Name: How to Can Homemade Sauerkraut
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 1 d 25 min
Ingredients: 10 pounds cabbage leaf; 6 tablespoons pickling salt

How to Grow Rhubarb

By Annie

Rhubarb is a delicious perennial vegetable. Learn how to grow Rhubarb in your backyard!

Rhubarb is one of the first plants we see here in early spring. It’s very easy to grow Rhubarb and it is a hardy perennial, meaning that you plant it once and it will come up year after year.

Many people get 20 years worth of harvest off of a single rhubarb plant. That is a great return.

Use rhubarb in all kinds of recipes, from jams to crumbles, from sauces to strawberry rhubarb pie, stewed or added to homemade juices or sodas.

Rhubarb is very healthy for our diets, a it has high levels of potassium and is a great source of dietary fiber. We love the tartness and flavor of fresh rhubarb and enjoy it each spring.

How to Grow Rhubarb

Rhubarb grows throughout Canada and many parts of the cooler United States. It likes to grow in full sun, but it can certainly tolerate some shade as well.

Rhubarb will grow in any of the cooler gardening zones throughout Canada and the US.

You can plant the Rhubarb roots in Spring or Fall, making sure to plant them several feet apart. Rhubarb is a heavy feeder, which means it loves to grow in healthy organic matter. When you dig your plant hole, add plenty of compost or well-rotted manure for fertilization.

Then every Spring, top dress around the plant with more compost. Rhubarb also likes a planting spot with good drainage; if you are planting in clay soil, add some sand as well as the compost.

The plants get big and prolific, so make sure you keep that in mind when you are planting.

If you can’t find someone with enough to share, you can order Rhubarb seeds or buy Rhubarb seedlings at a nursery.

Rhubarb plants emerging from the soil and snow in early spring

By mid-April our Rhubarb crowns are already poking the buds out of the ground. Rhubarb loves to live in climates where there is a good freeze each Winter.

Buy 2 or 3 year old roots from the garden center or by mail order, or better yet, get some from a fellow gardener. Sometimes you can get third year roots, too which is great because you can get larger harvests faster.

At some point, everyone has enough Rhubarb in their gardens and are willing to share their bounty.

rhubarb plants growing in a garden bed — Rhubarb plants growing in our garden bed.

Pests attracted to Rhubarb

Here in the north, we don’t have much a problem with pests and our Rhubarb. However, aphids, slugs and beetles can be a problem in warmer garden zones.

Remember though that pest damage may be done to the leaves, but the only edible portion are the stems. So don’t worry too much about leaf damage.

Harvesting Rhubarb

If you plant it in the Spring, don’t pick any stalks the first year. Wait until the second year. Let the plant and its roots grow.

You will be doubly rewarded the following year. If you plant it in the Fall, you can lightly pick it the following Spring.

Make sure you never pick a Rhubarb plant clean.

Leave a few leaf stalks on the plant, the plant needs this for new growth for the following year.

I leave at least six stalks; it would be better to leave a few more than that.

Pick the rhubarb stalks then lay the leaves down to use as mulch.

Keep in mind that the stalks are the only part of the plant you use. The leaves and the roots are poisonous, not only to humans, but also to animals.

The rhubarb leaves contain high levels of oxalic acid, which can cause health problems. Only the stalks can be eaten.

Store rhubarb stocks in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for later use.

Mulching Rhubarb Plants

Use those large rhubarb leaves as a mulch for around the base of your Rhubarb plants. They are perfectly fine for that purpose.

Weed the area first, then harvest Rhubarb, cutting off the leaves and laying them down to smother any more weeds from coming up.

Straw or leaves also make good rhubarb mulch.

rhubarb stalks in a metal pail freshly harvested — A harvest of tender Rhubarb stalks.

Pick your Rhubarb by twisting and snapping the stalks. The bigger the stalk, the better the harvest, so leave any small stalks on the plant.

At some point during the growing season, your Rhubarb will send up a thick flower stalk or a few flower stalks.

Be sure to cut these down using a sharp knife as soon as you see it. This is one of the most important things when you grow Rhubarb.

You don’t ever want Rhubarb to go to seed; you want your plant to keep putting its energy into making new stalks.

center flower stalk of the Rhubarb plant — Be sure to cut out that flowering stalk! This will help your plant grow.

