The spring has sprung - starting my herb garden

Here in Denmark the spring is slowly beginning. Winters are never very hard here but they tend to be grey and dreary. If you add to this the long winter nights (up to 14 hours!) you can imagine how it sometimes feels that spring will never come.

But now, at the end of February, it has finally come. The sun rises about 6:15, the birds go crazy every morning and the early spring flowers snowdrops, crocus and the yellow aconites are budding in our garden.

And all of this means, that it is slowly time to start working on my big plans for herb garden this season. I spent a lot of dark winter evenings browsing for ideas, inspirations and tips. Today, I put some of them to work.

I begin today with two ideas for seed starting. Both are DIY, ecological and upcyling which I really like - gardening on the cheap for the win!

Instead of expensive planting systems, I used the cardboard insides of toilet paper rolls cut in three parts and empty egg containers. I love the simple idea because these are common household byproducts, that virtually anyone has in their trash bin. So why not using them for something fun.

I actually have a mini glasshouse tray, I used previous years. But a plastic salad or mushroom containers, like the ones you can get in any supermarkets, will do the job equally well.

I planted basil, oregano, rosemary, spearmint and cress. I can't wait to see what happens next!

 And as I was planting the herbs, I thought of something, I didn't think about in a while. My grandparents lived in a flat on the 10th floor of a typical soviet-era block of flats. They never had a house or a garden, but they always planted plenty of flowers on their balcony. This was especially the realm of my grandfather. He had green fingers, if I've ever seen ones. The plants I remember best were his geraniums of all colors, that smelled in a very intriguing way. They crowded every windowsill of the apartment.

I also remember that he collected little yogurt containers to use for his seed sprouting. So, the internet resources for gardeners are not inventing anything new. They are just discovering the old, tried ways. This thought makes me feel good, connected in some way.

Other useful resources about planting seeds can be found here:
- Frugal Gardening Tips
- Hazel and Company: Egg Carton Greenhouses
- Just Joanna: 10 Best DIY Seed Starting Pins
- Treehugger: 7 DIY Seed Pots from Common Household Items for Starting Seeds Indoors 
- Garden Betty: The No-Brainer Guide to Starting Seeds Indoors

Discoveries of Frugal Life - part 1.

The other day I went to my local supermarket to buy, among others, a toothpaste. Following the frugal tips and tricks I made a point of looking above and below my usual line of sight. And the difference in prices stunned me.

Regular brand-name toothpaste - £2.53
No-brand toothpaste from the bottom shelf - £0.17
Difference - £2.36

To be honest, I have to say I was really scared to pick up the £0.17 variety. After all there has to be some kind of reason why the price difference is so huge. But after checking the ingredients I had to conclude that both pastes seemed very similar. I decided to take the risk!

Result:
- my teeth are as clean as before
- my breath is as minty
- my wallet is heavier by £2.36
- my conscious consumer self feels proud

When I run out of soap, I will definitely try the no-brand one!

3 Frugal Tips

As you might have read in one of my earlier posts, I embarked on the challenge of turning my life more frugal. So far I had some mishaps. I bought too many Belgian waffles and chocolate while in Belgium and had to throw away some curry, that I had forgotten to put in the fridge the night before. But there were also some successes: reduced food wastage, saved up money, repaired (and not thrown away) sandals.

Here are three tips that I found immensely helpful so far:

1. Plan your menu

Sit down once a week and plan what you are going to eat the following week. This gives you several advantages over the usual chaotic eating. First of all, you buy only the products that you need so you throw away less. Second of all, you don't need to shop every day which limits the temptations, transportation costs and you have more time for yourself. And thirdly, if you plan in advance where to shop you will be able to hunt for sales, offers and discounted goods and in general compare prices more effectively.

2. Don't let the marketers get to you

I don't think there is anyone in the Western World who doesn't know that marketers use incredible amount of mind traps to seduce the customer and sell the product. And we all know that not all of these techniques are designed to sell you the best value for money.
The first step to deal with the problem is to learn what tricks there are. Type "supermarket tricks" in google and you will get a list of articles and blog posts about sneaky marketing practices, along with a list of ways to avoid the traps.

My favorite tip so far was to look "outside the box" or at least outside the eye level. If you have a look below or above the usual eye-level, you will find products that are of the same or better quality only cheaper. This is so, because the big brands are able to pay the shop for a good shelf spot - and the bigger the brand, the higher the price.

3. Cool down your boiler

This tip only works for those of you who have boilers or water heaters at home and can regulate the temperature.

First, do a small experiment for me. Let the hottest water from your tab run for a moment. Now put your hand under the stream - hurts? Can you actually use water that is that hot? I bet good money that you can't.
We don't actually need the boiling water in our tabs and that means that we waste the energy that the boiler uses to heat it up to this point. Especially now, during summer, hot showers are not something you are really looking for in the mornings.
If you lower max temperature on your boiler, you will end up with lower bills and less wasted energy. You save your money and the environment. How cool is that?

Go frugal

Frugality is the practice of acquiring goods and services in a restrained manner, and resourcefully using already owned economic goods and services, to achieve a longer term goal. (en.wikipedia.org)

Frugality - recently the word kept coming back to me again and again. First, I read this inspiring book by Kath Kelly How I Lived a Year on Just a Pound a Day. I picked it up in the bookstore on an impulse and couldn't put it down until I was done. And then a friend of mine posted on his blog his own experience of frugality. And this made me think: can I do it? Me? The compulsive shopper? The person who has no savings and loves sitting in cafes, restaurants and cinemas? Can I go frugal?

Luckily for me, the circumstances are favorable for a more economical life. What with the economy failing, moving to DK and planning our wedding. Saving some money is the right choice. And so I started thinking what can I do, to go frugal:

1. First of all the food. We don't have a garden so no homegrown veggies but we can definitely reduce our waste. With more planning, we can buy only as much products as we actually need and throw away less. We have also started to bake our own bread (cheaper and taster) and drink tap water instead of buying sodas, tea, coffee or juices (cheaper and healthier). Plus we will cut down on take aways and going out and have friends over more often instead.

2. It's summer so instead of going to cinemas or clubs, we can have pick-nicks in the parks and join some free events. There is plenty ads on the Internet.

3. I will also read all the books that I bought and haven't read yet. There are quiet a few so I don't have to spend money on new ones any time soon.

4. Mending and re-doing my clothes is quiet an obvious way of saving up. I like doing it anyway!

So, I am going frugal. Stay tuned for updates and maybe some tips on how to.