Why You Need The Old Farmer's Almanac In Your Kitchen

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Humans may have invented telescopes that can glimpse outer space, but squirrels gather nuts when they sense winter coming on, and more nuts indicate a harsher season ahead. Such is the ancient wisdom packed into the pages of The Old Farmer's Almanac, which has been in print since 1792 – when George Washington was still President and almost 100 years before Edison patented the light bulb – and today remains the best-selling and longest continuously published periodical in America. Published yearly by early September, the Almanac features tips for gardening, preserving and canning, and baking hacks, and includes an updated trove of unusual recipes (some submitted by readers).

Grow your own veggie garden? The Almanac offers strategic planting charts to get the most from your crop yield, as well as anticipated long-range climate patterns and expected rainfall, with a reported 80% average accuracy over the centuries. Not a gardener? Home canners will find much to love within these trusted pages, from the basics of pickling and preserving to more advanced methods like fermentation. Whether you're a water-bath canning pro or just looking for the most flavorful way to freeze fresh veggies and dry herbs, the Almanac helps foodies do it all. For sweet-toothed foodies, the Almanac also offers baking tips like nailing sourdough bread and a Rolodex of different pie crusts. To decode vintage cookbooks, the Almanac boasts a handy old-time weight and measurement conversion chart (i.e., 55 pounds of flour is "a bushel," and 84 gallons is "a puncheon").

Though some of this info is available online, having a physical copy of this useful, artistic book serves well as vintage decor for the eagle-eyed foodie in the kitchen. That iconic yellowish cover embodies the intersection of tradition, utility, and style — and, as the Almanac's official website puts it, the guidebook is a valuable tool "for fishermen, travelers, sailors, bookkeepers, beekeepers, gardeners, prognosticators, pollsters, politician[s], cooks, and really anyone who walks this Earth."

In 1793, the Old Farmer's Almanac cost just 9 cents. Today, the price is a tad higher, but remains affordable at $10.95 via Amazon, or $9.95 via the official Almanac website. Considering the online edition of the 2026 Old Farmer's Almanac costs a not-far-off $6.95, it pays to snag a forever hardcopy of the multipurpose guidebook that has instructed home cooks for over 230 years. Plus, this year, the 288-page, 2026 Almanac features the unique distinction of coming with a small hole drilled through the book's upper left corner. Home cooks can hang that bad boy on a nail in the kitchen for quick reference and easy access.

The Almanac also makes a fabulous fixture atop a cookbook holder – an old-school kitchen feature that's been gathering a lot of traction in modern-meets-vintage kitchen revivals lately. An important distinction: The Farmer's Almanac (a different publication based out of Lewiston, ME) recently announced its discontinuation. The Old Farmer's Almanac is still happily thriving in-print and not going anywhere.