Many of us drool over the beautifully crafted pantries we see on Pinterest or Instagram. They have neatly arranged shelves lined with beautiful canned goods. This doesn’t happen by accident… those jars of proof of lots of hard work that went into growing and preserving each of their contents.

I did a lot of preserving many years ago. I had a garage with custom-built shelves to display our garden’s abundance, but my situation is different now. We dream of a pantry with beautifully stocked shelves, but it hasn’t quite happened yet. I can’t build the pantry today, but I can work on getting some jars filled with delicious food to nourish my family.

I have been doing a little here and there with no real plan… just when the idea hits me to get out the pressure cooker, or when we have an overabundance of food from the garden that I don’t want to feed to the chickens. Most of the time, I end up just putting it up in the freezer to deal with later.

I have been working on getting a seasonal planning guide together to make things a little easier and automatic, so I will share what I have with you all right now. I will update this as I use it to see how it works. I do have some seasonal produce lists included with our Perpetual Meal Plans.

Perpetual Meal Plans

You will need to look up the various ways of preserving foods like canning, fermenting, freezing, freeze-drying, and dehydrating to see what would work best for you. I find that we use a combination of methods, as we can use the same fruits and vegetables in many different ways. Don’t forget that you can also make jellies, jams, juices, sauces, and so much more with your harvests.

I probably won’t be relying solely on our garden harvests this next year, as I also plan to shop the flea markets for seasonal deals. The biggest key to success is to get the freshest produce with the least amount of blemishes. Homemade goodies make nice Christmas gifts!

Here are the sheets I made up for my family:

I plan to add all of these wonderful printables that I’ve been making to our family binder, so that anyone could come in and pick up wherever we need help. It is hard to be in a situation where you need help, but no one can help because they don’t know where to start. I once had my binder very organized, and it kept the chaos to a minimum… I want to get there AGAIN!

I will try to organize this to align with our Perpetual Meal Plans, so I can just buy extra fruits and veggies that we will be using already. Here is how I plan to break this down:

Winter (December, January, February)

FRUITS	VEGGIES	OTHER
Citrus	Broccoli/Cauliflower	Herbs
Pomegranates	Cabbage
	Greens
	Lettuce
	Leeks
	Spinach
	Swiss Chard
	Turnips

This would be a great time to work through any produce that you have stuck in the freezer. You could make:

• Pickled beets, onions, turnips, or other foods
• Jellies and Jams
• Tomato sauce or Spaghetti Sauce
• Canned Sweet Potatoes or Canned Pumpkin/Pumpkin Pie Filling
• Sauerkraut
• Don’t forget to dry some herbs for cooking, tea, and medicinal uses!

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Spring (March, April, May)

FRUITS	VEGGIES	OTHER
Apricots	Asparagus	Herbs
Blueberries	Artichokes
Cherries	Beans
Citrus	Carrots
Kiwi	Corn
Melons	Greens
Plums	Kale
Strawberries	Lettuce
	Peas
	Radishes
	Rhubarb
	Spinach
	Squash
	Swiss Chard
	Tomatoes
	Zucchini

We get so excited to have so many new foods coming in from the garden. You could make:

• Pickled carrots, melon rinds, radishes, corn, or asparagus
• Jellies and Jams
• Can up some dried beans to have meals in a jiffy!
• Don’t forget to dry some herbs for cooking, tea, and medicinal uses!

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Summer (June, July, August)

FRUITS	VEGGIES	OTHER
Apples	Carrots	Herbs
Apricots	Corn
Blackberries	Cucumbers
Blueberries	Eggplant
Cherries	Garlic
Grapes	Green Beans
Figs	Lettuce
Melons	Onions
Peaches & Nectarines	Okra
Plums	Peas
Raspberries	Peppers
Strawberries	Potatoes
Watermelon	Radishes
	Rhubarb
	Squash
	Swiss Chard
	Tomatillos/Tomatoes
	Zucchini

This would be a great time to pick some extra fruit in season. You could make:

• Pickled garlic, peppers, and more — don’t forget pickles!
• Jellies and Jams
• Canned beans, corn, carrots, and potatoes – try making some succotash!
• Don’t forget to dry some herbs for cooking, tea, and medicinal uses!

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Fall (September, October, November)

FRUITS	VEGGIES	OTHER
Apples	Broccoli	Herbs
Citrus	Brussel Sprouts	Roselle
Grapes	Cabbage
Kiwi	Carrots
Pears	Corn
Pomegranates	Lettuce
Pumpkins	Onions
Raspberries	Potatoes
	Root Veggies
	Radishes
	Swiss Chard
	Tomatoes/Tomatillos
	Winter Squash

This would be a great time to grab some extra fruits for jams, jellies, and butters to make Christmas gifts. You could make:

• Pickled mushrooms, garlic, onions, peppers, corn, or other foods
• Jellies and Jams – don’t forget fruit butters! – Rosella Sauce is so good!
• Applesauce or pear sauce
• Tomato sauce or Spaghetti Sauce
• Canned Apple Pie Filling … so good!
• Don’t forget to dry some herbs for cooking, tea, and medicinal uses!

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Fruits and veggies aren’t the only things that can be preserved. Meats can be preserved in a variety of ways as well… do your research and give it a try!

I hope this can help someone as much as it is helping me!

God Bless!