A Pantry Idea

It might just be that I need visual reminders

but...

one of the things about gardening,

canning, and preserving the harvest in general

is knowing how much food we need 

to get through until next year's harvest season.

This is one of those ideas born out of necessity.

I was running out of room in the boxes

under the spare room bed.

That's when the lightbulb flashed above my head

just like in the old cartoons.

Every year, I have to rearrange the pantry shelves.

As we use up one thing,

it's easy to put something else in it's place.

Now, as we use a jar of something,

I have begun putting the empty jar back in it's place.

It's like a reservation for next year.

Also, my not so pretty at the moment - labels

tell me how many jars of given products we use.

I must have issues with rifling through pages to find

what we need during the long days of harvest/canning.

This last year, I feared we would run a little short on a couple things

so there are a couple of store bought cans still in the works.

Of course, the home grown veggies are better

so those foreign cans remain.

(I try to use them up in soups etc.)

Also, that can of 'No Salt Added' is awful.

I grabbed two of them by mistake.

As we narrow in on the actual number of pints and quarts

we use, I will make pretty little labels.

The number can change depending upon your situation

and stage of life:

new little family members,

becoming empty nesters,

an extra adult in the house for a period of time, etc.

I like knowing our consumption for planning reasons,

but I sure don't want more paperwork.

This was what I came up with.

I had the above written and couldn't handle it.
 I was off and playing with labels.
I printed them, cut them, then used clear mailing tape
rather than contact paper (which I didn't have) to cover them.
I can write the number of jars on the label.
If I discover it changes, I can wipe it off with a little alcohol or hair spray
and write the new number.

      

If you have a working system,

leave a comment to let us know.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution

so the more ideas the better.

Until next time,

Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches