Planning to Preserve in the Coming Year - Part 3 of 3

By putting up more food I will reduce the miles our food travels, I’ll know exactly where the food came from and what’s in it. This will contribute to a lower food budget and a healthier diet. All good things right? And it's easy. I usually put up what I want as the season progresses. I wind up with four times as many pickles as we can eat and not enough tomato sauce. This year I'm making a plan.

I have broken my plan to preserve into several parts:

1. Decide what we would actually eat by looking at my notes from what we put up last year and what we would have used if we had it
2. Calculate quantities that we would conceivably consume in a year’s time
3. Check and see that we have the capacity to can, freeze or store all this bounty
4. Make a chronological list of when these foods are ready to preserve
5. Put it all together and make a calendar of foods with their quantities and check it every couple weeks as the season progresses to make sure I’m on track

In the first part of Planning to Preserve I went into detail into for steps 1 and 2. I considered what I put up last year and what I want to put up this year. The second part is steps 3 and 4.  This is the final part step 5. 

Step 5:  Put it all together and make a calendar of foods with their quantities and check it every couple weeks as the season progresses to make sure I’m on track.

I decided to put all the information together in a spread sheet that I can keep on my refrigerator.  Then as the summer progress I will be able to make adjustments and save additional notes on my computer.  I've got lots of ideas brewing over on my "How does your garden (and pantry) grow" board on Pinterest too. 

(Click to see the full size)


I'm feeling really good about this plan.  It is ambitious, I'll admit.  It's more of an "if I had my druthers" this is what I'd put up.  We'll see if it all happens. 

I'm also seriously considering buying a deep freeze.  Between the freezing more produce and saving breast milk, I think it could be a good investment.  I've also read several good articles on why to go the chest freezer route for energy consumption and managing a stable temperature. 

I can't wait to share my next post with you.  It's going to be on an organic family farm I visiting this week.  On just 1.5 acres of land one man with the help of his 80 year old parents, wife and children produce enough food for themselves, as well as food for the local elementary school, all the folks who drop by and two restaurants.  He's getting year round produce from three plastic hoop house style green houses and multiple cold frames.  All in the Midwest (zone 5).  There are some innovative ideas being used.  I'm secretly hoping they'll adopt me and teach me everything they know.  I'll share with you what I saw and learned when I visited.  Stay tuned! 

This post is on Simple Lives Tuesday.  You should check it out. It's a neat blog hop. And if you came the blog hop, you already know what I am talking about. 

Planning to Preserve in the Coming Year - Part 2 of 3

By putting up more food I will reduce the miles our food travels, I’ll know exactly where the food came from and what’s in it. This will contribute to a lower food budget and a healthier diet. All good things right? And it's easy.  I usually put up what I want as the season progresses. I wind up with four times as many pickles as we can eat and not enough tomato sauce. This year I'm making a plan. 

I have broken my plan to preserve into several parts:

1. Decide what we would actually eat by looking at my notes from what we put up last year and what we would have used if we had it
2. Calculate quantities that we would conceivably consume in a year’s time
3. Check and see that we have the capacity to can, freeze or store all this bounty
4. Make a chronological list of when these foods are ready to preserve
5. Put it all together and make a calendar of foods with their quantities and check it every couple weeks as the season progresses to make sure I’m on track

In the first part of Planning to Preserve I went into detail into for steps 1 and 2. I considered what I put up last year and what I want to put up this year.  The second part is steps 3 and 4. The third part is now up covering the last step. 

Step 3: Do we actually have the number of canning jars, freezer and cupboard space to hold all this bounty?

Here’s what I calculate I’ll need to hold all this stuff:

69 Quart Freezer Boxes or Bags (6+5+3+15+6+6+12+6+6+4 = 69)
35 Pint Jars (34+8+1 = 43)
26 Quart Jars (12+8+6 = 26)
Dry storage for 16 squash, 24 heads of garlic

Here’s what I’ve got on hand:

Freezer boxes 6 pints, 2 quarts
17 pint jars
2 half pint or jelly jars (I always give away the small jars it seems!)
18 quart jars

I’m going to need more jars.  I don’t think I've ever put up this much food plan or no plan. Looks like I will need to be watching garage sales, thrift stores and church sales for canning supplies. Canning jars generally run about $1 a jar new; if I can find any for less it's a good deal.  Granted, when facing a bushel of apples I'm willing to go purchase at full price. 

I’ll need to acquire:

49 quart freezer bags (for the dehydrated food and pesto I prefer freezer bags and for the fruit and corn I like the plastic freezer boxes)
15 quart freezer boxes
21 pint jars
14 half pint jelly jars
8 quart jars

 Step 4: Make a chronological list of when these foods are ready to preserve.

There is a chart in the back of my Ball Blue Book of Canning that shows when to expect fruits and vegetables to be peak season. I used that plus my own notes and the lids of cans (I always write the date) to create this list below. This is for the Midwest specifically north east Indiana.

May: Beets, Kale
June: Beets, Strawberries, Blue Berries, Peaches
July: Cucumber, Corn, Apples, Cherries, Cherry Tomatoes, Peaches
August: Cucumber, Corn, Apples, All Tomatoes, Herbs, Wild Grapes
September: Beets, Corn, Apples, All Tomatoes, Kale, Herbs
October: Beets, All Tomatoes, Kale, Winter Squash
November: Beets, Winter Squash

I'm getting closer to finishing the plan.  One more step to put it all together; that will be in Part 3 of Planning to Preserve which will go up later this week. 

How's your plan to preserve shaping up?

This post was featured on Simple Lives Thursday