Rose hips are easiest to find during the winter. Incidentally, they are a great source of vitamin C when other fruits are in short supply.

Identification: During the winter, wild rose hips are easy to find because of their bright red color. The fruits range in color from orange to dark red, and vary in size up to an inch in diameter. The ones I find are typically less than half of that size. Wild rose brambles can grow from several feet up to 12 feet tall, and will have prickly thorns as will any rose plant. The leaves are compound and saw-toothed, like garden roses.

Edible: Rose hips can be eaten whole, or they can be steeped in boiling water to make a tea very high in vitamin C. Even the leaves and roots, if washed well, can be steeped into tea. Some people make jelly, jam or syrup from rose hips, though my wild rose hips are far too small to make it worth my while.

Medicinal: Being high in vitamin C, rose hip tea is great for the immune system and preventing cataracts. During WWII the British government collected rose hips on a massive scale to be made into syrup and used as a source of vitamin C for children. The seeds are also a source of vitamin E, and the fruits traditionally have been set aside until the end of winter to use as a blood purifier. 

In animals, rose hips can be used to treat female ailments including leucorrhoea, metritis, and miscarriage. 

Other Uses: Rose stems can be used for making baskets.

*******
Brown, Tom Jr. Tom Brown's Field Guide to Wilderness Survival. New York: Berkley Books, 1983. Print.
Angier, Bradford. Field Guide to Wild Edible Plants. Harrisburd, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books, 1974. Print
Levy, Juliette de Bairacli. The Complete Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable. London: Faber & Faber, 1991. Print.
White, Linda B. The Herbal Drugstore. United States of America: Rodale Inc., 2000. Print.

Health Care Savings- A "Big Win"
Most of my articles on this blog are about saving a few dollars here and there. However, it is also important to look at big-picture spending (on things like transportation and taxes). Health insurance is a huge cost for many people in the US. I know of ladies who reluctantly leave their babies at daycare and go to work at jobs they don't like, because of "the benefits"... meaning health care. 

Obamacare
Under our new health care policy, everyone is forced to buy health insurance or pay a fee/tax for not having it. The Gold, Silver and Bronze plans are based on a percentage of your annual income, as is the tax. This is great for low-income people or people with a lot of kids, but it is awful for people with no kids or a high household income. Obamacare makes everything fair and unfair at the same time. Can you imagine if Walmart charged a doctor $20 for a box of cereal, but only charged a McDonalds worker $0.50? It sounds ridiculous, but that is how Obamacare is. We all pay different amounts for the same exact care, whether we need the care or not. And if you don't use it, you end up paying for it anyway.

Imagine if the government dictated your budget. 15% for this, 25% for that, 50% for this. Actually, that is what the government already does with taxes and now Obamacare. What will be next- food? Clothes? Transportation? Will we all be forced to buy TVs, so that the poor people can afford TVs as well?

Frugal people don't buy stuff they don't need.
That's the biggest issue I have with health care- I just don't need it. In the last ten years I've been to a doctor three or four times, and every single time I felt ripped off. It's not that I hate doctors, and I'm very thankful to pay for one when I need the services. It's just that most of the time you pay a lot of money for what you get, and then they try to sell you things that you don't need.

For me, it's a scary thing to receive medical care. It's not like Walmart where you walk in, buy what you need and get out. Instead, you walk in, someone else fills up your cart and then you pay the bill. There's really no personal choice or responsibility involved. I'd like to be as involved as I can be in the care of my own body, but hospitals and hospital staff just assume that nobody knows how to take care of themselves, and you're expected to just follow instructions without questioning.

Under Obamacare, all insurance plans are required to cover things I probably won't need: ambulatory patient services, emergency services, hospitalization (such as surgery), Pregnancy, maternity, and newborn care (care before and after your baby is born [IN A HOSPITAL]) Mental health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatment (this includes counseling and psychotherapy), prescription drugs, rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices (services and devices to help people with injuries, disabilities, or chronic conditions gain or recover mental and physical skills), laboratory services, preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management, pediatric services, including oral and vision care.

Hmm, maybe the preventative and wellness services are something I could use! Wrong again. 

Preventative and wellness services include: Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm one-time screening for men of specified ages who have ever smoked, Alcohol Misuse screening and counseling, Aspirin use to prevent cardiovascular disease for men and women of certain ages, Blood Pressure screening for all adults, Cholesterol screening for adults of certain ages or at higher risk, Colorectal Cancer screening for adults over 50, Depression screening for adults, Diabetes (Type 2) screening for adults with high blood pressure, Diet counseling for adults at higher risk for chronic disease, Hepatitis B screening for people at high risk, including people in countries with 2% or more Hepatitis B prevalence, and U.S.-born people not vaccinated as infants and with at least one parent born in a region with 8% or more Hepatitis B prevalence, Hepatitis C screening for adults at increased risk, and one time for everyone born 1945 – 1965, HIV screening for everyone ages 15 to 65, and other ages at increased risk, Immunization vaccines for adults, Lung cancer screening for adults 55 - 80 at high risk for lung cancer because they’re heavy smokers or have quit in the past 15 years, Obesity screening and counseling for all adults, Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) prevention counseling for adults at higher risk, Syphilis screening for all adults at higher risk, Tobacco Use screening for all adults and cessation interventions for tobacco users.

