I'm preserving summer by canning veggies: carrots and kohlrabi.

By Theresa HerFixitUpLife How-to Kitchen Theresa's blog

If you’re curious about canning veggies, you’ll want to know a few things that I learned canning carrots and kohlrabi.

We have a farm share at a local farm called Pennypack. If you aren’t familiar with farm shares, here’s the deal: we pay the farm a set price every season for a certain number of shares, and then we go pick up fresh produce every week that total the number of shares we purchased.

And we love the fresh produce that Pennypack Farm grows, but in the winter season it’s mostly greens. So when my friends at Ace Hardware asked if I’d like to try canning vegetables, I was psyched to learn how to extend the enjoyment of vegetables through the winter months.

As a vegetarian for my entire adulthood, canning is something that I have thought about over the years, but I always thought it sounded complicated, time-consuming, and messy.

But canning carrots was way easier than I imagined. And I was able to get everything I needed, the ball mason jars and an electric canner, at Ace Hardware. And you can definitely can vegetables without the electric canner, but the one I found also is a multi-cooker. I love a tool that has more than one use.

Yes, it’s very true that I’m not an expert at canning. I wanted to share my first attempt at preserving vegetables, so you can see what it’s like to get started from a real novice.

If you are a canning aficionado, we would love to read your tips and insights in the comments section below.

Check out my canning carrots how-to below.

Step 1: Picking out the veggies.

4 ACE_MyFixitUpLife_Canning_farm shares at Pennypack — This is what greets me at my local farm. I look on the board to see what is available that day, and strategize how we will use our farm shares.

4b ACE_MyFixitUpLife_Canning_what to select for canning — The produce at Pennypack farm is fresh from the ground, and is simply displayed in crates labeled with the name of the item and how much we can get for one share.

4c ACE_MyFixitUpLife_Canning_how about beets says jack — My 7-year-old Jack likes to look at the vegetables, and especially items that look different than at our grocery store.

4d ACE_MyFixitUpLife_Canning_How about carrots says jack — Jack wants me to can carrots, and I agree, so canning carrots is what we will do.

5 ACE_MyFixitUpLife_Canning_Kohlrabi looks interesting — The kohlrabi looks interesting. I’ve never eaten or cooked kohlrabi. I’m told that it’s as easy to can kohlrabi as carrots, so we grabbed a few.

5 ACE_MyFixitUpLife_Canning_weigh vegetables at pennypack farm — Weighing the carrots determines how many we can take from the farm. The carrots are fresh from the ground, and are interesting shapes. Not like the bags of baby carrots at the grocery.

5b ACE_MyFixitUpLife_Canning_vegetables look so good — Now that the vegetables are home, I like to admire the colors and shapes. I’m a design-geek.

Step 2: Setting up the canner and jars.

2 ACE_MyFixitUpLife_Canning_Set up new canner — The first step in using an electric canner, is making sure all of the pieces are in the box. And checking the instructions to make a list and gather other items needed.

3 ACE_MyFixitUpLife_Canning_Ball jars pint size — Since this is my first time canning, I chose to use pint size jars. You may notice that one jar is already missing. Jars are used for so many things in my home and workshop, so they tend to get used quickly.

Step 3: Veggie prep.

7 ACE_MyFixitUpLife_Canning_wash carrots before peeling — The first step to canning is cleaning the vegetables. With carrots, it’s important to wash them before peeling.

8 ACE_MyFixitUpLife_Canning_peel carrots — I love saving time. We compost at our house, so I peel the carrots right into our countertop compost bin.

Step 4: Jar prep.

9 ACE_MyFixitUpLife_Canning_clean jars — Next I’m going to start the canning process by cleaning and then heating the jars.

10 ACE_MyFixitUpLife_Canning_insert cleaned canning rack — After the pot and jars are clean and dry, I place the canning rack at the bottom of the pot.

10b ACE_MyFixitUpLife_Canning_place clean jars in canner on rack — Then I can place the jars on top of the canning rack.

Step 5: Let the canning begin!

8e ACE_MyFixitUpLife_Canning_peeled carrots — The carrots look delicious, but I’m sticking to my plan of canning, and won’t eat them all now.

