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gardenassist · 3 years ago

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In this article, we will explain step by step How to Marketing Microgreens? In a previous article, we reviewed in detail HOW TO SET UP A SMALL VERTICAL FARM s?

Now that you know what microgreens are and how to grow them, it’s time to think about marketing. Selling the product may not be your problem if your only goal is to grow your microgreens for your own use.

However, since you read this article, I suspect that you also want to start your own business. To succeed as a professional microgreen grower, it’s not enough that you’re simply good at growing your seedlings.

You will inevitably need to do some calculating, you will need to understand something about taxes, and most importantly, you will need to learn a little about marketing. Let’s say your business is the only one selling microgreens within a 200 km radius.

In this scenario, the consumer looking for microgreens would be forced to take the car and come to you to buy the product. He would not ask many questions about the price, quality, variety, etc., and he would definitely buy your microgreens for sale.

You would not have many other worries besides growing your microgreens. In some areas, the situation you are in is really similar to the one described because microgreens are still a very new product. Unfortunately, there are also areas where things are pretty different.

As competition increases, so does the price war and the exploitation of advertising. So why should consumers choose your microgreens over what others offer? It would be best if you used specific strategies to convince the customer to buy from you.

Nowadays, it is not enough to produce an excellent product; you must also communicate by creating a dialog that can engage the customer.

This is even more true because a small business like yours will never win the price war with big retailers.

You need to do marketing, and your marketing strategy should consist of several components that help consumers understand why they should buy your product and not another.

My microgreens are so good, but no one knows it

Many farmers feel forced to sell to wholesalers at inadequate prices. Many growers act only as producers, not traders or specialized sellers, so their primary obligation is to produce excellent products.

That thing that’s the farmer’s job consist of producing an excellent product. And they do that. The problem is that it is not enough to know how to make good products in today’s world. You also need to understand how to sell them.

It is the fundamental difference between the quality of the product (how good are the microgreens) and the quality perceived by the market (microgreens are good, but do your customers know that?).

Your microgreens can be the best on the market, but the consumer needs to know, and this is where marketing comes in, which is an entirely different field than microgreens production. It doesn’t matter if your microgreens are 100% organic, good for your health, reduce cancer risk, and so on.

You need to have a marketing strategy that uses the proper channels to get that message out! They can be very fresh products and therefore full of nutrients.

They can have been grown without chemicals, but the consumer does not have an analytical laboratory at home and therefore must believe in a promotional message that explains the quality of the products.

In summary, you need to be fully aware of your strengths and then launch a solid marketing campaign. Indeed, it is useless to produce quality products if no one knows it.

And it is marketing that bridges this gap. A microgreen producer must spend a large portion of his budget on marketing, which is often not the case because the producer focuses solely on producing quality products.

Generally, the average consumer does not recognize the difference between a microgreen and another type of product, often dwells on the price. The average consumer sometimes does not understand why he should pay $3 for an ounce of microgreen onions when he could buy ordinary onions at a lower price.

Sometimes consumer cannot see the value of microgreens for himself because he doesn’t know what they are. For this reason, it is crucial to make him aware that his choice of this product is essential not only to his palate but also to his health.

And this is where a professional marketing plan must come into play to educate the consumer by showing them the strengths of microgreens.

The importance of marketing planning

We have seen why the microgreens entrepreneur needs to invest in marketing, but how do you do it? Thinking about your entrepreneurial work from a marketing perspective means asking yourself a whole series of practical questions and then harmonizing them into a global strategy.

When thinking about your agricultural work in promotional terms, you need to: Know your current strengths and use them.

Also, understand your weaknesses and know if and how you can develop methods to overcome them. Study the market around you and analyze the needs to be met.

In the microgreens sector, it is possible to become a reference in terms of quality in a local area, but this does not mean that a strong marketing effort is not required.

Marketing is based on analysis, ideas, even intuitions. Still, it must not be improvised: It requires a strategic plan with actions to be implemented, with precise, measurable and repeatable times and costs. A simple, intuitive plan that can be modified and analyzed over time.

Without planning, you waste time and money: marketing for microgreens must be done professionally.

Marketing planning means understanding where and how to distribute the product (whom to sell it to), how to promote it, how to create a recognizable brand image, and how to price it. Don’t worry: I’ll tell you about all of these things in the following few paragraphs.

DISTRIBUTION

One of the first things you need to understand is where to sell your products. Your business will be a small business with a small, high-quality home production. Large-scale retail will not be your preferred distribution channel.

Large retailers usually want to be supplied by large producers who can supply large quantities of products at low prices. Similarly, we tend to rule out the possibility that you will want to sell your micro-vegetables overseas.

It is certainly possible (and some producers do) to export your micro vegetables to markets where prices to the end consumer are much higher than where you live locally. Still, it is a difficult road to travel. In all likelihood, you would be up against large producers, and you would not stop the competition.

For these reasons, the best way to distribute your microgreens is through the local market. But even in this case, you need to know that every market is different, and therefore you need to study your particular market well before making your choice.

Where to sell microgreens?

The main distribution channels are basically four: restaurants, grocery stores, direct sales, and farmers’ markets.

Restaurants

Restaurants are a great distribution channel for your microgreens. Especially if you live in a medium or large city, you can find many good customers in your area.

Many chefs use microgreens because they are a very fresh produce with a unique flavor. In addition, many restaurant owners prefer to buy their raw ingredients from small local suppliers rather than big retailers, even if they have to pay a little more.

This way, restaurants can tell their customers that they using only natural products locally grown and not contaminated by chemical fertilizers and preservatives (often used in industrial production).

Also, your product will always be fresher than what you can buy in big retail stores (if there are any) and have a longer shelf life.

As a result, restaurants will happily pay a higher price for these products as they charge their customers a price that reflects the high quality of what they offer.

Since not all restaurants are the same, you may be wondering what type of restaurant is best to offer your microgreens. It’s not an easy question to answer as things can differ from one area to another.

I certainly don’t recommend going to McDonald’s to offer your products, but it’s also not necessarily the case that you should only provide your microgreens at high-end restaurants. You could easily find many small restaurants that aren’t overly luxurious, but carefully select the raw ingredients they buy and might be interested in your offering.

So, for starting, I suggest you take a tour of the restaurants in your area and bring a price list and any marketing information materials you can show to prospects. It would also be a good idea to get some free, possibly well packaged, small samples of your microgreens.

That way, the restaurateurs can sample the product and see for themselves how good it is. I assure you that this is a great way to convince the customer. Don’t worry if you don’t get much success at first. For a business like yours, it is not necessary to have many customers.

Instead, you need a few good restaurant customers to break even. I know several small microgreen producers who manage to net $3,000 a week by targeting restaurants in their area.

Grocery stores

Grocery stores, like restaurants, can be an excellent outlet for your products. The principle of “smaller is better” applies to them as well. Mini-markets and corner shops are traditionally more interested in quality and less price-sensitive than supermarkets.

The owners of these stores like to source their goods from small local producers because they care about quality and always want fresh produce, which is not always possible.

If you want to have this kind of customer, you need to personally introduce yourself to the shop owners and tell them about your products, how they are made and what benefits they bring. To this end, it is handy if you have product samples with you that you can give to the owner to test. Ideally, these products should already be packaged for sale.

Since you will almost certainly meet people who don’t know microgreens at all, I recommend that you also prepare an excellent general talk about microgreens.

And if you want, to be even more professional, you could hand the store owner a brochure outlining all the product’s benefits. Your job will initially be similar to that of a sales representative.

You will probably have to canvass many grocery stores before you find the right ones. But you don’t have to be afraid to talk to people. Always remember that all this work is necessary to start the business.

Once you have enough customers, things will be much easier, and you might even think about hiring representatives to do the work for you.

Farmer’s markets

The Farmer’s Market is a relatively new format of conscious shopping, a good compromise between healthy eating attitudes and the need for fair consumption.

Therefore, Farmer’s Markets are a modern reinterpretation of the old fruit and vegetable markets, where producers brought their products to the square for direct sale.

In these contexts, small producers can sell local products directly and present themselves to consumers. For a producer of microgreens, this type of market can be an additional opportunity. Still, there may be difficulties related to where you live, so you should assess your situation on a case-by-case basis.

Therefore, if you are in a city where there is a farmer’s market, I recommend visiting it to see if there are already other producers of microgreens and (possibly) take note of the prices they apply.

In some cases, going to a farmer’s market can be risky because you need to carry a supply of a product, you’re not sure you can sell. So, you run the risk of wasting some of your produce. However, farmers’ markets provide you with an excellent communication opportunity.

They allow you to introduce yourself to your audience and make yourself known in your area. So, my advice is to go to these markets, but with the same spirit with which you would attend a fair. It would help if you thought of it as a promotional initiative.

During these events, you will find potential customers that you can approach for your direct marketing initiatives, which can bring you excellent profits, as we will see in the following section.

Direct sales

The last option available to you to sell your microgreens is direct sales. Warning: this is not a low-interest option.

It may be the system that can bring you the most profits. Microgreens manufacturers who have developed this selling system usually require the customer to sign up for a small subscription for the weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly delivery of a particular product.

As you can imagine, this system has significant advantages for you, as you can produce only the quantities you are sure to sell (or rather, only those you have already sold). As I said, to find your first subscribers, you can use the word of mouth that comes from your presence at farmers’ markets.

But there are also many other local events you could attend and many different ways to promote yourself. For example, you could take advantage of Social Networks.

Among other things, Facebook allows you to create ads that are only shown to people who live in your area and have specific interests.

For example, you could target only people who live in your area and are interested in organic food, health, and conservation. Over time, you could build a mailing list or WhatsApp group to communicate all your future initiatives.

Direct selling is not as difficult as it may seem. Considering that you are targeting a mainly local market, it will not be complicated (and not too expensive) to take care of product distribution.

As long as your business is limited (both quantitatively and geographically), it is better to avoid mailing (with the associated costs and risks).

If your turnover is not very big, you can personally take care of the delivery of the products. It’s enough if you have an ordinary company car and schedule one delivery round per week. Or you can choose even more original solutions.

For example, some manufacturers I know have bought a cargo e-bike to deliver microgreens to their regular customers in the city. The bike is also a great advertising tool because it’s evident and consistent with the values that a company producing microgreens represents.

I’m sure many people who see your bike will become curious and call the company. The typical promotional formula involves delivering a mixed cassette of different types of live or cut microgreens. But, again, the more you pay attention to the details, the better your chances of success will be.

For example, you could use only reusable containers or provide informational materials along with the plants to showcase your business and product. If you use a well-thought-out mix of strategies, I am confident that you will find the correct number of regular customers and make excellent profits from your business.

#selling microgreens

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bubble-tea-bunny · 7 years ago

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grease monkey

[dean winchester x reader]

author’s note: played around w/ tone shifts a lot in this one without really meaning to. i feel my writing’s sort of all over the place lately. i’ve been having a hard time focusing. anyway, i hope you enjoy. it’s been a minute since i wrote for dean haha

word count: 4,113

“Ah, shit.”

Dean huffs and checks the workbench again, moving supplies here and there in search for what he needs. He checks beneath the table, rifles through the cabinets, but still nothing. He glances back at Baby, whose hood is propped up and whose front wheels rest on ramps to elevate her. The old oil had already been drained but he’d failed to check beforehand if he had any new oil on hand, which he didn’t. So he can’t even install the new filter yet, which he did remember to buy on his last trip to the auto shop.

He grabs a towel to wipe down his hands and exits the garage, leaving the sleek Impala right where it is. He finds Sam in the kitchen working on lunch.

“Hey, I gotta run down to the car shop in town. Ran out of oil,” Dean begins. He glances at the various vegetables resting on the counter. Sam did have a penchant for running down to the farmers’ market whenever they weren’t busy with cases. For him, fresh produce is the best change of pace from the fast food they lived on when they weren’t at the bunker. “What are you making?”

“A veggie wrap,” Sam responds, and briefly there’s only the sound of his knife slicing through bell peppers. “You want one?”

Dean scrunches his nose. “No. Ew. I’ll pick something up on my way back.”

Sam rolls his eyes but he’s smiling a little. “Suit yourself.”

“Be back in a few.” Dean tosses his towel down on the dining table before he makes his leave, and Sam wants to yell after him, to tell him to take the dirtied rag to the garage where it belongs, and not leave it at the table where they eat, but he decides it isn’t worth the effort. Dean would keep walking.

It always feels strange not to drive Baby. The seats don’t feel the same and Dean has a hard time finding a comfortable position. When he slides the key into the ignition and twists it, the engine roars to life before settling into a steady purr, but it’s not as satisfying to hear. The drive into town doesn’t take too long. The roads are mostly empty until he actually gets there, and even then the auto shop is on the side of town closest to the bunker, so he gets there quickly.

The store is small and quiet, but it always has everything Dean needs. There are a few other people inside, some perusing the products, one speaking with the man at the register. Dean knows exactly where the oil is so he makes a beeline for the right aisle. A catalogue rests by the shelves of oil in case anyone coming in here is unsure of what sort of motor oil they need for their specific car’s make and model. He skirts past it—he has Baby’s brand memorized, knows it like the back of his hand.

While he’s scanning the names on all the bottles, in search of the appropriate one, the bell on top of the door jingles quietly. He glances up and sees easily from over the top of the shelves as you walk inside, hair tied into a sloppy ponytail. You wear a dark blue jumpsuit with the top half tied around your waist, revealing a gray tank top, black scuff marks and stains dotted over the fabric.

Dean tilts his head as he continues to watch you—you walk into an aisle two down from his, your eyes downcast on whatever rests there. You find what you need quickly and head for the door again. As you pass by the counter, you hold up what you’ve grabbed—a bottle of transmission fluid—and the man at the counter simply smiles and nods. Then you’re out the door, the bell dinging to signal your departure.

It’s only when an employee walks up to him does Dean realize he’d just been standing there staring at the door. “Did you need any help, sir?”

“Um, ah, no, I got it. Thanks.” Dean smiles politely and waves his hand dismissively. The employee smiles back and walks the rest of the way through the aisle to check on the other customers.

After the oil is paid for, Dean makes his way back to the car. He’s pulled the driver’s side door open and is about to get in when he slides his gaze over to the repair shop, where the garage doors have been pulled up and inside are multiple cars and multiple mechanics working on them. As if on cue you slide out from under one of the cars and stand up, wiping at the grime on your forehead. Your ponytail looks even more mussed up than it did when he saw you inside. He can’t hear anything from this distance but he can see you laugh at something that someone says. You must be new because he’s never seen you here before.

Sam’s migrated into the library and next to his laptop is an empty plate. He looks up when Dean saunters inside, a bag of take-out in one hand and a bottle of motor oil in the other. The younger Winchester sits up straighter and smiles in greeting.

“Got what you needed?”

“I did.” Dean plops down across from Sam and sets the motor oil on the floor next to him before he grabs his food. “I saw a cute girl today.”

Sam pauses in his typing and glances at his brother. “Did you?” He doesn’t ask for details because he knows Dean will follow up with them. Even if Sam didn’t want to hear it, Dean would elaborate anyway.

“Yeah, at the auto shop. She’s a mechanic.” Dean takes a big bite out of his burger.

“Wow.” Sam is impressed, for he doesn't recall ever seeing a female mechanic, but the expression of admiration is quickly wiped off his face and replaced with disgust when he sees the way Dean practically stuffs his mouth with food. “Dude, seriously?”

“What?” The word is almost impossible to understand as Dean speaks with a full mouth. “I’m hungry.”

———

The next day is much the same. Dean is in the garage again working on the Impala. They’d been out of town longer than usual for their last case, and it goes without saying that Baby got rather roughed up and was in dire need of all sorts of servicing when they came back. He’s mostly focusing on the interior today, wiping down dried blood and cleaning out shattered bits of glass from the broken backseat door windows (which he plans to work on next). All the while he’s muttering apologies for making his beloved car go through all this. Again.

“You can just never catch a break,” Dean says quietly as he stands up straight to stretch his back. He sets a hand on the roof of the Impala and sighs heavily, surveying the now clean flooring of the backseat. He drums his fingers on the smooth surface of the car as he glances at the workbench, which is much messier than yesterday, for he’d taken out more tools and supplies and had been much too tired last night to clean it up.

As he sifts through the plethora of items for what he needs next, a part of him hopes he’ll have run out of something, giving him the perfect excuse to go to the auto shop. It would be creepy if he just went there to watch you, and it’s not as if he has to take in any of the cars in the bunker to get worked on. He can do it all himself. Why would he spend money on that? But as he continues fixing up the Impala, he finds that he has everything he needed. Which is a bit of a bummer—well, okay, it’s a huge bummer. He’s not even sure the next time he’d have to go over there for more things. For all he knows, that could be after their next case. And who knows when that would be? Moreover, who knows how long they’d be gone for said case?

Well, he supposes he could just plan ahead. Stock up on items he anticipates will be running low the next time he’s servicing Baby. Before he can reconsider, Dean nods to himself, deciding this to be the next course of action. He closes the passenger side door with his hip as he wipes down his hands. This time he tosses the towel down on the workbench before he heads out of the garage to find Sam and let him know.

He doesn’t end up finding Sam anywhere within the bunker. It seems he’s taking his run a little bit later than usual today. Dean doesn’t bother leaving a note or sending off a text. It’s when he’s halfway to town that he gets a call. He doesn’t need to check the caller ID because he already knows who it is.

“Hello?”

“Where are you?” Sam’s breathing on the other end is a little labored—he’d just gotten back.

“On my way to the car shop.”

“Weren’t you just there yesterday?”

“Picking up extra supplies for next time. That way I already have everything on hand.”

It’s quiet for a moment. “You just want to see that girl again, don’t you?”

Dean briefly considers lying, but he knows Sam will see right through it. “… Yeah.”

Sam laughs, and Dean can perfectly see in his mind’s eye his younger brother’s toothy grin. “Okay, well, have fun I guess.”

Dean pulls into a parking spot facing the garage but doesn’t see you. Maybe you had the day off? He sighs quietly, deflating a little at the thought, before getting out and heading inside the store. While he’s there, filling up a basket with various items, he’s listening for the jingle of the bell above the door. Whenever he hears it, he glances up, but is left disappointed because none of the newcomers are you.

The same man works at the register as yesterday. If he recognizes Dean, he doesn’t say anything about it. Dean is only half-paying attention when the employee asks if he found everything all right. He sort of just nods and gives a small courtesy smile, and he looks out the glass door as each of his items is rung up, hoping that maybe you’ll turn the corner and be walking inside. You don’t.

He carries both plastic bags in one hand and pushes the door open with his free hand. He’s fishing for the car keys in his pocket and thinking that it’s just his luck that you aren’t here today when he gives one more look toward the garage. Your sloppily done ponytail is hard to miss.