Again, most of these "services" are for older people and substance (ab)users. Even a catastrophic insurance is STILL horribly expensive considering the fact that it will not provide any value unless something really bad happens.

Paying for Things You DO Need
Several months after we got married, Hubs and I started looking into an alternative to expensive health insurance (or expensive no-healthcare penalty/tax). We did not see any reason for health insurance apart from avoiding financial disaster resulting from car accidents or other emergencies. Future pregnancies (our only foreseeable health care need) would not be covered by insurance anyway if we chose to use a midwife. We rarely go to the doctor and when we do, it is affordable to just pay out of pocket. For example, the last time Hubs went to the doctor it was to remove a speck of sawdust from his eye. The last time I needed health care was to remove a wisdom tooth. We are healthy young people and don't need hundreds of dollars worth of medications or "check-ups" every month.

In the end, we chose Samaratin Ministries. Samaratin is a cost-sharing program where you publish any health care needs, and other members send you a check in the amount of their monthly "share". Shares are a flat fee and NOT determined by income. The basic monthly fee covers up to $250,000 worth of health expenses per injury/illness. If you are worried that this isn't enough, they have an optional additional program called "Save to Share" for medical costs that exceed the aforementioned limit.

We chose Samaratin after hearing good things about the program from several different families that had published needs successfully. 

Cost for Samaratin Ministries
Coverage for one person under age 25 costs $140 per month ($180 for those over 25). Recently Hubs' penalty for not having insurance exceeded the cost of adding him as a Samaratin member, so we added him. Our plan now costs us $280 per month (because one of us is still under age 25). This is a better deal than any insurance plan I could find for the two of us. While Samaratin is not a true "health insurance", members are able to claim a religious exemption to the Obamacare penalty/tax. We would rather be paying for real health care costs for someone else than paying more taxes. If nothing else, joining Samaratin could be cheaper than having no health care at all.

Samaratin does not charge for each person in a family. Families of 3+ people are charged a flat fee of $405 per month. Widowed or divorced families with children are charged a flat fee of $250 per month. Note that the family with seven children is going to pay the same fee as a family with one child. 

Not For Everyone
Samaratin Ministries is not a great idea for sick people or the elderly. Needs that began before you became a member are not publishable, so if you become a member and you are a diabetic, then none of your diabetes-related expenses are publishable. It is also not good for smokers, drinkers, or non-Christian people. Samaratin requires that a pastor sign your papers, and that you abstain from smoking, excessive drinking and pre- or extramarital sex. You will have to read the guidelines to see specifics, but I don't believe routine check-ups or any dental care are covered either. This helps keep the cost of shares relatively low. Samaratin actually encourages healthy moms to choose midwives over hospital births because it keeps costs low for everyone.

One more thing: Some people seem to think that it is morally wrong to take "handouts" or participate in government programs. I think this is a bunch of baloney. If I were a low-income mom I would definitely be signing up for Obamacare and also WIC and other government benefits. I don't see it as any different than digging stuff out of a garage sale free box. If it's there, take it!

That being said, I don't think we healthy people should have to pay for problems caused by excessive drinking, smoking, overeating and promiscuous sex, which constitute many of the health care costs covered by insurance. Nor should we have to pay hundreds and hundreds of dollars per year because we choose not to have insurance.

Movie Night
Recently Hubs and I watched a documentary called "Wait Til It's Free". I would highly recommend it to anyone who is unsatisfied with the current health care system. At the end, the filmmaker provides several solutions to overpriced medical care, bad medical care, and government interference. 

Til next time, 
-Bethany

Last year I remember seeing the small, shriveled-up fruits of an unidentified shrub and wondered if they were good for anything. Probably not, I told myself. Not enough fruit there to do anything with. Recently, however, I was able to identify this plant and discovered that it has many uses.

Identification
Common prickly ash is easy to identify because of its small, shriveled-looking berries. The tree is one of two members of the Rue (sometimes called Citrus) family in Michigan. The berries have a lemon-lime-orange smell to them, and the branches have small thorns. The tree is small; only 5' - 15' tall. The leaves are are 2" long with smooth edges and, like the berries, have a citrus-y smell when crushed.

