Why It's Worth Keeping The Old Farmer's Almanac In Your Kitchen

If you're into cooking award-winning recipes, planning your garden around eerily specific weather predictions, picking up weirdly useful kitchen and cooking hacks, and laughing at the kind of corny jokes your grandma would love, then The Old Farmer's Almanac deserves a spot on your kitchen counter. First published in 1792 (George Washington's first term) it's stood as the longest continuously published periodical in North America. Despite the dusty-sounding name, this little book is packed with timeless, homespun wisdom (not old-school cooking tips that might ruin your food) and gets a fresh update every year. What was originally a resource created to help farmers track seasonal weather via planting calendars alongside moon and sunrise phases (a centuries-old strategy for growing things) is now not only a go-to for gardeners and growers, but has evolved beyond the field; expanding to several interests, one prominently being the home kitchen.

Perhaps your garden blessed you this year with more produce than you know what to do with. The Farmer's Almanac has you covered with preservation tips to help you make the most of your yield, including unique seasonal recipes and guides for pickling, canning, grilling,  and baking. Each edition typically includes helpful charts on produce weights and measurements and conversions — like how 60 pounds of apples equals 1 bushel or how 1 gallon equals 3.78 liters. Info like this is extremely useful to have on hand, especially since measurements like teaspoons and tablespoons aren't the same around the world.

You can find the latest edition of The Old Farmer's Almanac right on its website store or wherever books are sold. And yes, the main website offers a deep archive of similar information found in the book. However, for kitchen use, nothing beats the physical book. It's compact, easy to flip through, perfect for dog-earing passes you'll return to, and most importantly, features exclusive content you won't always find online such as annual reader-submitted stories and contest-winning recipes. Tucked into the margins and page corners you'll find vintage-style illustrations and tid-bits of practical advice like, "Rinse peeled avocados under cold water to maintain color," or delightfully cheesy jokes like "Why did the grape stop rolling? It ran out of juice." It has the kind of visual charm you just can't replicate on a webpage. 

Whether you're a devout foodie, home cook, or a gardener putting your yield to use, The Old Farmer's Almanac is a handy helper to have in your kitchen year after year. And honestly, even if you never crack it open, that vintage, rustic cover doubles as a touch of nostalgic decor that fits right in with any kitchen (just like 11 other vintage kitchen items making a return).