11 ACE_MyFixitUpLife_Canning_chop vegetables — Since I’m new to canning, I want to make this simple, so I’m just slicing the carrots and not adding anything. There are tons of recipes for canning carrots and other food. Next time I will try one of those.

14 ACE_MyFixitUpLife_Canning_put lid on jar before back in canner — After the carrots are chopped, it’s time to take one jar out of the pot to fill it and lid it.

12 ACE_MyFixitUpLife_Canning_fill jar with carrots — It’s important to leave about 1 inch of space at the top when canning vegetables. I love how this looks. The carrots look really pretty in the jar.

14b ACE_MyFixitUpLife_Canning_putting filled cans into canner — Since the water is warm, I’m using a towel to put the canned jars back in the pot. I repeat this step until all of the jars are full.

Step 5: Bonus round of kohlrabi.

15 ACE_MyFixitUpLife_Canning_how about canning kohlrabi — And then I hit an opportunity. I didn’t have enough carrots to fill all of my jars, so I’m thinking kohlrabi would be fun.

16 ACE_MyFixitUpLife_Canning_remove outer peel as farmer suggested — I was told at the farm to only use the inside of the kohlrabi, so after peeling, I’m slicing it for the jars.

17 ACE_MyFixitUpLife_Canning_slice and ready for the jar one inch at top — The kohlrabi looks really good in the jar. I’m very curious how it will taste. When canning vegetables, it’s important to press down and push out air bubbles with a plastic spatula or spoon before sealing.

23 ACE_MyFixitUpLife_Canning_add more heated water to the top so the water is 1 inch above — When all of the cans are in the pot, I add hot water to the pot so that there is about an inch of water above the cans. The inside of the pot has lines marking how high it is safe to fill the pot with water.

18 ACE_MyFixitUpLife_Canning_add steaming and diffuser rack to top of cans — After all of the jars are full of vegetables, I put the steaming and diffuser rack on top of the cans. It adds to the heat efficiency and helps reduce any splattering water.

19 ACE_MyFixitUpLife_Canning_put the lid on this and wait 30 minutes — Who’s the girl canning? Yes. That’s me putting the lid on my first canning project.

24 ACE_MyFixitUpLife_Canning_set temperature to canning — It’s easy finding the right temperature for canning. It’s right there on dial. I turn the dial to canning, and wait about 30 minutes.

20 ACE_MyFixitUpLife_Canning_compost scraps — While I’m waiting for the vegetables to be ready, I compost the peels in our backyard compost bin.

25 ACE_MyFixitUpLife_Canning_canning complete — And these are my first canned vegetables. They are cooling for about 12 hours, and then the rings can come off. If the lid comes off with the ring, then you know you didn’t get a tight seal. Just eat those veggies now, and store the rest for later.

I’m so happy Ace Hardware asked me to try out canning, because it only took a few hours, from prep to clean-up and I have vegetables safely stored for up to one year.

Note: Ace Hardware has provided me with the product used within this project. I was also compensated for my time and this blog post. All opinions and positions expressed here are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of Ace Hardware. For more information about canning or other home improvement projects, please check out Ace Hardware online.

Comments (5)

Rosie

October 13, 2016 at 4:03 pm

This is wonderful! I would love to have everything for canning. I have a dehydrator, and I also dry and freeze herbs, and I have been wanting to get into canning! An Ace Hardware opened up right near me, I could walk there, and I adore the store, they are very helpful and excellent merchandise.

Luzviminda Gunter-Smith

October 11, 2016 at 8:18 pm

I love trying new projects, all I can say that you have done a great job, I have not tried vegetable Canning but probably will try it too. WE’LL DONE.

Tamra H

October 10, 2016 at 2:32 pm

We’ve had a great year in the garden this year and I really want to start canning so we can enjoy the goodies all year long. It doesn’t look too scary!

Stacy

September 29, 2016 at 10:13 am

You’ve got me jazzed to put up some summer produce!

Tara B

September 28, 2016 at 9:34 pm

I admire people who can do this, it always seemed like a lot of work.

I’m preserving summer by canning veggies: carrots and kohlrabi.

If you’re curious about canning veggies, you’ll want to know a few things that I learned canning carrots and kohlrabi.