Dividing Rhubarb Plants

When your plants are nice and large (maybe after 3 or 4 years) you can propagate and get new plants. Want more Rhubarb plants?

Grow rhubarb by taking a sharp spade and cleaning slice your plant in half or thirds.

Then, dig up the pieces and plant them in a new fertile hole. Dig in lots of well composted manure before you plant so you will have vigorous plants.

Water really well and if it is hot out, water it several times a day for the first three or four days.

Before you know it, you will have enough Rhubarb to feed your family and then you can start giving your own plants away.

Diced rhubarb ready to be frozen in bags — Diced Rhubarb in premeasured bags makes it easy for baking later!

Preserving Rhubarb

To preserve Rhubarb, you don’t even have to blanch it before popping it in the freezer.

It can’t get much easier to provide your family with tasty Rhubarb all year long, can it?

I like to bag mine up in 4 cup measures, as that is what is generally called for when it comes to pies.

Making a Rhubarb pie — Rhubarb and Blueberry Pie coming right up!

You could freeze it in 2 cup batches and make a blended pie with berries making up the other half.

Pick a sweet berry, so that you won’t have to add much (if any) sugar. Paired with Strawberries and topped with ice cream is the perfect choice! But sometimes we use Raspberries or Saskatoon berries.

Canning Rhubarb

I don’t can our Rhubarb, but it can certainly be done. Use a boiling water bath canner. You have to add a fair bit of sugar, about 3/4 cup to 1 quart of Rhubarb.

Mix together well and put some of the cooking liquid into each jar. Process for 20 minutes.

If you want to learn about canning, here is the process of how I can using a water bath canner.

We often make a batch of Rhubarb wine with our harvest. Want to try it? Read how to create your own Rhubarb Wine!

Here are 8 Great Ways to use Rhubarb! Different Rhubarb recipes for you to try. From how to cook Rhubarb to stewing Rhubarb to Rhubarb ice cream and more.

Take a look at this book for more than 200 recipes using rhubarb.

Make this the year you start to grow Rhubarb!

Once planted, you will be able to eat Rhubarb every year!

originally published 2011; latest update April 2025

How to Can Homemade Sauerkraut

By Annie

Ever wondered how to can sauerkraut so you can enjoy it all winter long? You can easily ferment and can your own sauerkraut in the comfort of your own kitchen!

Recently I wrote about our Cabbage harvest and using some of it to make Sauerkraut. Water bath canning Sauerkraut is pretty easy; a beginning canner can preserve cabbage with confidence and just a few ingredients.

a head of cabbage growing in the garden — We love our home-grown cabbage!

What is Sauerkraut?

Hailing from Germany, this salted cabbage dish is created by fermenting cabbage and results in a distinctive sour flavor.

Because it has a long shelf life, it’s an easy way to preserve some shredded cabbage and Graham loves it along with pierogies and sausages.

Read here to see how to make your own Sauerkraut including more details about the normal fermentation process.

The best part is the sauerkraut ferments passively, which means for the most part you can let it be.

The process essentially involves removing the outer leaves of the cabbage (don’t discard these, you can eat them!), shredding the cabbage with a knife or food processor, and layering with pickling salt.

It’s easy to cover cabbage and let the fermentation process do its job! Check out the recipe above for more detailed instructions on fermented sauerkraut.

Jar with homemade Sauerkraut ready to be canned. — Learn how to can Sauerkraut safely.

After leaving the kraut in a 3 gallon crock for a couple of weeks and checking it often, I scooped some out for Graham to do a taste test. He found it to be delicious and mild, which he likes.

That meant it was time to finish off the preserving of the Sauerkraut. If we wanted to, we could just put the crock down in our Cold Room and use the Sauerkraut when we wanted some.

We keep our Cold Room between 32 and 40F, and this temperature would be fine for the Sauerkraut.

However, we chose to can it instead – so should you if you cannot keep the crock in a cool enough place. Here’s how I did it.

You can also raw-pack your sauerkraut by skipping the steps that involve heating it before packing it into the jars. I prefer to hot-pack when canning sauerkraut.

See every one of our Preserving Recipe and Instructions Guides – right here!

