The freezer may be the most important appliance in your kitchen during the summer. It's where you put the homemade ice cream to firm up. And where you keep the ice so necessary for tropical frozen drinks. And where you make popsicles. And quick freeze yummy veggies picked at the height of their flavor.

So make room for all that yumminess. Those chicken carcasses you've been saving? Cook them into broth before it gets too hot to leave the stove on for so long. And broth takes up much less space.

Plan menus around the food you have stored so that you can use it up. Buy as little as possible until you manage to make a substantial dent in your current stock. Check through what you have stored to check for freezer burn or other signs of damage.

Your goal, by the end of May, is to minimize the food you have stored, in cabinet, fridge, and freezer, to make room for the fresh foods of the season ahead!