You can find the Prickly Ash tree throughout Michigan in a variety of soils, but they are often found where I found mine- along forest edges and fence rows.

Medicinal Use
Prickly Ash is often referred to as "toothache tree", because it contains a citrus-smelling oil called zanthoxylin, which causes numbness in the mouth. You can chew on either the fruit or the yellowish inner bark. When I was younger I would often get canker sores and use numbing gel to make talking or eating less painful. Believe me, this Prickly Ash works even better! The numbness took at least a 45 minutes to completely wear off, though at first it induces salivation (drooling) so that is somewhat annoying.

Other popular uses of Prickly Ash are to improve circulation problems like intermittent claudication, rheumatism, arthritis, and aging- or cold-related problems. The Native Americans were especially fond of this herb and used it for achy joints and sore muscles. They made teas and infusions both to drink and to bathe with.

Prickly Ash is generally considered safe to use, even for children and women who are pregnant. 

*****
White, Linda B. The Herbal Drugstore. United States of America: Rodale Inc., 2000. Print.
Tekiela, Stan. Trees of Michigan Field Guide. Cambridge, Minnesota: Adventure Publications, Inc., 2002. Print.
Richard Whelan ~ Medical Herbalist ~ Prickly Ash. (n.d.). Retrieved September 2, 2015.

Medicinal Use
Jewelweed is most commonly used to sooth poison ivy and stinging nettle irritations, but it is also used for bee stings and other skin problems. To use, any part of the plant can be crushed and rubbed on the irritated area. This works best BEFORE the rash appears. My herb book lists the orange variety, Impatiens capenisis, as a remedy for not only poison ivy, but also poison oak and poison sumac. In addition to using fresh leaves, you can also make a tea from 1 heaping teaspoon of dried leaves in a cup of hot water for 10 minutes, strain and cool. It makes more sense to me, however, to just use the fresh crushed plant.

Edible
Jewelweed is also a wild edible. The young shoots (up to six inches tall) can be boiled and eaten after removing the leaves. However, use caution because older plants can be a mild purgative (make you throw up). The plant is also high in minerals, so only small amounts should be eaten or it should be mixed with other vegetables.

*****
White, Linda B. The Herbal Drugstore. United States of America: Rodale Inc., 2000. Print.
Tekiela, Stan. Wildflowers of Michigan Field Guide. Cambridge, Minnesota: Adventure Publications, Inc., 2000. Print.
Brown, Tom Jr. Tom Brown's Field Guide to Wilderness Survival. New York: Berkley Books, 1983. Print.

In the last couple years, essential oils have become a bit of a craze. It seems like everyone and their mother is using them, and using them for everything. I thought I'd dig into it a little more and see if essential oils are really worth using, and if so, how is the best way to do it?

Use in Natural Medicine
First, I thought I'd thumb through my book, The Herbal Drugstore, to see if they recommend the use of essential oils. Sure enough, I found recommendations for tea tree, lavender, geranium, peppermint, bergamot, and clove essential oils.  The book recommended using these oils externally or topically, for things like respiratory and skin problems. 

Network Marketing vs. Retail
Then, I hit up Mountain Rose Herbs and Young Living to find a ballpark cost to these recommended oils. These days most people get their essential oils from Young Living and DoTerra, which have become popular network marketing companies. However, unless you are a distributor, network marketing is almost never a good deal. Case in point: 

Clove Oil (1/2 oz.): YL - $20.07 ~ MRH - $7.50
Bergamot Oil (1/2 oz.): YL - Out of Stock ~  MRH - $16.50
Peppermint Oil (1/2 oz.): YL- $28.29 ~  MRH - $7.50
Tea Tree Oil (1/2 oz.): YL - $34.21 ~ MRH - $6.25
Lavender Oil (1/2 oz.): YL- $30.92  ~ MRH - $7.69
Geranium Oil (1/2 oz.): YL - $54.28 ~ MRH - $18.75

So first of all, don't buy your oils from Young Living. If I wanted to get the same price on Young Living geranuim oil as MRH, I would have to sign up as a member (up to 40% off retail) and sell $172 worth of product. That sounds like a lot of work! Of course if you really want to work your way up through the company and have a bunch of people under you, you might be able to get some pretty cheap oils. But unless you have a ton of potential customers (popular blog writer, speaker, etc.), you'll end up paying more for Young Living oils, even as a member and distributor.

Now we tackle the next problem. My herb book recommended the use of six essential oils. Young Living (and therefore, most people who tell you about essential oils) recommends the use of all 84 of them. They recommend stirring a drop of peppermint oil into your herbal tea to aid digestion. But what about just drinking peppermint herbal tea? If you grow your own peppermint, it's certainly cheaper than using essential oils. 

