A canning planner that starts with what you used

Updated October 17, 2026

A canning planner holds what you intend to can. Start with last season’s records: what you made, what your household ate, and what remains. Those counts, along with your notes and the produce you expect to have, can help you decide what to make again.

The tomato sauce ran out in January, but there are still several jars of pickles downstairs. Before you start next year’s list, those are useful things to know.

Your canning planner is where you turn that experience into what you intend to make. Last season’s counts give you a starting point, and a few notes explain what the numbers can’t: whether you missed the sauce, liked the pickle recipe, or simply had fewer people at home.

Gather last season’s counts

For each product, look at how many jars you made and how many were used. Keep jar sizes separate; a pint and a quart aren’t the same quantity of food.

Your canning inventory may already have these figures. If it records the quantity you started with and the jars used, subtracting used from quantity gives you the remaining count for those batches.

Include a note for jars you gave away or discarded. They reduce what’s on hand, but they don’t tell you how much your household ate. In The Cantry, those notes are optional reasons attached to jars marked used.

Here’s an example season for a household of four. Each product is shown in a single jar size, and none of the jars were gifted or discarded.

Look at what ran out and what remained

This household finished the tomato sauce and applesauce. That doesn’t automatically mean it wanted more. The last jar might have lasted until the next batch was ready, or it might have been gone for months. A note about when it ran out helps explain the count.

The pickles raise a different question: why are 7 of the 10 pints still there? Maybe the recipe wasn’t a favorite. Maybe the household eats fewer pickles than expected, or the jars were put somewhere easy to overlook.

The green beans have 9 pints remaining. Include those in what you have on hand as you plan, rather than starting the new season’s list as though the shelves were empty.

You can use a “make more,” “make the same,” or “make less” note to capture your first thoughts. Then work out a quantity that fits this year’s plans. How much to can takes a closer look at using these records, including a per-person calculation.

Add the reasons behind your choices

Counts become much more useful when you keep a few notes beside them. You might write:

• “Everyone asked for this jam again,” with a link or page number for the recipe.
• “Try smaller jars; we rarely wanted a full quart at dinner.”
• “Set some aside for gifts this year.”
• “Buy wide-mouth lids before the tomatoes are ready.”

Recipe sources and batch notes can stay in your canning log. Put a reference in the plan so you can find the batch you meant without copying the whole entry.

This year’s produce, available time, and household may be different. You can adjust the plan as you go; last season’s numbers are information to work with, rather than a target you have to meet.

If you don’t have last year’s records

Start by counting what’s on hand now. Write down each product, jar size and remaining count. You don’t have to reconstruct the whole season before making a plan.

If your log or labels help you estimate what you made, record the estimate as an estimate. Without a starting count, you can’t work out exactly how many jars were eaten from what’s left alone.

From now on, add new batches and note jars as you open them, give them away, or discard them. Choose a period for your planning records that you can use consistently from year to year. If you already had jars at the start, include that opening count so they don’t disappear from the arithmetic.

Keeping the plan on paper or on your phone

A page with a product, jar size, planned quantity and notes can be enough. If you’re using a spreadsheet, keep the plan on a tab beside your batch records so you can check the figures as you decide.

We prefer having those records together digitally, which is part of why we’re building The Cantry. It computes canned, used and remaining counts from your records, including the used jars you tag gifted or discarded. Your season notes sit beside the figures, and you choose what to put on the next plan.