Most people stick to a few basic meals on a regular basis. Spaghetti once every 2 weeks for example is a good place to start. Sit down and look at your menu plan (or if you haven't got a plan, look at what you ate for the last couple of weeks). Mine tends to look like this: poultry, beef, pork, soup or salad (depending on the season) vegetarian, sandwiches or easy fixes, beans. This covers 7 nights or one week Then I plan my meals around this guideline. Wednesdays are usually bean night because my nusband loves his pinto beans and they are a budget saver. He eats his with the traditional cornbread, sliced raw onions and some pickled beets or chowchow, whereas I eat mine with cheese, diced onions, and a little A-1 sauce as tho' it were a taco. So right off the bat I know that we will probably eat 52 pounds of pinto beans in a year, as well as 26+ pints of pickled beets and 26+ pints of chowchow. Friday night is kind of a date night for the 2 of us so it tends to be hamburgers, pizza, sloppy joes, hotdogs, tacos, or some other kind of sandwiches that can be eaten while we watch a movie. This means that we will be needing ketchup, mustard, relish, salsa, pizza sauce, and sloppy joe sauce for the year. Kitchen Sink soup is a budget saver because it takes all the vegetables from the week and adds them to a tomato or chicken stock base so I figure on canning chicken broth and tomato juice for a year as well. Everything else gets fit in around these and then I figure out how much of this am I planning to can myself instead of buying from the grocer?
As I mentioned previously, my salsa, pickled jalapeno peppers, and spicy mustard are as good as currency for my son's friends as well as a couple of our preachers/pastors so I try to make extra of those for purchasing yardwork or thank you gifts. Jams and jellies as well as breads and cakes (yes you can can those too!) are also welcome gifts anytime of the year.
The next thing to consider is what is in season and what can you do with it. I have included a very basic chart below but it should in no way be considered comprehensive. Think of it as your jumping off point.
Fruits and Vegetables by Season
April
Strawberries
May
Rhubarb
Strawberries
Asparagas
June
June Apples
Beets
Broccoli
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage (early variety)
July
Blackberries
Cherries
Beans
Tomatoes (early varieties)
Turnips (Sow now)
August
Apples (early varieties)
Elderberries (early varieties)
Peaches
Corn
Peppers
Tomatoes
September
Apples
Elderberries
Grapes
Beef
October
Potatoes (dig after frost)
Sweet Potatoes
Turnips
Beef
November
Pork
The next thing to decide is how you like to eat each item you will be canning. For example let's look at corn: in my house, we like it whole kernel (for corn chowder and other soups), cream style for the table, and on the cob (which involves freezing). When it comes to tomatoes we go through literally 3-4 hundred pounds of them so I have to prioritize: spiced tomato juice, plain tomato juice or stewed tomatos, salsa, spaghetti sauce, sloppy joe sauce, pizza sauce and catsup. Then anything new I want to try gets done with whatever we have leftover.
Another thing to consider is any herbs you might want to use in your canning. I grow my own basil, oregano, thyme, and rosemary for my italian spices as well as cilantro and garlic for my salsa. This can be harvested a little each day and dried in the oven or in a warm dark room before placing in a jar to use in the fall.
I hope in this way I have given you a plan for figuring out how to plan your canning for this next season anyway. It is certainly a joy to provide for your family and save some money. I look forward to hearing from you!
This is a great article . It gives a clear understanding of how to plan the canning season.
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