Without even realizing it he smiles a little to himself when he sees you. You’re reading something on a piece of paper, and after you do, you fold it up and tuck it into the pocket of your jumpsuit. A honk startles Dean and that’s when he notices he’d just stopped walking right in the middle of the lane. He waves to apologize as he quickly move off to the side and walks the rest of the way to his car. He sets down the bags on the floor of the passenger side before locking the car again and heading over to the garage.

He slows down as he approaches, eyes roving over the various cars being worked on, some elevated on jacks to give adequate room for getting to their undersides. There’s a radio by the wall playing songs he doesn’t recognize. He doesn’t really listen to the more recent releases. But the music is faint compared to the sound of animated chattering among the mechanics and the tools whirring to life.

“Were you here to pick up your car? You can head inside and let Jeremy know. He’s at the counter; he can ring you up.”

Dean tears his gaze away from the cars to see you walking up to him. You smile politely, and it reaches your eyes. Your cheeks are slightly flushed, which he suspects is due to the heat from inside the garage. Today you’re wearing your jumpsuit properly, but you have the sleeves pushed up. There’s a patch on the suit with your name on it: [Name].

“Oh, no, I’m not.” Dean chuckles nervously. “I just wanted to look. I work on my own cars too, so I like to watch sometimes.”

Your smile brightens. “Really?” Based on the tone of your voice, he knows you’re genuinely interested and not just saying this to be nice.

Dean’s smile is a little bit more relaxed at this, and he nods. “Yeah. It’s just a hobby though.”

“Well it’s a great hobby to have.” You brush back the loose strands of hair that had come out from your ponytail but they just fall back into place.

“I’m Dean.” The introduction is out of his mouth before he can stop it.

“[Name],” you respond.

“I know.” Dean quickly elaborates, lest you find him creepy. “It’s uh… It’s on your suit.” He points at the patch.

“Right.” It’s your turn to laugh nervously as you briefly look down at it. “I always forget that’s there.” You shrug, then take a deep breath and glance behind you. “I think I should be getting back to work. Still finishing up on one car and it’s getting picked up pretty soon.”

“Of course.” Dean waves his hand. “Sorry for distracting you.”

“Don’t apologize.” You shake your head. “I needed a little break.”

“It was nice to meet you.”

“You too, Dean.” Your smile is soft and Dean swears his heart squeezes at the sight of it.

He continues to stand there and watch as you walk away, and he notices that you’ve rolled up the legs of your jumpsuit a few times. They must’ve been too long for you. Before you resume working, you unzip the suit and shrug off the top half, tying the sleeves around your waist to let your body breathe a little better. Now that he thinks about it, he can feel some of the heat radiating from the garage.

Sam just about gets an earful about you once Dean returns to the bunker. The younger Winchester can’t help but watch on amusedly because Dean is never like this. It’s honestly a little strange, and he almost wants to ask (in jest of course): “Who are you and what have you done with my brother?”

“I mean, my heart started hurting, Sammy. What the hell?” Dean throws his arms up in confusion as he sits back in the chair.

“You sure that isn’t just all the greasy food finally catching up to you?” Sam raises a brow.

Dean looks thoroughly unamused at the joke. He reaches out for his beer sitting on the table and takes a long swig from the bottle. “I don’t like feeling this way, man. It’s bizarre and I feel like I’m in freaking high school!”

Sam laughs. “You’re telling me. It’s weird seeing you like this.” Dean doesn’t reply and he’s staring off to the side at nothing in particular, but Sam can see the cogs spinning in his head. “You’re gonna go back to the shop again, aren’t you?”

Dean gives him a side glance and delays his response by taking another sip of his drink. And then: “You bet I am.” Sam didn’t expect anything different.

———

The next time Dean visits the auto shop, he takes Baby. She’s been fully repaired and looks good as new. It’s like a breath of fresh air when he’s back on the road with her. He drives with the windows down because the weather is so nice.

He pulls up in a spot close to the garage and sees you right away. “[Name]!”

You look away from surveying one of the elevated cars and your eyes light up when you see him. Well, at this distance, he’s not sure if it’s because you see him or because you see his car. “Dean!” You walk up to him with a bright smile. “Nice car.”

“A ’67 Impala,” he tells you as he sets his hand on the hood of the car, which is still warm. “She’s my baby.”

“I bet. She’s beautiful.” You circle the car slowly, studying every little sleek detail. Dean feels pride swell in his chest. You gently set your hands on the hood of the car to brace yourself as you bend over to glance inside at the interior, and he tries his hardest not to stare at your ass (he fails). “You work on her yourself?”

“Yep.” Dean nods. “Everything.”

You stand back up straight and turn to face him, smiling. “Well clearly she’s in good hands. She looks great.”

Dean takes your comment to heart and his smile is genuinely thankful. Before he can say anything, you speak up again.

“It feels like you were just here. Run out of supplies already?” You cross your arms and rest your weight on one foot, your hip jutting out. This question could be taken as something you’re genuinely wondering, but your tone is playful and the glint in your eyes is teasing, which effectively negates that assumption.

Dean chuckles and momentarily looks away, at a car parked across the lot. He didn’t plan on lying about his reason for being here. Even if he did, he’s sure you’d know it wasn't the truth. Usually he wouldn’t be this nervous—he’s always been up-front. What did you do to him?

He shrugs and meets your eyes again. “No, actually… I came here to see you.”

Your smile widens. “I’m flattered. I’m hardly a sight for sore eyes when I’ve been in the garage all day,” you joke.

“I dunno, I guess I have a thing for girls that have messy hair and work on cars.”

At the mention of your hair you reach up to feel your bun, making sure it’s still sitting securely on your head. It’s nowhere near perfect. It had been done hastily and without a mirror, but how it looks doesn’t matter if you’re beneath a car. “And how many girls have you met like that?”

“You’re the first.”

You laugh shyly and your gaze briefly drops down to the ground. “Good.” You look back up at him. “I like to be unique.” It’s a statement that’s half a joke and half sincere.

Dean smiles back warmly and he’s quiet for a moment. Then he asks: “Are you free tomorrow night?”

“I am.” You stand a little straighter at this question because you know where it’s headed. You’re wrenching your hands behind your back.

“Do you maybe wanna grab dinner together or something?”

You smile and hope it’s not too wide, which would betray your excitement. “That sounds great.”

You give him your number before you’re pulled back into work. If you lingered any longer you might get in trouble. Dean can’t stop smiling the whole drive home. He’s already eager to see you again. It feels like tomorrow night is so far away. He hopes there aren’t any cases that pop up before then. But knowing him and his luck, there just might be. He tries not to let it deter him, because—

“I got a date with her, Sammy!” Dean exclaims as he enters the library.

Sam pauses his Netflix show and looks up. “You did?”

“Hell yeah I did!” Dean pulls back a chair and sits down. “I swear there better not be any cases that come up before tomorrow night.”

“I think you’ll be fine.” Sam smiles reassuringly.

“I hope so.” Dean instinctively reaches toward the table for his beer then remembers he hadn’t grabbed one from the refrigerator. With a sigh, he hefts himself up and sets out for the kitchen just as Sam hits play and returns to his show.

———

Dean picks you up.

When you open the door, it’s almost like he’s looking at a completely different person. Your hair is neater, no longer tangled and messy but combed out and resting in soft waves on your shoulders. You’re wearing makeup—not much, but it’s still more than he’s used to seeing on you, since you never wear any when you work. You’ve swapped your jumpsuit for a floral dress. But your smile is still the same, and it’s what brings everything together.

He tells you that you look amazing. It’s the first thing out of his mouth. And it’s not something he says just to be nice. He truly means it. You can sense this, and your smile is shy as you say thanks. The two of you decide on heading to the mom and pop diner not far from your house. Neither of you is interested in anything fancy, and this place had a reputation for having some great pancakes. On the drive over, you run your hands over the leather seats, over the dashboard. You’re so enamored with everything and it makes Dean chuckle. No one else gets this excited about Baby.

As the two of you talk in the corner booth Dean can feel himself falling in love little by little. It’s so cliché he almost wants to gag. He wonders what Sam would make of it all, because this? Diner dates, being thoroughly interested in getting to know you, hanging onto every word you say? When was the last time he’d felt this way about anyone? When had he last taken his time like this? With the sort of lives they lead, it’s almost impossible to. They never stick around anywhere for very long, always on the move. But Lebanon, it’s basically home base. It’s the perfect coincidence to have found you here, of all places.

The waitress gives you free milkshakes, for she clearly noticed you were on a date and wanted to give the two of you a little treat. Dean drinks his rather quickly, but you end up pouring yours into a to-go cup since you’re too full to finish it while you’re still at the diner. (Later on he learns this is how you are with all your drinks. He ends up finishing a lot of them for you.)

He kisses you in the Impala. You taste like sugar despite the milkshake being advertised as strawberry-flavored, but he's not surprised. Those drinks are pretty much just liquid sugar. The radio is on low volume and the only light shining into the car is from the street lamp in front of your house and Dean briefly thinks—wow, it really is like he’s some kid in high school, down to the warmth in his chest as he acclimates himself to the softness of your lips. He doesn’t linger on the thought for long, however. You’re much more important right now.

———

When Dean arrives back at the bunker, he doesn’t need to say anything for Sam to figure out that the date had been successful. It’s difficult for Dean to hide the excitement on his face.

Sam still stands by his statement that Dean being like this is weird—really weird—but it’s not unwelcome. Their lives are rough, and you’re the diamond in it. It feels like so long since he’s seen Dean this happy. And it’s not until now, when it’s happening, that he realizes how much he’s missed it.

