I've noticed on some of the other blogs I read that people are doing a "frugal accomplishments" post every week. These accomplishments include frugal meals made, items bought on sale or got for free, how many cloth diapers used vs. disposable, and miscellaneous frugal tasks like soap-making or hair cutting. I have thought about doing this, but my list would be so long that I might as well say, "My whole week was one big frugal accomplishment." 

Many ladies (and men, too) do the same frugal things week after week, year after year. That's cool. If you save $50 each week, that's great. But your savings never add up to more than $2600 a year. If you KEEP learning and adding more frugal skills to your repertoire, the savings will keep piling up.

NEW Savings
What I would rather do each week instead of listing every meal I made and herb I harvested from the garden, is to introduce a new tutorial or other frugal skill on here. If I can add one NEW frugal accomplishment each week, how much could I save over the course of a year? Even if I only save one new dollar each week in 2015, after a year of this I will be saving $50 per week. In 2016 my weekly $50 savings would add up to $2600, simply because of the time I spent in 2015 learning new skills and making my life more efficient. It's important that we step back and look at the big picture. 

One Dollar Per Week Adds Up
If I started finding one new way to save $1 per week right now, and continued for 10 years, the savings would look like this:

2016: Saving $50 per week- $2600 per year
2017: Saving $100 per week- $5200 per year
2018: Saving $150 per week- $7800 per year
2019: Saving $200 per week- $10,400 per year
2010: Saving $250 per week- $13,000 per year
2021: Saving $300 per week- $15,600 per year
2022: Saving $350 per week- $18,200 per year
2023: Saving $400 per week- $20,800 per year
2024: Saving $450 per week- $23,400 per year
2025: Saving $500 per week- $26,000 per year

Total Savings: $143,000

Imagine what would happen if I saved another dollar every week for the rest of my life! There would be no dollars left to save! I think after a couple years, I would have to figure out how to make $1 per week instead of save it.

How could you save a dollar per week? And don't think you have to keep adding things to your weekly to-do list in order to save more and more money. Simply doing something once a year (making jam, for example) can save you money every week as well. This may be better for you than trying to squeeze more and more into your schedule every week. For example, line-drying cloth diapers can take a long time but only save a couple dollars a week. You may be better off machine-drying diapers and using those hours to make jam. Another example: it takes 30 minutes for me to make tortillas, but only saves me $0.50. It would be better if I could save $5 with that hour doing something else.

I'm looking forward to this challenge myself. I know that there are a lot of things I could be doing right now to save money, but I'm not. Things like couponing, or making my own salsa with nearly-free homegrown tomatoes. Just because I have a blog doesn't mean I'm the expert or that I've "arrived" in the realm of frugality. I'm thankful that I have a lot of room for improvement, and you should be too! Life wouldn't be fun if we had it all figured out.

Happy Saving!!!
-Bethany

The other day I was on a bike ride and noticed the familiar cream-colored flower clusters on tall bushes. Elderberry flowers! 'Tis the season, so pick them before they wilt and turn into berries.

Identification
Clusters of tiny cream-colored flowers look like lace from afar. Elderberry bushes/trees grow from five to as much as thirty feet tall. Leaves of the elderberry bush have five-seven leaflets that grow opposite each other on a short branch. Elderberry bushes tend to grow in moist, rich soil along roadsides and woodland edges.

Edible
Flowers can be drank as tea, or kipped in batter and fried. Be careful though- roots and leaves are poisonous! Unripe fruits can also cause diarrhea or vomiting.

Medicinal
Elderberry flowers (or elder flowers) are used in many cold & flu remedies along with the berries. It is said that the flower can help break fevers.

The Experts Say...
(Note: affiliate links below)
Field Guide to Wild Edible Plants: Indians used elderberry branches to make arrows and flutes by pushing the poisonous white pith out of the center with a hot stick. You can also make sap tapping spouts and whistles with the branches.
The Herbal Drugstore: used in herbal tea blends to induce sweating during flu-induced fevers. 
Tom Brown's Field Guide to Wilderness Survival tells us that wounds can be washed with a cold tea made from the bark or flowers. You can also use branches to make tool handles or baskets.

