How much do you need?
If you want your homegrown food to last until the next harvest, it helps to start with a plan at planting time!
Below you’ll find a simple system to help you figure out how much food your family actually eats in a year, and then how much you’ll need to grow and preserve to meet those goals. I’ve also included the preservation targets I use for our family of four (plus a baby) here in Minnesota so you can see a real example.
Whether you want to preserve a year’s worth of pasta sauce or replace grocery store produce completely, let’s make it happen!
Step 1: How much do you need to preserve?
The first step is figuring out how much your family actually eats.
Below you’ll find an 8-page tracking guide that helps you estimate how much of different foods your household uses over the course of a year. This gives you a realistic starting point for your preservation goals.
As you work through the tracker, keep in mind that the way we eat can change throughout the year. In the summer we often rely on fresh food from the garden, while in the winter we tend to use more preserved foods. Thinking about your meals during those colder months can help you better estimate what you’ll want in your pantry.
Once you complete the tracker, you’ll have a clearer picture of how much food you’d like to preserve to get your family through the year.
Download or print the tracker below.
Step 2: How much do you need to plant?
Once you know how much food you want to preserve, the next step is figuring out how much you need to grow in the garden to reach those goals.
Below you’ll find a page from my ebook From Seed to Pantry: Planning a Year’s Worth of Preserves. It includes crop spacing and estimated yields for common backyard garden vegetables.
You can use this information to work backwards:
- Start with your preservation goals from Step 1
- Look at the estimated yields for each crop
- Use the spacing guidelines to determine how many palnts you’ll need
This helps you turn your preservation goals into an actual garden planting plan!
You can download or print the page below for easy reference while planning your garden.
Planning a year’s worth of food can feel like a big goal, but it doesn’t have to happen all at once. Start by paying attention to what your family eats, set a few preservation goals, and build from there each season. Over time, those jars on the shelf add up, and before you know it you’ll have a pantry full of food you grew and preserved yourself!
Happy gardening!