It’s late when Dean finally settles into bed for the night. He lays on his back, blood rushing to his head as he stares at the ceiling. He feels light as air as he reflects on the events of the evening. For all his run of bad luck, meeting you is, in contrast, the best stroke of luck he’s had—that he thinks he’ll ever have.

As he falls asleep to the thought of your warm smile and gentle eyes and soft voice, he realizes how special you are, how much you mean to him now and how much more you’ll mean to him as time goes on. He never really considered that there might be room in his life for something like this, but before he could fully process what was happening, you’d found your way into it, settled into your own spot and made yourself comfortable. For an inkling of a second he swears it’s like you were always meant to be there, filling in the holes of all the things he’s ever lost. You will never truly know just how special you are to him, and it breaks his heart.

#dean winchester x reader #dean winchester imagine #supernatural imagine #dean winchester #supernatural #bubble-tea-bunny

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casandpuppies · 7 years ago

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October Destiel AU Challenge: Day 13 - Would You Like to Buy Some Honey?

31 Days of Destiel Drabbles: Day 21 Day 13 - Farmer’s Market

Of all the places that Dean wants to be on a Saturday morning, this place is just about last on the list. For starters, it’s nine o’ clock and he doesn’t have to work today, so he could still be sleeping right now. Hell, if he’s going to be awake anyway, he’d almost rather be at work. At least he enjoys working on cars.

This…this is a different story entirely. He eyes the scene in front of him with suspicion. There’s vendors everywhere and far more people than Dean thinks is reasonable for what’s basically a glorified grocery store. A group of people picks that moment to pass by them, nearly running him over in the process. Looks to be the rich, hipster type. Same as probably literally everyone here, because who else would spend this much money on goddamn vegetables? He scowls at them and then turns the look on Sam. Sam, the whole reason he’s out of bed and here this early in the morning on a precious day off.

“There’s supermarkets for a reason, Sam.”

Sam just gives Dean one of his patented you uncultured swine how are we even related looks. “Yeah, but farmer’s markets are better, because all the stuff is fresh and local and handmade and you can’t get that at Walmart. It’s better for you, it tastes better, and it supports the local economy.”

In response, Dean rolls his eyes and makes an unconvinced grunt. “Okay, I get it, you’re a tree-hugging hippy, but the food at real stores tastes fine, hasn’t killed me yet, and it doesn’t cost half my paycheck.”

“You didn’t have to come with me,” Sam says in that passive-aggressive tone of his. Like Dean actually had a choice in the matter. Like he chose to come of his own free will. Like Dean’s constitution is any match for Sam’s puppy eyes and incessant pleading, even after all these years. Especially when he had to go and involve his ridiculous and disgusting crush on Eileen and then proceed to stroke Dean’s ego by complimenting his cooking skills. So of course Dean is going to help his little brother impress Eileen by helping him cook an epic dinner for their weekly get-together. And if that means Sam wants to cook with all this fancy, organic crap, then Dean will grin and bear it. Doesn’t mean he has to like it, though.

“I was promised pie,” Dean replies skeptically, because he sure as hell doesn’t see any pie so far. “Of course I had to come if there’s pie involved.”

Sam makes an annoyed huffing sound. “You’ll get your pie,” he says, beckoning Dean forward. “Now come on, you’re the one who insisted I shouldn’t be let near a kitchen, so help me pick stuff.”

Dean sighs, but follows after Sam, anyway. It’s going to be a long day.

Sam may be right to some extent when he talks about how Dean is the one with all the natural talent in the kitchen, but even he can only do so much when he’s never even heard of half of this shit, before. What even is arugula? It sounds like a Harry Potter spell.

Although, he has to admit that he’s seen some pretty nice stuff. Maybe not so superior in quality that he’d come all the way across town and pay twice as much, but still. He’s snatched up some nice lettuce and tomatoes because that stuff always goes good on burgers and he’s still hoping he might convince Sam to let him make his famous burgers for dinner.

But he still stands by his thought that a farmer’s market is a hipster’s wet dream. Not only are there countless stands with produce and nuts and other foods, but he’s seen several vendors selling those hippie bags and paintings and even some hats, to name a few of the crafts. He doesn’t keep up with what kids do these days, but he can imagine this is the kind of place the kids might “Instagram” about. It’s…kind of disgustingly cute, if he’s being honest.

Still no pie though. Maybe he’s supposed to buy apples or pecans or whatever and make his own pie, but he feels that’s definitely cheating the rules and he doesn’t intend to let Sam get away with that.

It’s been about half an hour since he got separated from Sam, and he never imagined this place would be big enough that finding a giant like his brother would be an issue. Somehow, he has a feeling Sam’s avoiding him on purpose, because Sam is a big nerd who’s probably having the time of his life here.

“Can I help you find something?” a deep voice calls out to him, making Dean realize he’s been standing in front of this tent without moving for longer than is probably socially acceptable. Turning towards the voice, he sees a dark-haired man sitting under a yellow awning, and regarding him with a pleasant smile and curious, blue eyes. He’s actually young, and pretty damn good-looking, if Dean does say so himself, which kind of breaks his (admittedly unfair and untrue) stereotype of all these vendors being old farmers and lonely, rich housewives. At least he doesn’t look one of these new-age hippie types.

Dean clears his throat, embarrassed to be caught standing around like an idiot. “Nah, man, just looking for my brother. He dragged me here and sent me on a mission to help him find the perfect ingredients for a dinner he wants to make to impress his girlfriend. And he ran away from me, and now I kinda have no idea what I’m doing.” Why on earth he feels compelled to overshare is beyond him, but fortunately the guy just nods along like he’s interested, saving Dean some degree of awkwardness, and then he smiles.

“Well, if you’re at a loss for ingredients, I could suggest something,” he says, gesturing to the table in front of him, “but you might think it big-headed of me.”

Only now does Dean take the time to actually look and see what this guy’s selling. He doesn’t seem like the super artsy and crafty kind of guy, but he doesn’t necessarily seem like a farmer, either. Of course, in all fairness, there’s not a specific “type” these kinds of people have to fit into, so Dean can’t really judge by looks alone.

Turns out, there’s a whole army of jars, arranged in a few neat little lines along the table, from bigger sizes in the back to smaller sizes in the front. Each jar is filled with a thick amber liquid, which Dean recognizes after a moment.

“Honey?” He raises an eyebrow. The label reads ‘Castiel Novak Apiaries,’ and has a phone number and address written underneath, with a little cartoon bee drawn off to the side. “You made all this?”

The man—Castiel or Casteel or however the hell he pronounces it—chuckles. “Well, technically, I didn’t make it. The bees get the credit for that. I just harvested it. But yes, I’m Castiel, which is what I assume you were getting at.” He sticks his hand out across the table in kind of an awkward motion.

“Of course.” Dean snorts, but takes the offered hand and shakes it. “Dean. And as tempting as it is, I don’t think my brother would appreciate me coming back with nothing but honey. Can’t really do much with it, you know?”

Castiel tilts his head and gives Dean what can only be described as a challenging look. “On the contrary. I’m told my honey makes very good apple pies.”

He perks up at the mention of pie. “Now you’re just trying to bribe me, I swear.”

Castiel grins and leans forward, resting his elbows on the table, before letting his eyes very obviously rove over Dean’s body. “You look like the kind of guy who appreciates pie.”

“So you are trying to bribe me.” If Dean didn’t know any better, he’d say that was a flirtatious remark. Not that he’s opposed to the idea, of course, but why would this guy even be interested?

Castiel shrugs innocently. “I am trying to sell a commodity, here. Is it working, or do I need to discuss other benefits of honey?” Okay, that was definitely an attempt at flirting.

Dean tries to resist the urge to roll his eyes. So maybe the guy isn’t a hippie or hipster or an old farmer, but he is kind of weird. Weird in an awkward, dorky way. Weird in an almost endearing way. He leans closer to the table and picks up one of the jars, turning it over in his hands. He decides to try his own form of Winchester charm and see how that does. “I don’t know, man, the mention of pie has almost got me sold, but how do I know you’re telling the truth? You don’t have any pie to prove it.”

There’s a beat of silence, then Castiel raises an eyebrow and the corner of his lips pull up into a little smile. He crosses his arms. “I suppose I’ll just have to make you one.”

Dean mirrors Castiel’s smile, and his eyes are probably lighting up at the prospect of a maybe-date and pie. “Oh, is that so? You’re quite the dedicated salesman.”

By the time Sam finally finds Dean, Dean’s gotten a number, a time and place, and another probably addition to their family dinners in the future. Sam spends the rest of the day bemoaning Dean’s ability to forget what he’s supposed to be doing in favor of picking up a hot guy or girl at any chance he gets. Dean know that Sam isn’t mad, though, because it turns out that Castiel—or Cas, as Dean finds out he prefers—is actually a damn good cook.

#destiel #destiel fic #deancas #deancas fic #destiel fanfic #Supernatural #Mandy's writing #october destiel au challenge #damn I suck so bad at this #but I'm going to do 31 of them before the end of october if it fucking kills me #going to try and crank out as many as I can today while I'm off from work #to the people who read these--thank you for your patience! you're awesome

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fourteen--steps · 7 years ago

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Thank you so much @headbuttingunicorn :D :D :D

I’m not 100% sure where my little guys originally came from but odds are good it was a feeder tank. The LFS if I’m being optimistic but probably like Petsmart. I rescued them from a bowl after about a week and a half dying in the lobby of my apartment building, they were definitely pretty sorry looking then :/

For the last year and a half or so the three survivors lived in this 50 g

Which technically could have sustained them for most of their lives (I think even by bare minimum standards a 65 would probably be necessary eventually for three fish), but it has weird dimensions (15x36x20″) and honestly?? They were just outgrowing it. They’re over 6 inches now at just a little over two years old. But I’ll talk about their care in here anyway because that’s where they’ve done most of their growing and living the majority of their life.

LOTS of filtration. I've had two Aquaclear 70s on this tank the whole time it’s been up, and for the last 4 months or so, a SunSun HW-304B canister as well. The AC’s are 300 gph (gallons per hour) each, and the SunSun is hOLY SHIT 525 gph oh my god how have I not noticed that.

(Weird story with that one??? I thought I ordered the 265 gph model, found I’d accidentally ordered the 370 gph model, and when the box arrived they had sent me this one which is oh my gooooodddddd 525 wat)

So I had around 600 (and then 1100 whooopps that’s maybe a little too much) total turnover per hour, or about 12x the volume of the tank. With goldfish I always recommend at least 10x, minimum. It really makes such a difference. Even if your water tests come up clear on water change day, the quicker you’re getting the ammonia and nitrite processed out of the water, the less stress the fish’s systems are under in the long run.

They're not expensive either! The Aquaclears are about $45 each online, and the canister is similar. Although sunsun being an Asian company their prices fluctuate a bit.

I have a shit ton of pothos on my tank too, for nitrate munching purposes since my water comes out of the tap already at 10-20 ppm. I.... think it’s going to eat me someday o_O this is it with like four feet of trimming at least.

And even with all that, water changes! I’ll admit I wasn’t always solid on my w/c schedule, my health is iffy at best and running on a 10 day schedule happened fairly often, although I DO NOT recommend that. To make up for it, I almost always do 60-90% changes. Contrary to popular belief, large water changes are not harmful to your fish or your cycle as long as you match the pH and temperature of the fresh water going in. I refill in chunks over the course of an hour or so to avoid shocking them, they pout during the process but as soon as I restart the filters they’re back to normal.

I recently, and I mean recently, as in last week, upgraded to a FRICKIN’ ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY GALLON TANK??? OMFUCKINGFUCK LOOK

I LOVE IT SO MUCH AND SO DO THEY :D

Holy shit I’ve been fighting with the manufacturers over this thing for wEEKS IT’S FINALLY HERE. 72″x24″x20″ which is such a good shape for goldfish, much better than the standard 150 which is taller and thinner. Ahhh they’re so happy they just go nyoooooom nyooom from one end to the other, and I can add more friends!! Right now I have Remy, Lilac, Ludi, and little Ametrine in there. Plus Sumi in quarantine, but she’s really sick all of a sudden which is why this post took longer than I meant it too, sorry :( I don’t know what happened she just dropsied out of nowhere the other night. She was due to join the others in a week or two, but if she pulls through she’s getting an extended QT now to be sure she’s really healthy

And a skinny lil blind dude I picked up not long ago who may or may not live by himself depending on if I think he can hold his own with the others or not? He’s a spunky cutie but Very Tiny.

Anyway the tank is kind of a mess cause I just chucked every piece of spare decor I have in there to give them something to do, but I have some nice driftwood and just bought a ton of anubias and I’m gonna try actual planted this time!!!

Food food yum yum :) Variety is the spice of life. This pic is from a while ago, I’ve added more to this now probably

I use the Omega One and Thera A as daily staples, rotated with smatterings of the other pellets, as well as Repashy Soilent Green and some of my own homemade gel foods. I really wanna try Northfin pellets too, or AAP Paradigm when I get around to it. I do veggies a few times a week, I’ll buy a bunch of stuff fresh and then blanch and freeze it in baggies to feed over the next couple months. Zucchini, peas, bok choy, cauliflower, kale, spinach, collard greens, broccoli, watercress, etc etc. I usually have four or five at any given time. The frozen proteins I do once every week or two. I’m super allergic to bloodworms so those are a special treat I only feed with gloves :P but they get mysis or brine shrimp usually.

It looks intimidating, but it’s not that difficult. I acquired this stuff bit by bit over the course of a year so you don’t have to go spend a ton of money at once. If I ever just happen to see something that looks fairly good quality for an okay price I’ll grab a small container to try out. Some I end up liking, some I don’t, but even the mediocre stuff I sometimes use as a junk treat, or as snail food. Like I wouldn’t use any of the foods here besides the Repashy, Omega One, Northfin, or NLS as staples. The Aqueon is okay-ish if you have no other option, but the Cobalt is too high in protein for daily feeding, and Hikari has gone so downhill in the last few years. I honestly wouldn’t even buy it, I just feel obligated to use up the bag I already have. Pick maybe two of those staple foods to keep on hand, rotate in veggies a few times a week, some frozen protein here and there and you’re set, don’t absolutely need anything else. Of course more is always better, if you can.

And yes, sigh, dumb as bricks aren’t they? Picky too sometimes. Try a bunch of different vegetables, leafy greens are a good place to start, or zucchini. Boil them soft (you can just chuck it in a glass of conditioned water in the microwave for 2-5 minutes) and cut it into little bite sized pieces. If they don’t go for it right away, keep trying for a couple of days in a row. Eventually they’ll get hungry and warm up to it. Keep your plec occupied with something of his own to eat and feed the goldies at the other end of the tank to try and get them all a bit of something green to eat.

Veggies high in carotenes are really good for enhancing color. So besides your obvious ones like carrot and sweet potato, that’s also going to be your dark leafy greens! If you can get your lil guys onto stuff like collard, spinach, chard, etc, that’ll definitely make a difference in their coloration :)

Gel foods are also a really good option for picky eaters. I’ve never heard of a goldfish that doesn’t like gel, seriously, they adore that shit. You can get premade mixes like Repashy, which you just mix up with some hot water and set in the fridge or freezer. Or you can make your own! Here’s some recipe ideas, or just google “goldfish gel food,” you can scale them waaaaay down if you want. I make pretty small batches that last a long time. And feel free to swap out ingredients too and experiment, or make up your own completely. Just stick to lean, low mercury seafood, and produce without too much sugar and you can mix and match as you please. The one in my freezer right now is mostly watercress and bok choy, a couple spoonfuls of NLS, some cloves of fresh garlic, spirulina, a few baby carrots, a bunch of gross string algae I scooped out of the snail tank, and a dash of paprika. The kids adore it.

Uhhhh let’s see, anything else? I treat with prazi once a year or so, preventative maintenance, like deworming your dog. Besides that I keep medicating to a minimum unless it’s really dire. Minor scrapes and bumps I leave be. Have pretty hard high pH water, usually around 8-8.2. No heater or chiller but the water temp stays low-mid 70s most of the time

I dunno, just plenty of love and attention! I redecorate their tank and make them little toys (try some sturdy nontoxic plastic beads threaded on fishing line, especially if you can find somewhere to wedge food in, enjoy the ensuing adorable) talk to them, draw on the glass...

I love them!!! So much!!!! I owe them my life many times over, that’s not an exaggeration at all. Seeing them in their new tank has really reminded me of how far they’ve come and how much they mean to me. I’m not always a perfect owner and there are times I fall down on their care, but they’re still fat and happy and I’m always trying to do better

#fishblr #goldfish #goldfish care #My Children yes good #fishies

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jesseneufeld · 5 years ago

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8 Tips For Keto on a Budget

A criticism often leveled against the keto diet is that it’s more expensive than a “regular” (read: SAD) diet. There’s some truth to that. It does cost more to buy meat than ramen and beans. I personally spend more on groceries now than I did before finding Primal. Not only did I shift to buying different types of food, I also came to care more about food quality. I started choosing more pasture-raised meat and eggs, and more pesticide-free and organic produce and dairy.

However, my grocery bills haven’t changed noticeably since going keto. If you’re already eating Primally, your daily foods don’t have to change that much if you decide to try keto. You’ll remove some (okay, most) of the fruits and root veggies, and sub in more above-ground veggies and probably some healthy fats. It’s not a substantial overhaul. However, if you’re coming from a standard high-carb, lots-of-cheap-packaged-foods diet straight into Primal+keto, it can be a shock to the wallet.

Sure, I can tell you that this is an investment in your long-term health and spending more on food now means spending less on medical care later. I believe that. I also know that doesn’t help you today if you’re looking at your food budget and your fridge, now mostly empty after purging it of non-Primal, higher-carb foods.

If you’re committed to making Primal+keto work on limited funds, it can be done. Here are some tips for making it happen.

1) Buy What You Can Afford

With Primal+keto, there are ideals when it comes to food quality, and then there’s what fits your budget. Now is the time to call on the saying, “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” Don’t stress about buying the best quality everything. Don’t forgo eating vegetables because you can’t always fit organic options into your budget. Non-pastured eggs still have more to offer nutrient-wise than a bagel for breakfast.

In terms of priorities, aim for better quality meat. (I’ll include tips for finding less expensive meat choices below.) Check the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch to see which types of seafood are worth your money and which should be avoided altogether; don’t spend money on the latter.

For produce, check out the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen—the vegetables and fruits they recommend buying organic—and the Clean Fifteen that are safer to buy conventional. Of note to keto eaters, spinach and kale should be organic, but many of our keto-friendly faves make the clean list. Don’t stress if you need to choose conventional avocados, cauliflower, and broccoli.

Remember, too, that it’s not always necessary to look for the organic label even for the “dirty dozen.” If you’re buying from local farmers, ask about their practices. Many small farmers are pesticide-free or use organic practices but simply can’t afford the process of becoming organic certified (it’s quite expensive and arduous). The same goes for meat.

