Grow a Pantry Garden
Plan for meals beyond harvest season.
A few jars of tomatoes, a basket of onions, dried beans for a pot of soup. A pantry garden starts with the food you like to cook—and gives each crop a purpose after it leaves the garden.
Set your location to estimate the next seed-starting or planting date.
Start with the meals you want to make
Think about what you reach for when cooking: onions and garlic for a base, potatoes and carrots for a stew, beans for a filling meal. Then add crops you enjoy enough to harvest, prepare and store.
This plan combines storage vegetables with crops you can freeze, dry or preserve. It is a starting layout, rather than a promise of a year’s food supply. Variety, weather, care and the amount you plant will shape the harvest.
Eight crops, each with a job
| Crop | Plants | Plan for the harvest |
|---|---|---|
| Tomatoes | 3 | Fresh meals, frozen tomatoes, dried slices or tested sauce recipes. |
| Potatoes | 8 | Fresh cooking and suitable cool, dark storage. |
| Dry beans | 16 | Dried beans for soups and everyday meals. |
| Hardneck garlic | 8 | Cured bulbs for cooking and storage. |
| Onions | 8 | Choose a storage variety suited to your region’s day length. |
| Carrots | 12 | Fresh use, appropriate cold storage or freezing. |
| Beets | 12 | Fresh cooking, appropriate cold storage or tested pickling recipes. |
| Winter squash | 2 | Choose a compact type; storage life depends on variety. |
These are sample plant counts, not yield estimates. Adjust them when you build your own garden.
Leave room to reach the plants
The 320 sq ft plot includes six 4 × 9 ft planting areas, separated by 2 ft access paths. Those paths make room for tending and harvesting without stepping into the planting areas. Widen them if you need more working space.
Use bush dry beans, support the tomatoes, and choose compact winter squash or allow its vines room beyond the plot. Check the mature size on your seed packet before committing to the layout. Rotate potatoes and tomatoes away from places where related crops grew previously.
Build the garden over a season
Before planting: Select varieties for your climate, prepare the soil, and decide where the harvest will go. Check your freezer, drying equipment and available storage before increasing quantities.
In cooler conditions: Plan onions, carrots, beets and potatoes around suitable soil and weather. Keep seedbeds moist and thin root crops so the remaining plants have room.
When conditions are warm: Set out hardened tomato plants and sow beans and squash when frost risk and soil temperatures suit them. Keep the timing local; one calendar date will not fit every garden.
For the following season: Hardneck garlic commonly begins with fall-planted cloves and is harvested the next growing season. Treat it as a separate seasonal step, rather than planting every crop at once.
See University of Minnesota Extension’s garlic guide for a cold-climate example; adapt timing to your location.
Plan storage before the harvest arrives
Different crops need different conditions. Dry beans need dry storage; roots, bulbs and squash each have their own temperature and moisture requirements. Keep damaged produce out of long-term storage, and check stored crops regularly.
For canning and pickling, follow a tested recipe and its processing instructions. A garden plan helps you choose what to grow; it does not replace preservation guidance.
Start smaller if that fits your space
You do not need the whole layout to begin. Choose two or three crops you cook with often, keep their recommended spacing, and reduce the quantities. Expand when you know what grows well and which harvests you enjoy storing.
Make the Pantry Garden your own
Explore the sample layout and save it to My Gardens. Then adjust the plants and quantities for your space and meals.