Above is a picture of my husband and I with our brand new zero-turn mower. I picked this photo for "Frugal vs. Cheap" because it illustrates that frugal people can and do spend money. Most people become frugal to get out of debt or because they have a small income. I come from a different perspective. Being frugal is a fun and sensible way to live life, not something I do because I'm poor.

Thanks to TV shows like Extreme Cheapskates, which thankfully I have never watched, people are scared of being frugal for fear of being seen as cheap. Nobody wants to wear patched clothes or pick out of free boxes when "they can afford" to buy brand new shiny stuff. What we need to realize is that being a frugal person is WAY different than being a cheapskate, though they do share some common ground. Here is the main difference:

Frugal people hate waste, but take ALL factors into consideration when buying.
Cheapskates only care about the price.

CHEAPSKATES:

Buy Something Just Because It's Cheap
A cheapskate will buy anything that is cheap, regardless of if they need it or if it is beneficial. A cheap person will buy old Easter candy just because it is 90% off (like I did this spring...). Cheapskates will pick up anything for free, just because it is free. It might sit in the basement for 10 years, but they'll take it anyway.

Want To Get Something for Nothing
A cheapskate doesn't want to pay for anything. I get so annoyed with ladies who want to eat high-quality organic locally-produced food, but aren't willing to pay the high price NOR do the hard work required to keep an organic garden or take care of animals. Instead they just complain about how much everything costs. A cheapskate will try to have a baby on her own because she doesn't want to pay the midwife or doctor. Instead of fixing something so it will last longer, she'll run it until it dies because she doesn't want to pay a mechanic (or learn to do it herself). 

Don't Care About Other People
A cheapskate doesn't care if he offends, hurts, or takes advantage of someone else. The cheapskate will wrap up a used, dirty, non-relevant gift or not give any gift at all. He will give small tips or no tips at a restaurant, even if the waitress did a good job. A cheapskate will cut wood, hunt on, or forage on someone else's property without asking. He will wear inappropriate clothing to a wedding, date or other event and embarrass other guests. At the farmer's market, he'll grab samples and gobble them down without saying thank you. And he'll take all he can get.

FRUGAL PEOPLE:

Don't Buy Just Because It's Cheap
A frugal lady doesn't buy what she doesn't need, period. We drink water not just because it's free, but it's healthier than drinking pop or Gatorade. We don't need to be pouring sugar and artificial flavors and sweeteners down our throat. We ride our bikes for the same reasons of health. If we already have two ovens, we will leave the next free one on the side of the road, because maybe there is someone out there who will actually use it and not let it sit in their garage like we will. Part of being frugal- not WASTING- is not having more stuff than you need. That's a waste of time, space, and money.

Care About Others
A frugal person takes others' feelings into consideration. I only give used gifts to my immediate family, who give used gifts to me in return. We know that there isn't a difference. My sister is the queen of finding cool stuff at Goodwill. But to others, especially those who would be offended at getting something used, I buy new gifts or make homemade gifts for. Homemade gifts are cheaper but they take more work (see below). Frugal people don't have a problem giving to charities or church... even more than 10%. Frugality, unlike cheapness, can be used to help other people in need. Frugal people know that their money can help make the world a better place, so they don't hoard it all. A frugal girl dresses to the occasion and not to offend others, but she does it inexpensively with good quality used (or even free) clothing. Wear whatever you want at home, but be clean and well-fit if you're in public.

Are Willing to Work
Instead of stealing ketchup and mustard packets from McDonalds, frugal people go through the hard work required to grow tomatoes and mustard seeds. While a cheap person will wear dirty holey rags because they are free, a frugal person will alter or fix the free clothing so it's presentable (taking other people into consideration... see above). Frugal people know that you can't get something for nothing (and if you do, SOMEONE took a loss for your gain). If we don't want to pay for it, we'll work for it. And if we don't want to work for it, we won't complain about paying for it.  

Cheapskate Quiz:
If you are wondering if something is "cheapskate" or "frugal", ask yourself the following questions:

1. Am I buying/taking this JUST because it's free?
2. Am I considering others?
3. Will this offend someone I care about?
4. Am I being a lazy complainypants?
5. Am I willing to pay for value?