2) Don’t Menu Plan

I’m going against the grain here. Most articles on budgeting tell you to make and stick to a strict plan. I find, however, that it’s more cost-effective to let sales be my guide. I’d rather check out my local grocery stores and farmer’s markets, buy what’s cheapest, and make it work. Use apps that tell you where the sales are and buy accordingly. Sign up for the customer loyalty cards at the stores you frequent so they can send you deals and coupons.

I realize that this might sound stressful if you don’t feel confident in the kitchen. If you’re beholden to recipes, this doesn’t always work. (Of course, you can always look up recipes on your phone in the grocery store—I’ve done it a million times.) Remember that you can always default to making a Big-Ass Salad or an omelet or scramble.

3) Shop Around

Get to know the various supermarkets, specialty stores, and farmer’s markets in your area. Learn what’s the freshest, cheapest, and most likely to be available at each. While it’s convenient to do one-stop shopping, it might be worth the extra time it takes to make two or three different trips during the week to hit up different stores.

Think outside the traditional grocery store box. In many smaller communities, a “big box” store may have the largest selection of meat and veggies, including organic, and a wide variety of specialty products. In my town, Grocery Outlet is the best place to buy organic coconut oil and olive oil, and they carry lots of other keto-friendly staples like nut butters, grass-fed meat, and cheese at low prices.

If you have access to a farmer’s market, definitely make sure you check it out. Sometimes farmers will mark down their remaining items at the end of the day so they don’t have to pack it up. You won’t have the same selection, but you might score some deals.

Also look into local CSAs, farm stands, and meat purveyors who sell direct to customers. Again, you can often find ones that offer sustainable practices and high-quality products without the expensive organic label. Check out Eat Wild and Local Harvest to find farmers near you. I’m a fan of CSAs that sell “ugly produce”—the items that aren’t pretty enough for grocery stores but that are still tasty and nutritious—so it doesn’t go to waste.

Finally, check Facebook marketplace, Craigslist, and so on for people looking to sell backyard eggs for cheaper than the store. If you live in an area where people hunt, you might be able to score some meat this way during hunting season, too.

4) Skip the MCT Oil and Exogenous Ketone Products

Unless you have a medical reason to have very elevated ketones, these expensive products aren’t a priority. You don’t need them to do keto “right.”

5) Reconsider the Keto-fied Baking

Almond flour, coconut flour, arrowroot powder, erythritol, and so on can also be pricey. From a nutrient perspective, there are better ways to invest your grocery dollars. You don’t have to give it up entirely, but consider how big a chunk it’s taking out of your budget and whether it’s worth it.

6) Eat the Stuff that Other People Don’t Want

I’m talking organ meat, bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks, sardines, and the like. The great irony is that these are some of the most nutrient-packed foods in the store, and you can often get them for cheap because the average consumer is looking for boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Good news for you!

Ask the butcher at your grocery store if they have organ meats or cuts that they aren’t going to put in the case because they aren’t popular enough. You might be able to snag cheap (or even free) bones for bone broth that way too—although probably less so now that bone broth has become such a trendy item.

If you’re squeamish about organ meat, remember that almost anything can be ground up in a food processor and mixed with ground beef for burgers or meatballs, or to be hidden in chili or meat sauce. Heart is an excellent place to start. It doesn’t have the distinctive strong flavor of liver or kidney, and it’s very affordable.

7) Your Freezer is Your Friend

Many items are less expensive if you buy them frozen—vegetables (especially off-season), berries, seafood—and they’re just as nutritious. Freezing also allows you to buy in bulk and freeze the extras, or prepare big batches of food and freeze smaller portions for later. If you have a chest freezer, look into splitting a cow or a pig with friends. This can sometimes land you a great deal on a pasture-raised animal.

Throwing away food is throwing away money. There’s no reason to waste food if you have a freezer. Most leftovers can be frozen if you’re not going to consume them immediately (though some things, like mashed cauliflower, don’t reheat well). If your avocados are on the verge of going bad, slice and freeze them. Blend fresh herbs with your oil of choice and freeze them in ice cube trays to add to soups and sauces later. Strain leftover bacon grease into a jar and freeze that, too.

My favorite freezer trick is to keep a large zip-top bag to which I add vegetable trimmings like the ends of carrots, celery, onions, and beets, and broccoli stems. I also keep the bones from all the delicious bone-in meat I’m cooking. (I always buy bone-in when I can—it’s one of Dr. Cate Shanahan’s Four Pillars of health.) This allows me to…

8) Make Your Own Bone Broth (and Nut Milk)

Bone broth is a hot commodity nowadays—no pun intended—and you can spend a pretty penny on it at the store… or you can just make it yourself out of stuff that other people are throwing away.

Whenever I cook a whole chicken (which is usually more cost-effective than buying just breasts or thighs), or when my aforementioned freezer bags fill up, I make a batch of bone broth in my slow cooker or Instant Pot. To store it, I freeze it in mason jars or silicone muffin cups. The latter makes broth “pucks” that are uber convenient for adding to dishes later.

Nut milk isn’t necessary for keto obviously. However, if you’re dairy-free and buying nut milk, you really have to try making your own. It couldn’t be easier, and I strongly prefer my homemade nut milk (a blend of almond, hazelnut, and Brazil nut) to anything I can find in the store. As a bonus, I use the leftover nut pulp to make pancakes, bread, and rolls. (See the recipe in The Keto Reset Diet.) It’s a double bang for my buck, and no waste.

The Good News…

Despite the naysaying, it’s not only possible to do keto on a budget, but sometimes going keto actually saves you money. First, many people are able to reduce or eliminate certain medications—insulin, blood pressure meds—which can be a significant monthly savings. Second, once you’ve become keto-adapted, you might find that you’re eating fewer calories overall for the same amount of energy. Mark touts this benefit all the time.

Also, your “non-essentials” budget usually goes down. I’m talking things like frappuccinos, restaurant desserts, and alcohol. The cost of a night on the town decreases significantly when you’re fully buzzed off a glass and a half of wine once you go keto! (And when you’re not ordering 2 a.m. pizza.)

So, let me turn it over to you: Do you have other tips for making Primal+keto easier on the wallet? Share them below, and have a great week, everybody.

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lauramalchowblog · 5 years ago

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8 Tips For Keto on a Budget

If you’re committed to making Primal+keto work on limited funds, it can be done. Here are some tips for making it happen.

1) Buy What You Can Afford

2) Don’t Menu Plan

3) Shop Around

4) Skip the MCT Oil and Exogenous Ketone Products

Unless you have a medical reason to have very elevated ketones, these expensive products aren’t a priority. You don’t need them to do keto “right.”

5) Reconsider the Keto-fied Baking

6) Eat the Stuff that Other People Don’t Want

7) Your Freezer is Your Friend

8) Make Your Own Bone Broth (and Nut Milk)

Bone broth is a hot commodity nowadays—no pun intended—and you can spend a pretty penny on it at the store… or you can just make it yourself out of stuff that other people are throwing away.

The Good News…

So, let me turn it over to you: Do you have other tips for making Primal+keto easier on the wallet? Share them below, and have a great week, everybody.

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mwriters4 · 7 years ago

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Five Questions About landscape gardeners You Should Answer Truthfully.

Water solely enough to maintain your lawn inexperienced – you can see when it starts to brown a bit and then bump up the occasions. Edmonton Watering shouldn’t be needed through the wet winter months unless there may be an extended dry spell. Turf sometimes needs fertilization 3-5 occasions per year. Comply with directions on the bag for utility charges, and watch out to not over fertilize as that may burn the lawn. Unfold 2 to three inches of fresh mulch around shrubs and trees. Taft warns residence homeowners to avoid utilizing free mulch from municipal piles, which regularly contain illness spores; as a substitute, buy hardwood shredded mulch from house and garden centers, he says. Low cost, dump mulch primarily is made from bushes which have died from disease,” Taft says. Many diseases will linger in the mulch, like leaf spot and pine bark borers. Fall isn’t the time to prune, as a result of that encourages progress when healthy plants ought to remain dormant.

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Landscaping Planting Ideas Landscaping Planting Tips Tuesday woods working was simply outside Little Rock in the Alotian Club the place he made his first look which was associated to golf. Woods was giving to his youthful fan base since was a clinic to your Inaugural Jackson T. Stephens Charitable Golf Tournament. Youngsters from the Stephens supported charities watched and heard this golf great when he provided advice to young golfers on your mechanics of swings. Landscaping Planting Suggestions All of us saw historical past repeated as Tiger Woods pulled a Tom-Watson-2009-British-Open-finish to blow a lead which he had carried all through the tournament. And like Watson at the tip Woods seemed for having misplaced the tournament in the mind previous to he dropped it on the remaining is distributed hole.

When landscaping the yard, create curvy borders round your flower beds.

It is usually prudent to go with decrease-price merchandise. Merchandise comparable to mulch, planting containers, and lots of perennials have cheaper variations which are the same as the upper priced items. Be careful when selecting your plants although. Many low cost big field stores may not have employees who present the optimum care to their plants. When landscaping the yard, create curvy borders round your flower beds. Rounded edges have a greater visible appeal than cornered edges. Then, that you must setup a collection of emails – known as a marketing campaign – through a free tool equivalent to Mailchimp. Do not blindly try to sell your services in each e mail. It will merely make your clients mad and click on the “unsubscribe” button. You should ship a mix of informative emails, updates on the company (clients wish to get to know you) and sales emails. Remember, just because an e-mail is a sales email, doesn’t mean it isn’t invaluable. Reminding shoppers that it’s time for a seasonal service provides worth to them. To be taught extra, take a look at this information to e mail advertising and marketing for small companies.