I was surprised to see oils like black pepper, carrot seed, sage, chamomile, goldenrod, dill, and coriander. They've come up with an oil for everything! Mountain Rose Herbs was selling a 1/2 oz. bottle of catnip essential oil (of all things!) for $40. Crazy! Some of the most expensive oils are made from the cheapest plants in your backyard. A homemade tincture would cost pennies on the dollar.

The Bottom Line
If you want to get into herbal/plant-based medicine, essential oils are a very easy (but very, very pricey) way to do it. No one who is trying to save money should get into essential oils. I would recommend buying only a few, or sticking with the cheaper oils (lemongrass, orange) to scent homemade soaps and cleaning products with. These are the oils I have: peppermint, spearmint, eucalyptus, lavender, lemongrass, citronella, and patchouli. Two are from a local mint farm, and the others I got from grocery or craft stores. I've had most of them for several years, so as you can see I'm not a heavy essential oil user.

As you can imagine, building a "medicine cabinet" primarily with essential oils will easily cost hundreds of dollars, especially if you buy through the more popular companies. I believe that the medicinal value of most essential oils is sketchy, and the price is not worth the benefit that oils might provide. I only use essential oils for respiratory problems (homemade vapo-rub, etc.), and even then, there are cheaper ways to sooth a sore throat.

If you are interested in natural medicine, I would instead recommend buying and/or learning how to use herbs. Herbs provide most of the same medicinal benefits, but will fit any price range.

Do you use essential oils? Why or why not?

-Bethany

*Edit 9/14/15: I would recommend using LorAnn oils for regular external use and for things like cleaning, soap-making, etc. These oils are therapeutic grade, 100% pure and very affordable, ranging from $3-$10 at Walmart. Walmart carries almost all of the common oils like eucalyptus, clove, orange, etc. Other oils are also available on LorAnn's website. The most expensive oil on their site- myrrh- costs about $30 per ounce. 

Today we're going to talk about a common wildflower that has many uses in herbal medicine. Not to mention that it smells wonderful!

Identification
Yarrow is a common wildflower in the Aster family. It grows to be 1'-3' tall with 2-4" wide clusters of small, white flowers with yellowish centers. The leaves are easy to identify; small, narrow and fern-like feathery. They have a strong smell, are larger at the bottom and progressively smaller at the top. The flowers bloom in summer and fall, and can be found in dry, sunny areas- deciduous woods, fields and prairies. They are found throughout Michigan. Yarrow is native to North America.

Yarrow leaves and flowers can be gathered while in bloom, dried and stored for year-round use. It can also be made into a tincture and used in herbal oils and salves.

Medicinal Use
Many cultures have used yarrow as a medicinal herb. There is a legend that Achilles used the plant to heal bleeding wounds during the Trojan War. In modern times, herbalists still use yarrow to stop bleeding and help resolve colds & flu, endometriosis, heard desease, hives, menstrual problems, pinkeye and sties. More than 40 active ingredients have been isolated in yarrow. The plant possesses anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, and sweat-inducing properties.  It can reduce inflammation, relax cramps, and arrest excessive bleeding, dilate arteries and help lower cholesterol. It is considered a blood vessel tonic, improving arterial health in general. In Germany, yarrow is approved as a treatment for menstrual cramps. Crushed leaves can be applied to wounds to stop bleeding and heal cuts. Fresh leaves can also be chewed to relieve toothaches. Sties and pinkeye can be relieved with a eyewash or compress made from yarrow tea.

Caution: Yarrow should not be used internally during pregnancy or attempts to become pregnant. Don't confuse yarrow with fool's parsley or or poison hemlock. These species have similar leaves and flowers, but their leaves are more broad and lacy. Be sure to take all specifications (color, height, smell, leaf placement) into consideration when you are first learning to identify a plant- don't just look at the flower or the leaves.
 
***
White, Linda B. The Herbal Drugstore. United States of America: Rodale Inc., 2000. Print.
Tekiela, Stan. Wildflowers of Michigan Field Guide. Cambridge, Minnesota: Adventure Publications, Inc., 2000. Print.
Brown, Tom Jr. Tom Brown's Field Guide to Wilderness Survival. New York: Berkley Books, 1983. Print.

How to Prepare
St. John's Wort is commonly infused in oil to be used topically, or made into a tincture. The herb loses potency when dried, but can still be used as a tea for certain ailments. It may take a few weeks in order for the herb to have any effect.

Precautions
As I've mentioned before, herbs can be very effective, so use with caution. Some people become sensitive to sunlight after drinking the tea  for extended periods of time. St. John's Wort may increase the effects of narcotics and some antidepressants. Talk with a professional before using if you are pregnant or nursing.

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.

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

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