The Social Factor
Cheap or frugal will vary according to your location and peer group. In our social group, $50 is the going rate to spend on a wedding gift (and don't forget the $20-30 shower gift, and possibly $20 bachelorette party gift or honeymoon pot). Yes, weddings are expensive but it's the price you have to pay if you want to keep your friends. Likewise, if someone has a baby you're expected to buy a shower gift for the first kid ($25-$40), and diapers or outfit with any subsequent kid. And don't forget a meal for the sleep-deprived family. The going rate for graduation gifts around here is probably $20-$30. This is just for gift-giving. There is other socially-inflicted spending too- things like eating out, group camping trips, outings, etc. I'm sure the price tag is even higher for people with kids.

I'll be brutally honest here and say what many of us are thinking but never say because it might "look bad". Am I the only one who winces at a $30 restaurant bill because it could have fed both of us for a week or two? Sometimes it hurts to pinch pennies and save as much money as possible, only to stuff it all in a gift card so some college-bound graduate can go buy beer for his roommates. It's hard to throw down a whole week's grocery budget to buy yet another baby outfit that the kid will probably outgrow before he has a chance to puke on it, or realize that you have 5 weddings this year that will cost you hundreds of dollars. YOU could do so much with all that money that those other people are just going to flush down the toilet!!

Here's the deal, though. It's not about you, it's about THEM. Do you want to keep your friends or turn them all off? Don't look at it as a waste of money- look at it as an investment in a friendship. Cut your own expenses before you cut social expenses. And if your peer group really is more than you can afford... maybe it's time to find new like-minded friends.

The "Spendy American" Factor
People here in the US (especially those who have never been to a poor country) lack perspective. A modern US-American definition of "poor" includes cell phones, new clothes, nearly $40 per week in food for ONE person and other niceties. Our definition of "safe" and "sanitary" would never fly on a dusty, dirty high-speed chicken bus in Guatemala... or even eating street chicken in Guatemala. You want unsanitary? How about throwing your poopy toilet paper in an open wastebaket with a pile of other people's poopy toilet paper? But yet somehow life goes on for the Guatemalans just like it does for us. This lady got run off of her blog by a bunch of cyber bullies who accused her of child abuse because she wanted to use sofa beds or other non-mattress options in her kids' room, and also because her family didn't have health insurance. They thought she was gross for eating apples that her kids had already taken a bite out of. Other bloggers thought she was being a cheapskate because she shopped at Walmart and didn't buy organic meat or vegetables. This lady, on the other hand, can feed her kids weeds and overripe produce, treat pinworms with pumpkin seeds, and use rags for toilet paper without the bullying, because she lives in a different country. Any kind of alternative lifestyle will bring criticism, and that includes frugality. If you don't want to be criticized, then don't advertise habits that fall outside cultural norms. 

I don't have any problem with being a cheapskate in my own home. Not one little bit. I have no moral misgivings whatsoever about reusing plastic containers, using a tea bag twice or whatever you might call "gross". I'm too "cheap" to treat myself to a second car, subscribe to Netflix, keep nuts or avocados on my weekly grocery list or buy new books for myself. I'm too "cheap" to buy stuff I don't need in order to impress people, and I'm too cheap to buy stuff that I have the time, energy and skill to make myself. Yep, I''m a cheapskate. It's my home- I should be able to do whatever I want without worrying what other people think of me. If people are at my house I will respect their preferences, but I won't let their opinion control my entire life. Some ladies would get embarrassed if a friend came over to her house and had to sit on an old chair or eat anything less than organic filet mignon. Not me. There is no shame in a small home, simple furnishings, or boring food, clothing and education. If people think you are poor, so what? You may find that people are more comfortable in your home because they don't have to compete with you.

Debt is a huge problem here in the US. People buy a nice car, big house, TVs on credit cards, a degree that they don't use, and then they are forced to be "frugal" in order to pay off selfish, thoughtless debt. They must either cheat the neighbor of his yearly Christmas gift or go without dinner in order to make ends meet.  For these people it's a little more difficult to discern between frugal and cheap, but they may just have to be honest with their friends ("sorry, we can't afford to spend a week with you in the Bahamas because we bought a new Mercedes for ourselves"). Selfish overspending may lead to selfish cheapness in the future. Frugality FIRST leads to generosity later. 