It can be included at the bottom of outside crops or blended into the soil used for houseplants. page The result’s stronger, healthier plants and crops without dangerous chemical residues. Steve Habib is an lively gardener and researcher with regards to rising and caring for quite a lot of plants. To receive our FREE E-book “How Do Plants Grow” visit the home Page To be taught extra about EARTHWORMS visit here. It’s additionally necessary to feed your existing bushes, roses, shrubs and established beds with a basic-objective natural feeder. After the last frost of spring it’s secure to plant half-hardy annuals and transplant the houseplants. Summer-flowering bulbs additionally ought to be in your listing to plant. The highlights of spring are blooming bulbs, tree blossoms and flowering shrubs. These will provide a beautiful color show all through the season. Spring-flowering bulbs planted in the fall will come to life after the lengthy winter. Tulips, daffodils and hyacinth are three of the most well-liked spring bulbs. Spring-blossoming timber are the proper complement to bulbs.

However, it will make a variety of sense for you to take the time to analysis regular gardening and natural gardening. Although the variations are delicate there are variations. After getting found the precise place to site your vegetable patch, it’s essential to resolve things like what you are going to plant and how much area to leave between the rows. You also want to be aware of which plants are compatible with one another. These steps apply whether you might be planning to grow organically or in the common means. They might add worth or not less than improve visitors notion of the property. Sell Your house Faster! Publisher: Shauna Arthurs Is it attainable to promote your home quicker and for extra money? By staging your house, you can create the ideal, inviting ambiance that places buyers into need mode, and has them dreaming of living in your home. Writer: David Salvato For probably the most part the sort of inspection is much like the final dwelling inspection or GHI for short. The entire points to the inspection are the same, except that the seller of the home makes the request for the home to be inspected. The significance behind that is the the vendor has the higher hand going into the gross sales transaction. Writer: joeltax Ideas to arrange your own home for an inventory so that you may get the best sales price and shortest advertising interval potential.

Landscaping Planting Suggestions By legislation all beaches in Barbados can be found the general public from the excessive-water mark right down to your sea. And not a one is off-limits to anyone. Many . nice in case you value to star gaze Barbados beaches actually favorite getaway for celebrities the worldwide. Celeb or not everyone who visits marvels at Barbados pink-white beaches that are manufactured from coral reefs that are usually floor good very high quality powder via waves for this ocean. Landscaping Planting Ideas You can not create pleasure and therefore momentum with out multiplication. Nevertheless you cannot have multiplication without first having selection. This quiz will offer you all the important information. Writer: Paul D Winter Are you aware the secret about natural gardening? It is no different from regular gardening. Sure, you did read that right! There’s very little distinction between the 2. You still need to plan your backyard and your work whether or not you’re rising vegetables the organic means or the regular manner. In this article I’ll have a look at each the similarities and differences between organic vegetable gardening and common vegetable gardening. Publisher: Rob Ethrington You already know what I hate most about organic vegetable gardening?

Unfold and Contour Mulch

Prep Planting Beds For Mulch

Vertical lines challenge a sense of strength and movement

Put money into online critiques

Choose plants that flower or fruit in the course of the spring or fall migration and entice insects

Remove Leaves and Debris

Surround weak trees with shredded leaves

NEW: Top tips for keeping real #Christmastrees spruced up plus buying live trees in pots. @LuberaUK #gardening #Christmas https://wp.me/p9ah0A-1WD pic.twitter.com/25tu6z18jN

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The work it takes to set up an organic vegetable garden and maintaining it in order that it would flourish maximally is tremendous. Nonetheless, for those who construct a vegetable backyard utilizing principles and strategies of ecological gardening, you absolutely Don’t have to perform all those bodily numbing duties. Sure indeed…ecological organic gardening for novices is the way in which forward and it really works like a charm. See, the reality is in ecological gardening, you want not spend more than eight hours per year tending to your backyard plot. Nearly all of the work is finished in the course of the arrange process. What ecological gardening does is imitate the workings of pure ecosystem… Creating an natural vegetable that produces much more meals than conventional gardening techniques and needs far much less upkeep actions. It is advisable to plant many kinds of edible plants in a really dense association to prevent weeds from rising in niche areas.

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toralmehta · 7 years ago

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Ways You To Spend Less Money On Your Car Fuel

Do The Rewards Of Alternative Fuel Outweigh The Downsides?

Green living addresses various ways of bettering our environment. One good way to do this is through the use of alternative fuels. It’s typical to find individuals who can give you lots of reasons why you should make use of alternative fuels just like they do. Likewise, there are folks who prefer not to use alternative fuels and can give you many reasons why you should not use them.

You’ll be hard pressed to contradict the fact that alternative fuels are great for the environment since they burn much more cleanly than gasoline. Some of the problems that our environment faces, such as global warming and terrible health conditions, need to be challenged so that we can make beneficial changes. Do we know who needs to decide what is best for our environment and will people do what should be done without legal requirements that they do so?

For each person who opts to use an auto with alternative fuel, there will be less pollutants released into the air causing harm, and that’s a great thing. Alternative fuel automobiles, in particular hybrids, obtain substantially better gas mileage. For a lot of drivers, this can make a great deal of difference. The government is creating tax incentives to encourage folks to choose alternative fuel vehicles. Driving alternative fuel cars will provide welcome tax benefits for the drivers and will help to keep the earth’s environment cleaner.

Despite saving money on their taxes, a number of the downsides of alternative fuel autos keep many people from purchasing them. To start, even taking into consideration available tax benefits, these autos are rather pricy. The expense is significant and numerous people simply do not have the means to purchase them. One huge problem with alternative fuel vehicles is the lack of ready availability of several of these fuels. Even though E85 fuel, a combination of ethanol and petrol, is not difficult to source, other alternative fuels may not be easily locatable. Even the places that do carry E85 don’t always have a plentiful supply, and it doesn’t make too many happy people when they have to drive out of their way just to buy fuel.

No doubt individuals will continue to debate the advantages and disadvantages for many years to come. We really need to note the hidden costs to people’s health, yet many people don’t worry about how pollution may harm their bodies. Your dedication to helping the earth will determine which side you end up on. If this type of car can protect our planet from pollution, you will be willing to buy one.

Could You Run Any Vehicle On Biodiesel Power By Using Vegetable Oil?

Due to the high cost of fuel people are looking for any source that is cheaper and that will work. Biodiesel power is actually one alternative energy source that appeals to most people. It may seem peculiar, but biodiesel power uses vegetable oil to operate your vehicle. Even so, you will find a complication because biodiesel is not easy to find in the United States at this time. As a result, you could have a problem finding a reliable supply. There are lots of individuals who prefer using this fuel, and have no problems with it in their vehicles. It lubricates the car effectively and keeps the oil fresh.

Due to the increasing popularity, there will be more places where you can get biodiesel fuel. Both manufacturers plus car owners are pumped up about the possibilities. The fuel is substantially cheaper, and many people have used the vegetable oil from restaurants without any problems. This turns out to be a rather creative way to overcome the prices at the gas pumps. You have to thoroughly examine the oil before you use it and get rid of any bits of food that remain.

The great thing about biodiesel fuel is that it emits less emissions, so it will be good for the environment as it is saving you money. Diesel vehicles can certainly be adapted to make use of biodiesel fuel and many people are opting to go this route. Biodiesel cars are currently sold directly by a small number of well-known manufacturers. Volkswagen is now providing biodiesel alternatives with its whole product line. Many larger pickups use diesel fuel and a large number of car makers, for example Ford, Chevy, and Dodge, make them available with the choice of biodiesel. Some manufacturers, including Volvo, Mercedes, and Jeep, manufacture more powerful vehicles and are preparing to release biodiesel designs.

You ought to understand that these heavy-duty vehicles will run with the same sort of power, except the energy source will be different. The power level will remain the same but one vehicle will still run on diesel while the newer model will run on biodiesel fuel. One potential issue for vehicle owners is that they may have a difficult time starting their cars when the weather is very cold. When the weather is cold, the oil thickens and could make the vehicle slow to start. To assist with this problem, the biodiesel fuel is incorporated with an 80/20 ratio of petroleum. This will depend on where yourr home is and how cold the climate, with more petroleum added the colder the climate.

Biodiesel fuel should always be in abundance simply because man makes it, whereas our limited natural resources will run out in the future. As soon as these are exhausted, the only solution is to discover another energy source. What holds back a lot of customers is usually that biodiesel vehicles can be very expensive. Sometimes developments are restricted given that we become too comfortable with what is normal.

Conserve Fuel and Decrease Pollution with These Automobile Tips

Our environment is becoming more and more polluted every day. Substantial damage has been done to the ozone layer and it’s time that we take measures to help our planet survive. This is the reason why I have decided to share some simple tips about your vehicle that can help to reduce the amount of pollution being produced every day.

One of the initial things you can perform is to make sure your auto tires are properly inflated. I’ll make an effort to clarify this strange concept. Whenever your tires are low on air you are not getting the maximum fuel usage that you would be getting if your tires were appropriately inflated. Any time your tires are low on air much more of the tire surface maintains contact with the pavement and this in turn requires you to use more gas. Sad to say, you create much more pollution when you use more gas. When your tires are inflated correctly you will be using much less gas and creating a bit less pollution.

