pound fresh green beans 1 large clove garlic, thinly sliced pinch red pepper flakes 1 teaspoon dried dill OR 3 to 4 sprigs fresh dill 1½ Tablespoons unrefined sea salt 2 cups filtered water Instructions Place half of the sliced garlic to a clean quart-sized mason jar, followed by the red pepper flakes and dill. Snap off the stem-end of green beans. Blanch green beans in boiling water for 2 minutes, then immediately transfer to a bowl of ice water until no longer hot. Drain the blanched beans well and pat dry with paper towels. Add green beans to your jar, stem-end down, packing them close together….it helps to lay the jar on its side at first. Fill the jar completely with the green beans, but do not pack them in too tight. Sprinkle remaining garlic slices on top of beans in jar. In a bowl, or large glass measuring cup, mix together the water and salt. Pour this mixture into your jar of beans to cover, being sure to leave 1-inch space from the top of the jar for expansion. (If the brine does not cover, simply make up another batch using the same ratio of salt to water.) Place lid (preferably air-lock lid) on the jar tightly. If using air-lock fill with water according to instructions. Allow to ferment (culture) for 3 days at room temperature, checking after day 2. When they are done, the beans will smell and taste “pickled”, but they should still be slightly crisp. Remove air-lock lid, if using, and replace with storage lid ��" transfer to cold storage." Here is a link that might be useful: Lacto-fermented “Pickled” Green Beans This post was edited by sidhartha0209 on Tue, Sep 10, 13 at 21:33

I do love regular limas and have enjoyed the texture. Also bean salads use butter beans, which to me, look like overripe limas, they also use kidney beans, chickpeas, and string beans. Haven't opned a jar yet to taste, but if the brine tastes as good, I don't think I'll have any problems with the limas. Of course they would be mixed into a pasta salad, just like pickled garlic, pickled mushrooms, dilly beans, etc.

HanArt, I really like them. I did not blanch the garlic first, I just popped a whole peeled clove into each jar. They have a nice rosemary flavor, although I still think fresh would have been better and the lemon has gotten more distinct (instead of the vinegar, which mellowed somewhat). I'm tired of having dill in every pickle I make, so these are a nice change. Altogether, I'm pleased and will definitely make more next year, especially if I can find fresh rosemary. Annie