Frugal People Can Afford Being Lavish Sometimes
If you are saving lots of money being frugal, you won't ever need to be cheap. You can afford to spend more on giving expensive gifts, eating out with friends, going to church camp for a week if you aren't spending as much on yourself- food, clothes, housing, transportation. Being frugal (not cheap) will give you some breathing room and help you make better long-term decisions; enable you to buy good tools and pay for relevant education. It will help you KEEP friends and not alienate them, embarrass them or offend them. 

You may even be able to afford a luxurious brand-new zero-turn mower that will last many years and make mowing a massive lawn every week a little more enjoyable. ;)

Here's to being FRUGAL!

-Bethany

I've officially completed a whole month of farmer's market. And my sanity is still intact! Only five more months to go. Last Saturday was sunny and gorgeous outside. It was Memorial Day weekend and the market was swarming with people looking to buy stuff. It was the best week we have had so far.

A Visit from the State Inspector
Yep, we actually had the inspector come out! I was sorting some boxes underneath our table and got up to find a lady with a bright green polo shirt at my booth. She said, "I'm the state food inspector," (or something like that) and my heart did a flip-flop. Oh no, what had I done wrong? You know how it feels when you see a cop car hiding in the bushes, so you slam on the brakes even though you're only doing 25 mph? That's how I felt.

She asked if I was licensed or doing cottage foods. Then she asked if I had the notice written somewhere on my tag. Before I had a chance to answer, she flipped over a marshmallow tag and said, "Oh, yup! You do." Then she asked if I had anything with meat or cheeses in it, which I didn't. Then she told me to have a nice day and went to the next booth. Whew! A clean bill of health from the inspector. She didn't seem to mind that the labels were folded over, which was a relief. 

Booth Appearance
We didn't make many changes to the booth this week. Hubs and I made some more crates to stack beside our table, which creates more of an inviting U-shape. Next week I'll have some different products to put on display in the crates.  I meant to order a banner for our booth, but didn't get one in time. Instead, I printed out a plain sign and used a corner cutter to dress it up a little. Then we pinned it to the tablecloth. I also made individual price signs for many of the items this week. I've noticed that people read the signs first and then look for the product. Honestly, there is so much packaging on some of our items that it is hard to tell what it is. I think the signs really helped us sell more product this week.

Product Mix
Wins: I think most of our products were good sellers this week. 13 of our 26 products sold out! SIL sold all of her by-the-dozen cookies. I made some rice crispy treats this week with my marshmallows and sold 3 out of 4 of them- I brought six bags of toffee and sold five. Brothers sold 75% of their pumpkin bread and 100% of the rhubarb crisp that they baked.

Losses: SIL brought some individual monster cookies and sold a little less than half. I brought three bags of granola and only sold one of them. Also made a rhubarb cinnamon roll and only sold one out of three pans. But even these products weren't total losses.

Marketing
No special marketing efforts this week. We had a lot of repeat customers again though.

Bottom Line

Expenses
Booth: $3
Tent: $5
Gasoline: $6
Costs of Goods Sold: $13.10
Total Expenses: $27.10

Income
Amish Peanut Butter: $6.00
Rice Krispy Treats: $10.50
Granola: $5.00
Egg Noodles: $5.00
Toffee: $22.00
Marshmallows: $10.50
Rhubarb Sticky Buns: $5.00
Total Income: $64.00

Total Profits: $37.10

So there you have it! Almost $40 this week at the market. Between the three of us bakers, we had over $180 in sales last week, which was pretty impressive in my opinion. We brought home only one crate's worth of stuff. 

Work Load
My work load for the farmer's market gets smaller and smaller each week. I do most of my candy/marshmallow making on Tuesday. Last week I made egg noodles on Thursday, and rhubarb sticky buns & rice krispy treats on Friday. The majority of my work this week (Thursday & Friday) produced less than 20% of my profits.

Hourly Wage
Last week I made a "Profit of Products" spreadsheet that figures my profit per recipe, profit per unit sold, day's profit, and hourly wage (this is how I figure my "costs of goods sold"). Each product has an hourly wage. The average of all of my hourly wages comes to $11.72. I think this is okay, but not great. My goal is to limit the under-$15-per-hour and sell more of the over-$15-per-hour products. To give you an example, making toffee pays up to $20 per hour. Marshmallows are in the $17 per hour range. Baked goods, on the other hand, pay less than $10 per hour, and noodle making only pays $1 per hour. 

