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A few weeks ago, I stood in my canning pantry and saw something I have not seen in years: empty shelves.
Not because anything went wrong. Because we made the decision to eat our pantry down before we move. Little Mountain Ranch has sold, and with a family of nine and somewhere between 6 and 12 months of food stored on these shelves, the practical choice was to eat through as much of it as possible before moving day.
Over 300 jars later, I have learned more about how I actually want to run my pantry than any canning season ever taught me. Here is what I found. (Click the image below to watch the full video.)
Why We Keep A 6 To 12 Month Pantry
Before I get into what I learned, it helps to understand why we keep a pantry this size in the first place.
There are two main reasons.
The first is peace of mind. When Dan was injured and could not work for a stretch, we ate from these shelves. When I got sick and could not cook the way I normally do, the pantry carried us. Having that buffer is not about fear. It is about security and resilience, and it has proven its worth more than once.
The second is inflation. When you buy and preserve in bulk for six to twelve months at a time, you are largely insulated from week-to-week price increases at the grocery store. By the time you are stocking up again, yes, you will feel the increase, but you have not been experiencing it every single week. The food on your shelves is actually worth more than when you put it there.
LESSON 1: You Are Probably Canning Out Of Habit
The most honest thing I found in this process is that a lot of what I have been canning, I have been canning out of habit rather than genuine need.
Zucchini relish is a perfect example. We love it. I make it every year because viewers always request it and new people come to the channel who have never seen the recipe. But I have what I can only describe as a lifetime supply sitting on my shelves. Same with enchilada sauce (three years running), dill pickles (turns out we actually prefer my jardiniere and hamburger pickles), and French onion soup, which we just did not reach for as much this past winter.
My new approach: small batches for recipes I share on the channel, and the surplus goes to a farm stand. No more stacking jars I am not eating.
Tip: Keep a running list during your eat-down season. When you notice a jar sitting for weeks untouched, write it down. By the time canning season arrives, you will have a clear picture of what to cut back on.
LESSON 2: Your Family’s Eating Habits Shift More Than You Notice
When I started keeping this pantry, I had a house full of young, hungry teenagers. Salsa went fast. Peanut butter and jam sandwiches were a daily event. I could work through a hundred jars of jam in a season without blinking.
That is not my family anymore. My kids are growing up, some are moving out, and our rhythms have changed completely. This is the first year in the entire history of my canning pantry that I still have salsa on the shelves. Fifteen jars of it.
The pantry I need now is not the one I built five years ago.
Tip: Before your next canning season, count how many jars of each item you still have from the previous year. That number tells you more than any recipe plan will.
LESSON 3: The Convienience Items Are Worth Every Minute
What have we actually been reaching for? Canned meats: chicken, pork, and beef. All the broth: turkey, beef, and chicken, completely gone. The fruit syrups we pour over waffles every Saturday morning, one full jar per breakfast for our crew.
These are the things that make a meal happen in twenty minutes on a hard day. They are worth every single minute of processing time in the summer. If anything, I am going to prioritise these and cut back on everything else.
- Canned chicken, pork, and beef: plan for more than you think you need
- Homemade broth of any kind: can as much as your garden and freezer space allow
- Fruit syrups: if your family does a weekly pancake or waffle breakfast, these are non-negotiable
Tip: Calculate roughly how many jars of canned meat or broth your family goes through in a month, then multiply by twelve. That is your actual target.
LESSON 4: Eating Through Old Stock is Part of The System
One of the things this eat-down revealed is how easy it is for older jars to quietly migrate to the back of the shelf. I found jars from 2024 and earlier that had just been sitting. Not unsafe, but older than I am comfortable with. My personal standard is to have everything consumed within two years of canning it.
When your pantry is always getting refilled, the older jars can get buried. Some of mine went to the chickens. They have been eating very, very well.
- Pull everything forward and check what is sitting untouched
- Anything approaching two years old should be moved to the front and used first
- If it is past your comfort level, compost it rather than leave it sitting longer
Tip: Use a permanent marker to write the year prominently on the lid of every jar you put up. A quick visual scan tells you everything.
LESSON 5: A Fresh Start Is Something To Look Forward To
I did not expect to feel this way, but I am genuinely excited about building a new pantry from scratch.
This one is beautiful and it functions perfectly and I spent years getting it right. I will miss it. But there is something powerful about getting to start over with everything you have learned, calibrated to the family you actually have now.
I will be canning less next year. Fewer jars, better targeted, less waste. And I am very much looking forward to it.
Printable Pantry Audit Checklist
Before your next canning season, work through this:
- Pull everything forward and note what has been sitting untouched for more than a season
- Check dates. Move anything approaching two years old to the front or the compost.
- List the items you reach for most. Plan to can more of those.
- List the items that just sit. Cut your batch size in half, or remove them from your plan entirely.
- Think about who is at your table now versus a few years ago. Adjust accordingly.
- Write the year on every lid going into storage.
If you want to talk through your own pantry systems or connect with others doing this same work, come join us inside the Little Mountain Ranch Community. It is a practical, warm group of homesteaders and home preservers, and I would love to see you there.