Water Bath Canning for Homemade Sauerkraut

Heat the Sauerkraut in a large pot, stirring with a plastic or wooden spoon. You want it to gently simmer, don’t boil it. Gentle bubbles means you’re at the right temperature.
Add a bit of the juice. Make a brine (1 1/2 tablespoons of salt for each 1 quart of water), in case you don’t have enough juice in the crock.
To hot-pack, you’ll want to heat the sauerkraut on the stove before transferring to jars.
You’re going to Hot Water Bath the Sauerkraut, so wash your jars and then set them into your boiling water canner. Keep them in there for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, get your seals and rings ready. Pour boiling water over them and let them sit until you need them. I’m using Tattler lids for some of the jars – I should have ordered more so I had some new lids!
I love using these lids for easy and reliable food preservation!
Use 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt for each 1 quart of water. Heat this brine on the stove.
Once you get your Sauerkraut warmed up, hot pack it into jars. I use these pint jars but you can use quarts if you like a larger jar size.
Leave 1/2 inch headspace in the jars. Add the warm liquid and use the brine, if you need to. Leave 1/2 inch of headroom and wipe jar rims.
If you are using Tattler lids and seals, there is a slightly different process to follow and you can read it here. It is very important to let the contents vent during the processing.
Place your jars in the Boiling Water Bath and once the water comes back to a boil, set your timer for 15 minutes for pints. If I had used quarts, the processing time would be 25 minutes.
Be sure to leave a bit of head room in your jars.
I have to add 5 minutes because of our altitude (2800 ft). Make sure you always take your elevation into account when you do canning, it is very important.
Once the time is up, remove your jars and leave them alone for 24 hours. After that, you can wipe the jars down, remove the metal bands if you like, and place the jars on your pantry shelf.
Here’s the sauerkraut all packed into the jars. It’s easy to make dozens of jars like this all at one time!

What Supplies Do I Need for Home Canning?

Not sure where to start when it comes to canning? Here are some recommendations:

I have a very handy food grade Canning kit (Presto) that includes jar lifter, seal grabber, a funnel, a measuring gauge that allows you to easily figure out the headspace and more.

These items are almost a necessity when canning. You can order one of these Canning kits here.

For sauerkraut, I also recommend getting a nice sharp knife to slice the cabbage into nice thin shreds. A mandolin is also another option for slicing.

Here, you can find the Canning Supplies and Equipment Needed to Preserve Food

What Can I Use Sauerkraut For?

Graham has already enjoyed a meal of Bratwurst and Sauerkraut along with Perogies, and is looking forward to many more.

It can also be eaten on its own or as a simple side dish if you really enjoy the flavor. It pairs well with bold, savory flavors like onions and garlic.

Sauerkraut has many health benefits: lots of naturally occurring probiotics that foster beneficial bacteria in the body to improve digestion, nutrients, vitamins, and it can even help strengthen the immune system and reduce the risk of certain diseases.

A hearty mason jar of sauerkraut can also be given as a nice homemade gift for friends, family, and loved ones.

We ended up with 17 pints of Sauerkraut using a 3 gallon crock, which held a total of 15 pounds of cabbage.

Here’s an article about Canning Tips You Should Know

Jar of Sauerkraut ready to be canned. — Save this to your Pinterest board for later!

More Home Food Preservation Guides

Want to can some fruit? Here’s How to Can Cherries so you can fill your pantry shelves.
Here’s How to Can Salmon (and any other fish)
Using Tattler Lids? Here’s how I make sure to use Tattler Lids and Seals properly!
Make these Quick Pickled Carrots from the Minimalist Baker!
Learn how to store Home Canned Food Properly

How to Can Homemade Sauerkraut

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Additional Time: 1 day

Total Time: 1 day 25 minutes

This easy homemade sauerkraut is perfect to quickly can right in your own kitchen! This will extend its shelf life and keep it fresh and tasty for much longer.

Ingredients

10 pounds cabbage leaf
6 tablespoons pickling salt

Instructions

Heat the Sauerkraut in a large pot, stirring with a plastic or wooden spoon, until it reaches a gentle simmer.
Add a bit of the juice. Make a brine, in case you don’t have enough juice in the crock.
You’re going to Hot Water Bath the Sauerkraut, so wash your jars and then set them into your boiling water canner. Keep them in there for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, get your seals and rings ready. Pour boiling water over them and let them sit until you need them.
Use 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt for each 1 quart of water. Heat this brine on the stove.
Once you get your Sauerkraut warmed up, hot pack it into jars.
Add the warm liquid and use the brine, if you need to. Leave 1/2 inch of headroom and wipe jar rims.
Place your jars in the Boiling Water Bath and once the water comes back to a boil, set your timer for 15 minutes for pints (or 25 for quarts).
Once the time is up, remove your jars and leave them alone for 24 hours. At this point, wipe them down, remove the metal rims if you like, and store them wherever you like.

Notes

This recipe takes sauerkraut that's already been made and prepares it for canning. Check this post for information on how to make your sauerkraut from scratch!
As a general rule of thumb, you can fit 5 pounds of cabbage for every gallon that your crockpot or slow cooker will fit. Feel free to tweak the amount of cabbage depending on the size of your pot.
Make sure you always take your elevation into account when you do canning, it is very important. Higher altitudes will require more time.

Getting Your Yard Ready For Winter – Part 1

By Annie

Getting your yard ready for winter is something every gardener needs to do.

Ahhh, Fall – that wonderful time of the year. The temperatures are dropping and it’s wonderful for working outside.

The leaves start changing colour and just by looking around, you can see everything starting to get ready for the coming Winter.

Now is the time to start tucking your yard in for the Winter.

The Garden Harvests have slowed down somewhat, but we’re still digging up potatoes, perhaps pulling off the last of the ripe tomatoes and grabbing the squash before the frosts start coming.

It’s time – time to start putting the Garden to bed for the wintertime. Winter is a period of rest. For us Food Gardening fanatics, it’s a time of standing back and gazing upon all those jars of canned goods now sitting on your pantry shelf.

Our Cold Room is filling up, not only with surplus jars of canned Tomato Sauce, Green Beans and Beets, but also sacks of Potatoes, Onions and Garlic. We should be well supplied for the entire Winter and well into next Spring.

Time to sit down now and have a bit of a rest. We’ve all earned that extra cup of tea and relax time now. There is still lots to do, but the hurried pace has slowed a bit.

5 Things we do each Fall:

Pick Stuff Up!

We can get a LOT of snow so it is crucial to start picking “things” up. We have a (bad) habit of leaving things out during the Summer.

Shovels, hoes, pitchforks, they can all be found either laying in the Garden or leaned up against various fences depending on where they were used last.

If we don’t pick things up in the Fall, there is a chance we will not see them again until Spring. Once the snow flies things disappear pretty quick around here. So, we walk around and gather up all our tools.

Clean and Maintain our Tools:

Shovels, hoes and the like will benefit from a good cleaning. Dip a cloth in some used motor oil and wipe your tools with it. This will help keep the tools from rusting. Now is a great time to sharpen shovels and hoes.

Gather up all your garden hoses, irrigation timers and the like. Store your hoses under cover and bring the timers and manifolds into the house to keep them there over Winter.

Store the yard lighting and ornaments:

If you live in deep snow areas, be sure to gather up all your yard lights. We have a lot of Solar Lights in our yard and I make sure they all get brought up to the house to be stored, at least for awhile.

Sometimes in February, I will put them back out, setting them into the snow. I like to wait until I think the majority of snow has fallen.

With all the snow shoveling we do around our home, I don’t want the extra work of having to dig the solar lights out of the snow!

Rake the Lawn:

Raking the lawn area to get rid of the dried thatch is a good idea now, if you have the time. Giving the lawn one last mow is also on the list – it will help your lawn get off to a better start next Spring.

Cut back the Perennials:

When your Perennial flowers start dying back, it is a good time to cut them down close to the ground. Some people like to leave this job until the Spring and it certainly can provide some Winter interest to see the heads of grasses or dried Hydrangeas covered with snow.

Whether you do this job now or in Spring, the steps are the same – cut back your Perennial plants almost to the ground, remove the debris and add it to your Compost pile. Come Spring, these plants will send up new growth and be healthy and blooming within a few months.

Trim any Shrubs that need it. Trim just above a leaf set and if the stems are quite sturdy, you can use these to make a teepee around more fragile Perennials. Just push them into the ground and add lots of leaves or straw to the teepee for extra protection.

In the next post, I’ll concentrate on the Vegetable and Fruit Gardens, as well as compost piles. Pop over here to read the next installment of Tucking Your Garden in for Winter.

How to Grow Rhubarb