The Pricing Dilemma
In addition to legal constraints, potential farmer's market sellers have a pricing dilemma to deal with. Most people are used to buying food at Walmart. This food is made with extremely cheap labor: machines or foreign workers. This is how Walmart can sell a box of noodles for $1.00. The home baker, on the other hand, must pay retail US-American prices for ingredients (already equal to $1.00 per box). The home baker doesn't have machines, nor can he hire anyone for $1.00 per hour, so he must either lose money on his product or work at foreign labor prices himself.

We've figured out that people at our market won't pay more than $5 for baked goods. In order to make a good $300 at market, we'd have to produce 60 items for sale. If each item took 20 minutes to make (perfectly reasonable if you include packaging time), you'd have 20 hours into your farmer's market venture, plus another 6 hours on market day and 2 hours per week on administration stuff. That's almost a 30-hour week, and what are you getting? $300 minus the cost of your ingredients, which are probably at least $100. 

Honestly, I want a nice little side-income, not another low-paying part time job. So we've got a little ways to go on this hourly wage thing.

Next week I'll be looking for better, more profitable items to make and sell. :)

-Bethany  

Just this week I finally put my tomato and pepper seedlings in their raised beds! In order to cut down on weeding time, I've decided to try a square foot-meets-lasagna-gardening-meets-companion planting experiment. I cut the size of my garden in half from last year. Instead of doing separate crops in rows, different plants will grow together in each 2-foot plot. I also have three 4 x 4' raised beds that Hubs made me. The point of my raised beds and squares is that I won't have to use the tiller. My long term plan is to put most everything into raised beds.

Garden Structure

4 x 4 Raised Beds: These are planted with peppers and tomatoes. Last fall I filled them with alternating layers of leaves, grass clippings, and horse/goat/chicken manure. This Spring before planting put newspaper over everything and then topped it all off with a generous layer of cow manure compost from my parents' farm. Next time the grass gets mowed, the clippings will be put on as mulch.

2 x 2 Squares: These squares form the basis of a Three Sisters garden. Right now they are planted with cool-season crops, but when it gets warmer I will plant corn and melons/squash in each square. I saw this kind of garden a lot in Guatemala and thought I'd give it a try. Like the raised beds, each planted square gets topped off with a layer of compost and then grass clippings. I will hoe in between the squares and keep piling on mulch, until they all become little mounds of vegetable goodness. 

Plants

Vegetables
Lettuce: The lettuce is coming up nicely. I saved some seeds from last year, and (learning from my mistakes!) I only planted a few heads. Soon I will put in another planting of lettuce.

Peas: The peas are up and growing, also saved from last year. Unfortunately my MIL gave me some dry peas, which got all mixed up with my snap peas. Oops. 

Green Beans: Beans saved from last year have popped up. A few of them froze and also there were a few that I believe were eaten by bugs before they sprouted. This happened last year, as well.

Radishes: I planted one radish in the middle of each square- most of these have been eaten by bugs.

Carrots: These are leftover from last year. I should probably plant some new ones and let these old ones go to seed.

Tomatoes: I grew Beefsteaks and Romas this year from seed, being careful to label which was which. Unfortunately during the transplanting process the tomatoes were moved into larger cups and the two varieties got mixed up. Oops.

Peppers: I went a little crazy with the peppers, I'll admit. I bought three varieties to grow from seed: California Wonder, Purple Beauty, and Ancho peppers. I also planted some seeds I saved from last year, and some chili pepper seeds that I found in the cupboard.

Garlic: I bought an Elephant garlic bulb at Walmart and planted each of the cloves, which are coming up nicely.

Fruits
Strawberries: The plants I planted last year are doing great. They have a ton of blossoms and I can't wait for the harvest in a few weeks.

Raspberries: The raspberries got a little overrun by weeds and new raspberry shoots. I've tackled most of the weeds but now either have to thin out the new plants or transplant them somewhere. No blossoms on these yet.

Herbs
Chives: Up and coming like usual. I might try to save and plant some chives seeds this year.

