Best Vegetables to Grow for Canning

Being able to grow your own vegetables which you can then can and store in the pantry for the winter is one of the most rewarding parts of gardening. Growing vegetables is the best way to enjoy fresh produce whenever you want, picking it right out of the garden and serving it up on the table within the hour. However, if you have a large garden, or want to be able to grow more so that you can preserve and can your harvest, there are a lot of vegetables that are better than others when it comes to variety and ability to can.

To get the most out of your canning endeavors, try growing these vegetables which are all great for canning. You will be able to get more of these veggies canned, and get the job done faster once you learn the basics of canning.

Best Vegetables to Grow for Canning

Cucumbers

Cucumbers make great sweet and dill pickles, and their ability to just take off and grow where they may makes them a great vegetable to grow for canning. Cucumbers can be cut up into spears or slices when it comes time to can them. A couple cucumber plants are all you need to add to the garden to be able to harvest enough cucumbers that can be canned for the winter months.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes can be canned in so many ways that it makes sense to grow them and try at least one way. Tomato sauce, whole and skinned, as salsa, diced or even as paste are some of the most popular ways to can tomatoes. Whichever way you are most interested in canning them, just remember that tomatoes need a little acid added to the cans with them in order to ensure that they do not begin growing bacteria. Plant enough tomato plants to provide for your daily summer consumption and then double the number of plants to grow enough to harvest for canning time.

Asparagus

Asparagus is one of those vegetables that a lot of gardeners are afraid to try because they are considered to be hard just because they require so much time to grow. With a little planning you can enjoy fresh asparagus in your garden each and every year. Canned asparagus tastes just as good as they do fresh, so can the surplus harvest that comes in instead of letting any of it go bad when you can’t eat it all fast enough.

Beets

Beets make a great root vegetable that can be canned, especially since everyone always seems to have more fresh beets on hand than they can come up with recipes to use them all in fast enough. Beets taste just as good canned as they do fresh, and when you can them you can customize them to what you like and go sweet, spicy or pickled. There are really so many new ways to enjoy beets that you might end up running out once you get started on your harvest.

Green Beans

Green bean plants are the plants in the garden that never quit. The best part is that you can grow green beans in round so that you really do have some available for picking throughout the summer and can then can the entire late summer and fall harvests for later. This vegetable is a low prep, straight to can option that new gardeners and canners can try without having to put in a lot of time or effort.