Frugal Living

Frugal Herbal: Simple Supplies for Herb Collecting

September 29, 2014 By Thaleia Leave a Comment

Now onto collecting your herbs. I will assume you have grown your own, positively identified some you wild harvested OR bought some bulk herbs from a reputable source. If you need some resources for herb identification I would suggest: Herb Pinterest Board.

BASKET-I use baskets that I have been given, cardboard boxes from the grocery store, or occasionally an ice cream bucket. I admit I did buy a cute rectangular basket from the Dollar Tree to aid in herb collecting! (Using our affiliate links to help you find what we own and use)

PLANT ID BOOK-If you are still trying to figure out what grows in your yard or neighborhood then I would suggest a good book like:Identifying & Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants, The Complete Book of Herbs: A Practical Guide to Growing and Using Herbs, Edible Wild Plants for Beginners, Backyard Foraging: 65 Familiar Plants You Didn’t Know You Could Eat and Western Garden Book of Edibles: The Complete A-Z Guide

SCISSORS-helps to harvest herbs and the parts of plants that you want without damaging plants around it or hurting yourself.

GLOVES- simple fabric garden gloves or even cheap food service gloves can both come in handy.

DRYING RACK- You will need a good place to dry your herbs. You could use a clothes drying rack, diaper drying rack, herb mesh rack or herb horse. Of course you could make a drying screen for cheap from an old picture frame.

Homemade Christmas Gifts You Can Make Now

September 25, 2014 By Thaleia 3 Comments

Right now is a perfect time to think about making homemade Christmas gifts from Fall Harvest abundance. I recently made homemade applesauce and crockpot apple butter which will make nice Christmas gifts. We have also been harvesting medicinal herbs and plants. I am working on gathering enough to dry and make tinctures, hydrosols, and salves. I can see some of these items making their way into Christmas baskets as well.

I know some people think it’s too early to think about Christmas and I am usually that way BUT you really need to plan ahead before it sneaks up on you. These super simple gifts are great to make now while the Fall Harvest is happening especially the applesauce and apple butter.

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Frugal Herbal: How to Prepare Glass Jars for Herbal Remedies

September 22, 2014 By Thaleia 1 Comment

Today I am going to share with you some ways to prepare your collection of jars for herbal remedies. Since you may have had your bag of jars sitting around you will need to wash them. Remember when I told you to start saving your spaghetti, relish, and pickle jars? Remember when I suggested you ask your friends and family to save jars for you? Well, now is the time to dig that stash of jars out and put them to good use!

Do your jars have old food labels on them? Try soaking them in a sink of hot soapy water sometimes this will do the trick. If they have soaked and still have sticky residue then I have a tip for you. OIL. Grab some oil, doesn’t matter what kind, and rub or spray onto the sticky residue. Allow your jars to sit for 30 minutes to 2 hours. I used a drink holder from a fast food restaurant so my jars didn’t roll away and get oil everywhere.

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Free Famous Composers Study Resources

September 18, 2014 By Thaleia Leave a Comment

For a family that enjoys music we rarely listen to Classical music and we have not done any Famous Composers study like I had thought we would. It certainly is NOT due to the lack of FREE resources but just the time it takes to plan and remember all those resources! I am taking away the excuses by gathering up so many free resources it should last us our entire homeschool careers! Check out one, some, or all of these incredible resources for Famous Composers study and tell me how you plan to use them or which you found most helpful.

Maybe you need free resources for other homeschool subjects like: Spanish, Handwriting, or Busy Bags for the little ones. I’ve got you covered. Hop on over to any of the highlighted links for more free resources. If you have a subject that baffles you and you would like free resources then please leave a comment and your topic just might be the next one posted!

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Frugal Herbal: How to Prepare to Make Herbal Remedies

September 15, 2014 By Thaleia Leave a Comment

As I journey on this path of herbal learning I thought I should share some tips and trick along the way. The first thing I want to share is how to prepare to make herbal remedies. You are probably thinking plant identification would be first, but not for me. I will challenge you to gather your supplies first and then learn about plants.

First, start collecting glass jars. You will need all sorts of jars to store your dried herbs, infused oils, tinctures, syrups,etc. Since you are a novice like me and probably on a budget you won’t be able to go buy everything you need. Start saving baby food jars, spaghetti jars, pickle jars, maraschino cherry jars, relish jars, etc. Ask you friends and family to save their jars for you as well.

How many jars will you need? This depends on the number of herbs you have to work with. If you are growing them or if you wild harvest them you might have a little more time to play around. If you buy some bulk herbs then you will want a place to store them instead of the bags they come in. I would say you will need three jars for each herb. Now don’t freak out on me. This is why you need so many jars. You will need a larger jar for dried herbs (pickle or spaghetti), medium (pint sized) jar for oil infusions or vinegars and small (baby food 4-6 oz.) for tinctures.

Once you have your collection of jar you will want to learn How to Prepare your Glass Jars for Herbal Remedies. So hop on over and read that post with tips and tricks for cleaning your glass jars.

We will discuss collecting herbs, drying herbs, and plant identification in other posts. For now check out some herb books or plant ID books from your local library. Until next time happy herb learning.

Frugal Living

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