Sage: Also up and coming like usual.

Dill: We had some volunteer dill pop up from last year. I hope to dry some dill weed to add to my spice cupboard.

Fennel: My fennel also grew back from last year. Does anyone know what fennel is actually used for??

Cilantro: And there is volunteer cilantro EVERYWHERE. This is great, because I've heard that it is in great demand at the Farmer's Market.

Basil: I also planted a few basil seeds this Spring. They are coming along very slowly. I'm starting more basil seeds right now (as basil is also a high-demand farmer's market herb). Next year I'll start my herb seeds a whole lot earlier.

Next I'll be planting corn, squashes and melons.

Now get out there and get YOUR hands dirty!

-Bethany

Plantain is a fantastic introductory herb for new herbalists. It is easy to find and easy to use. It grows pretty much everywhere. Even someone in a city lot can probably find plantain. It grows in dry and disturbed soil; commonly along the edge of driveways and garages. Plantain has wide ribbed, stemless leaves that grow low to the ground. In the summer each plant sends up a flower spike with small greenish/drab brown flowers, which later turn into seeds. 

Edible
Leaves of this plant have also been called "Poor Man's Spinach." They can be steamed like spinach (or eaten raw, if the plant is young enough) or also made into tea. The leaves are rich in vitamins A and C, as well as many minerals. The seeds are very high in B vitamins.

Medicinal
Plantain is a soothing herb and is good first-aid for minor cuts, bruises, bites and bee stings. Just find a leaf, chew it up, and slather all over the irritated part! It sounds gross, but plantain is so easy to find that you almost always have some nearby.

The Experts Say...
(Note: affiliate links below)
Field Guide to Wild Edible Plants: Older plants are best appreciated with a cream sauce, after the plant has been pureed and pushed through a sieve to remove the stringy parts.
The Herbal Drugstore: useful in treating bronchitis, burns, colds and flu, hemorrhoids, poison ivy, oak & sumac, sore throat and sunburn. 
The Herbal Home Remedy Book: when seeds are eaten with the husks on, they work as a safe and gentle laxative. 
Tom Brown's Field Guide to Wilderness Survival tells us that plantain can be used as a toothpaste/poultice and insect repellent (take 1 or 2 seed pods daily). The seeds can also be ground and cooked up like cereal.

Now go have fun and chew up some plantain! At least it gives you something to do when you're stuck way out in left field.

-Bethany

Most of the money I save gardening is because I grow my own fruit. Strawberries and raspberries are some of the easiest, most prolific plants to grow. And the best part is, they send out "suckers", or brand-new baby plants every year. By planting these babies, you can save money on plants, and grow even MORE fruit.  The Rhubarb Man at our farmer's market uses propagation to keep expanding his patch for free, and every year he can sell more rhubarb with no cost to him besides his time and effort.

If you know someone who has a raspberry or strawberry patch, you can always ask to transplant some of their invading "babies". If you don't know any gardeners, berries are still cheaper to grow than fruit trees. I paid $4 for 25 strawberry plants last year, and I believe around $10 to start a raspberry patch at my parents' house.

1. Raspberries: Raspberry canes will bend over to the ground and actually take root. To transplant, cut the cane connecting the "mother plant" with the "baby plant". Dig up the baby plant to grow in a different spot. Raspberries also tend to crowd each other for room. They can benefit from a good pruning in the fall or spring, to chop off any dead parts and create space for younger, better-producing canes. 

2. Strawberries: Strawberry plants essentially do the same thing as raspberries. They will grow long, leggy "shoots" that look like naked branches with a patch of leaves on the end. This patch of leaves will grow roots and grow into another plant. Cut the shoot halfway between the mother and baby, and dig up the baby plant. Replant in a different area. Strawberries, like irises, need to be thinned out every once in a while. The plants propagate themselves and start to crowd each other. After three years, strawberries don't produce as much as they did before. However, you can start a new row of strawberries with "babies" from the old row, and soon enough you'll have a good producing strawberry patch again. 

Why Not Start Today?
To me, growing strawberries and raspberries is a no-brainer. Berries are extremely healthy to eat. Unlike rhubarb, they can be eaten without added sweetener, but like rhubarb they are VERY easy to grow and it is almost difficult to kill them off once they've been established. You can save hundreds of dollars per year by starting a $30 fruit patch that will grow and re-establish itself (with some help!) for free every year. I was able to get 25 strawberry plants for $4, and transplant some of my old raspberry patch from my parents' house.

You don't have to stop at strawberries and raspberries. Last year I was able to grow and/or forage: strawberries, rhubarb, red & black raspberries, mulberries, apples, and pears. With these fruits I was able to make: frozen berries, jam, jelly, syrup, canned pears, applesauce, dried apples, apple cider, wine and vinegar. The only fruits I actually bought last year were some bananas and pineapples on sale, and the odd lemon or orange for a recipe.

Start YOUR very own fruit garden with strawberry and raspberry transplants today!

Well, once again it was...

Read my book, One Season at the Farmers Market, to see how this week went! 

There are really two ways to do herbs. One is the buy-it-prepared way, the other is the DIY way. Today I'll present the cost and benefit of both ways.

Buying Prepared Herbs

Costs: Many people don't actually grow their own herbs, but buy them from places like Mountain Rose Herbs and the Bulk Herb Store. Here are some sample prices from MRH:

Average price for dry herbs: $3-5 with some exceptions
Average price for tinctures: $9-10
Average price for herbal oils: $7-20
Average price for salves: $6 with some exceptions
Average price for syrups & tonics: $15

If you bought 5 bags of dry herbs at $4, five tinctures at $9, two oils at $13, one salve at $6 and one syrup at $15, your total cost would come to $112 for a basic herbal medicine cabinet. Note that I said basic... once you start using herbs you will probably want to buy more and will find more uses for them. 

So there is your initial cost for buying herbs- I would say $100-$150. This will be a continuing cost if you actually use the herbs and need to replenish your stock each year.

Benefits: There are several obvious benefits to buying herbs prepared. You get to use an all-natural healing method without doing all the research (just buy a "tummy blend" or "cough-away" tincture/tea). You don't have to spend time harvesting and drying the herbs. The biggest benefit is the time you save.

DIY Herbalism

I prefer to harvest and prepare my own herbs. This takes an initial investment of time to learn how to identify each herb in the wild. You'll also need to know the medicinal properties of each herb and how to prepare it (drying, tincture, etc.). Unfortunately you'll be limited to herbs that grow in your area, but you can always buy herbs online (see above) if you find an un-growable one that you want to use.

Costs: In order to make your own tinctures and other preparations, you'll need some supplies. Here are the basics:

Vodka: $1.45 per 4 oz. tincture
Oil: $0.44 - $1.32 per cup (varies greatly between vegetable oil, coconut oil, etc.)
Beeswax: $5-10
Amber bottles: $1-$2 per tincture bottle

For our purposes, the herbs we are using will be free. Believe me, there are a ton of free herbs to choose from! I know I can find the following herbs at and around my home (prices from RMH are included for your amusement):

Black Walnut leaves, dried (4 oz.): $3.00
Burdock root (4 oz.): $4.50
Catnip: $4.50
Chickweed $3.25
Chickory Root, roasted: $2.75
Dandelion leaf: $5.50
Elderberries: $4.50
Goldenrod: $3.00
Juniper berries: $3.25
Motherwort: $4.25
Mullein flowers: $13.50
Nettle leaf: $4.25
Peppermint leaf: $4.00
Plantain leaf: $3.00
Raspberry leaf: $3.50
Red Clover blossoms: $11.00
Red Root: $4.50
Rose hips: $3.50
Slippery Elm Bark: $11.00
Spearmint leaf: $4.25
St. John's Wort: $3.00
Strawberry leaf: $3.75
Teasel root: $12.50
Wild Cherry bark: $4.00
Yarrow: $3.50

Costs: Using free herbs (worth $127.75!) and a bare minimum of supplies, you can create your own herbal products at the following costs.

Dry Herbs: FREE!
Tincture: amber bottle ($2) + vodka ($1.45) = $3.45
Salve: oil ($0.50) + beeswax ($0.75) = $1.25
Herbal Oil: oil ($1.00) = $0.50
Syrup: honey ($2) = $2

If you "bought" 5 bags of dry herbs at $0, five tinctures at $3.45, two oils at $0.50, one salve at $1.25 and one syrup at $2, your total cost would come to $21.50 for a basic herbal medicine cabinet. Once you get a good supply of amber bottles, your cost to replenish this basic medicine cabinet each year drops to $11.50.  As I mentioned before, as time goes on, your interest will grow and you will want more herbs. The good news is that if you forage herbs instead of buy them, an expanded medicine cabinet won't cost you much.

Benefits: There is an estimated yearly savings here of at least $100. As your skill in identifying and using herbs grows, the variety of medicines will grow. You may be able to sell some of your herbs. There is plenty of free information on the internet to help you identify and prepare herbs. Most of my herb books were picked up at garage sales for under $1. If you homeschool, or even if you don't, you'll have the opportunity to teach your kids about different plants and make it part of their schooling.

The Bottom Line:

Buying herbs for a family can get expensive. I listed a bare minimum cost for the herb "buyer", but I know the reality is that a family using herbs regularly will spend a lot more than $150. Natural healing has become a great big marketing funnel that sucks you in. First you spend a couple dollars on dry herbs for tea, then you buy the tinctures, tonics, salves, essential oils, cleanses, supplements, and the list goes on and on. Before you know it, you're spending WAY more money on home health care than you care to admit. You think you're doing something great for your body, and justify that you're "saving money in the long run" on doctor and hospital bills. But there's more to the equation than herbs. I know many people who are sick, fat, or depressed and the biggest herb users on this earth. But then there are people go and go and go into their old age, and NEVER used herbs. While they are helpful and useful, herbs are not the miracle cure.

Most herbal products aren't made with some exotic, expensive ingredient. If your friend has a bottle of "Super-Immune Plus" that she gives her kids and recommends it to you, look at the ingredients. It probably has elderberries, echinacea, or other herbs that you can easily grow or harvest yourself. One of my friends went on an "expensive" 1-2 week cleanse, and I was surprised to see that the first ingredient listed was dandelion root. Just because something is expensive or nicely packaged doesn't make it work any better than a homemade product with the same ingredients. What your friend is paying for is CONVENIENCE. If you have the time and need more exercise anyway, you don't need convenience. You can make your own "Super-Immune Plus" that works just as well for free or cheap.

The last reason I prefer to harvest and prepare my own herbs is that it fits into my holistic health plan. Of course herbal remedies help me feel better when I 'm sick, but they also help me feel good every day because I must go on a walk or bike ride to find them. Exercise and sunshine are things that most of us don't get enough of, and we would do better to go for a mile walk every day than take yet another supplement or miracle cure.  

DIY: A Better Option for the Long-Term
In my opinion, foraging and making your own concoctions is a much better plan long term. It fits well into my personal health plan and my goal of becoming a producer instead of just a consumer. In addition to the savings ($100+ per year) you become more aware of different plants and how nature works. You learn about history and how the medicine men and doctors of old practiced. Plus, herbs are all-natural and don't have the same side effects as pharmaceutical drugs (though watch out, because they can be extremely effective!). Harvesting and preparing your own herbs is a great learning opportunity for your kids and a reason to get out and enjoy nature.

Feeling overwhelmed about jumping in head first? I would recommend poking around at the Bulk Herb Store's website, maybe buying some herbs and making some of the recipes you find there. After you feel comfortable with this, start by identifying just one plant from the wild (dandelion is a good place to start!). Then another, and another, and another.

Lately I've been attempting to profile herbs that are in season and ready for you to go out and pick. Many of these herbs grow across the US, and especially in the North Eastern US. You are welcome to follow along or join in on the fun! If you learn one herb per week, by summer's end you will have a whole stockpile of herbs. :)

Happy picking!
-Bethany

We go through a lot of eggs. I'll eat 2-3 every morning, and sometimes Hubs joins me. This makes for a lot of eggshells. There are a couple of things you can do with eggshells. One of them is to make a calcium supplement for peppers and tomatoes; eggshell powder.

To make the eggshell powder, start with some dry egg shells. Crush the shells. You can do this with a rolling pin or mortar and pestle, but I prefer to do it with my Vitamix dry container. It's a lot faster and easier.

Sprinkle a little bit of powder under your tomato and pepper transplants.

What do you do with extra eggshells?