It is necessary that you tune up your truck annually. Not everyone thinks pertaining to performing this. Your automobile will run better whenever you replace the spark plugs and wires once per year. Your car will create a lot more pollution if your spark plugs are old and worn out. This furthermore causes your car to end up with terrible gas mileage. By changing your spark plugs each year, you can help to keep your car in better shape and lessen the amount of pollution it generates.

Folk often just forget about the importance of consistent oil changes. Some people follow a rigid schedule and change their motor oil every 3000 miles while many other people change it whenever they remember to do so. When your car’s motor oil is clean your car operates better which, in turn, causes you to attain top gas mileage and reduces the pollution created by your car. Additionally if you are one of the men and women who change your own oil, make sure to recycle the oil properly. Every single garage and automotive store that offers oil has to take your old oil for recycling. There’s no reason to never recycle your used oil due to the fact there’s no fee to do so.

Here I will discuss a few other ways that you can reduce air pollution while saving gas. Change out your auto air filter regularly. Your gas mileage can certainly increase when you employ a clean air filter. You should additionally keep your car clean. A nice and clean car has a lesser amount of wind resistance than a filthy car. An extra benefit is that a thoroughly clean car will last you a lot longer. When we make use of our cars longer, we decrease the amount of pollution that is created in the production process of new vehicles.

Hypermiling Is Choosing Ways To Use Much less Fuel For Your Car

You most likely aren’t too familiar with the word hypermiling, but the chances are that it will be quite well-known in the near future. If you don’t know what it means, it is identifying ways to cut back on your fuel usage. Since many individuals cannot live without their vehicles, it is imperative to find methods to extend how far one can go on a tank of fuel.

Lots of methods are available to reduce expenses and, more than likely, you feel that you are presently doing your part. Although you may drive less than you used to, you probably feel a sense of annoyance every time you look at gas prices. You realize that you have to use your car or truck, and there aren’t always actions you can take. Moving nearer to your job is not an option and neither is obtaining a job that is located nearer to your home. Not just that, you actually like the job you have, as well as the house you live in. Acquiring another job is usually difficult, if not out of the question. Sometimes you take a pay cut as a result of changing jobs, and that would wipe out the purpose of changing in the first place.

You don’t always have the option of getting another house that is near to all the places you currently go on a regular basis. Many times, no more desirable alternatives are available. Clearly, you can do things to streamline your driving, but you can’t isolate yourself and never go out of the house. Rising energy costs should not determine your regular activities. Because of this, hypermiling may become more popular, and the methods you discover will be a huge benefit. Anywhere you go, you will need gas for your car. In every scenario that requires driving your own car, you will routinely have extra costs.

It is not always feasible to have car pooling as a solution when there are so many activities. When you have children, you can easily get involved in numerous activities. Obviously, you are going to need a car and will no doubt consume a lot of fuel going to and fro. Carpooling does not always work, however, if families in the neighborhood take turns hauling more than your own child, many trips can be eliminated. Unfortunately, unless you just stop buying gas, there isn’t much you can do to steer clear of the high cost of fuel. The federal government is not doing much to help so we as consumers have to take the initiative. Whining may make you feel better, but it will not change the price of gas, so the time is right to become more efficient.

You’ll find a great deal of government-sponsored information on hypermiling if you search the Internet. For this topic, your family will need to take the initiative if you hope to boost the efficiency of your vehicle driving habits. The government provides this information so you find the best solutions to improve your fuel efficiency.

The Hydrogen Energy Cell Vehicle – Straight Back To The Future Or Reality?

Sustainable energy is considered among the solutions for the menace, known as global warming, which is endangering the earth. Fuel cells is certainly one such type of energy, and specifically the variant that is used to operate cars, hydrogen fuel cells. Like lots of people, you most likely know very little, if anything, concerning it. There is an increasing endeavor underway, by manufacturers of technically sophisticated cars, to incorporate hydrogen technology in their designs. Hydrogen fuel cells give off only oxygen, a vital element for life on the planet – there are no harmful by-products and the environment is not harmed.

There is a significant difference with a fuel cell as well as a battery. Battery power will go flat, which is not the situation with a fuel cell. Electrolysis is the process which creates energy for the automobile with a fuel cell. Every fuel cell has two electrodes along with an electrolyte. By means of electrolysis, hydrogen and oxygen are separated on an continual basis, and heat and water are produced. The anode accumulates all of the hydrogen molecules, as the cathode gets all of the oxygen molecules. Natural gas, methanol as well as gasoline provides the hydrogen for usage by the fuel cell. The truly big difference with a hydrogen car is that it produces far less emissions than a conventional car.

Combustion plays basically no function in the process, which is entirely chemical, so both the automobile and the air are much cleaner. The vehicle is powered by the electricity produced by the hydrogen. Vibration is an issue with the production of fuel cells because they are unstable, but scientists are still conducting more studies to get a fuel cell that is stable. An erratic fuel cell could be the last thing you want in your car on a bumpy road. The issue of smog has been addressed all over the world, and a lot of measures don’t seem to have any affect at all. However, air pollution will go through a marked reduction if hydrogen fuel cell cars become popular around the world. Staying eco-friendly is going to be a hallmark of the automobile of the future.

The sooner the hydrogen fuel cell car is going to be ready, the demand for international oil will go down. Advancement of these eco-friendly cars is ongoing, and the great day when we are able to all drive one is not far off. If you wish to learn more about the fuel cell, there is a lot of information available on the web, so you can easily develop a good understanding of the technology. A very important factor you will learn is the extraordinary amount of money you will save by running your car on water.

Whenever you watch futuristic programs on TV or in the movies, you never truly consider that their modalities of transportation could ever happen. You might imagine additionally about the hydrogen fuel cell auto, but maybe it is realistic after all, and it is possibly the car of the future. We may discover that this may be the finest car that has ever been developed.

Inexpensive Ways To Save On Your Fuel Cost

To be able to spend one or two pennies less per gallon for your gasoline, do you drive miles out of your way? Are you being smothered by the mounting cost of gas to the point where you are afraid to drive anywhere, because the fuel gauge goes down so fast? As a last resort you could sell the car and get a bicycle, but before then there are many different ways you can make things better.

Actually, there are many easy things, which also tend to be free, that can be done to reduce fuel consumption. One example is, you can actually ensure that your tires are normally inflated correctly. Make a habit of checking that your tires are at the right pressure, because if they aren’t it has been proven that you’ll use more gas. All you need to do is to get a tire gauge and check your tires regularly, so that you can save gas, free of charge. It really is well worth knowing that what you spend for the fuel you get is affected by what time of day you stop to refuel.

Gasoline is normally a fluid which is sold by volume, and since liquids expand with heat it makes sense to buy when it’s coldest, to get the most for your money. Many shops are open 24/7 these days, so getting out of bed early, when it’s also cold, will let you beat the traffic and save money on gas. You are able to find out which gas stations are the most affordable from the internet, but don’t defeat the purpose by travelling a long way for gas. Quite a few people prefer to wash their car because they like the way a clean car looks, but did you know that washing your car can save you fuel.

A clean car is going to cause less drag, such as swimmers shaving off all of their body hair, or skiers sporting skin-tight racing suits, to go faster. Car-washing may become tedious, so permit it to be fun and get the whole family involved. Whenever the weather is warm enough, kids love playing in the water. How many times have you been at a stop light and you revved up your engine to make an impression on somebody? This may come as a surprise: rev your engine only 15 times and you’ve kissed so long to enough gas to take you a mile. Maybe it isn’t a lot, unless you do it often. Think it over next time you get stuck without any gas.

You probably detest taking your vehicle in to get it serviced, but it is a good idea, if you want to get the best gas mileage. It’s a trade-off in the short term, between the increased gas you pay for when the car isn’t running optimally, and the amount you pay to have it serviced. At a minimum, the filters – one for oil and one for air – must be checked that they’re clean or replaced, as should the oil, and new spark plugs should be installed when your car is serviced.

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thecoroutfitters · 7 years ago

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A little over a hundred years ago, most Americans were still fairly independent. They grew their own food, or traded for it.

They didn’t depend on grocery stores to provide food or electricity to preserve their foods and take care of their families. Even if they did buy food, they did it because they chose to, not because they didn’t know any other way.

Much of their way of life got lost through the centuries. We rely too much on bought food, which makes us weak and less healthy. But you can make your way out of it, by going back to healthy, natural food just like we used to get in the old days!

Returning to the ways of our forefathers makes sense for several different reasons. Let’s talk about them!

Saving Money

Groceries are expensive. If you’re single, you probably spend at least $50 a week on food, and that’s assuming you’re eating on the cheap. If you’re buying organic, it’s much more than that. Add in a family, and your costs will double, triple, or even quadruple. That’s a LOT of cash that you don’t have to spend.

Even if you grow a few vegetables and herbs, you’re going to save money because that’s where most of your grocery cash likely goes. Fresh produce is crazy expensive; I just paid $1 per sweet pepper and $2.99/pound for tomatoes that didn’t have any flavor.

Thankfully, I’ve started my garden and paid $5 to start 42 beefsteak tomato plants. The first three tomatoes will pay for the entire batch. Now, admittedly, I don’t have room for all of those plants, but I do have room in my pocket for the cash that I’ll make selling 30 or so of them. And I’ll still have plenty of tomatoes to eat and to can.

At the end of the season, I’ll can juice, spaghetti sauce, salsa, and whatever other tomato-based product that I would usually buy at the store.

So, let’s add this up. I paid $5 for as many fresh tomatoes I can eat and enough spaghetti sauce, tomato juice and whatever else I want to can. Since I’m selling most of the plants, I’m actually getting paid to have all of the tomato products that I’ll need for at least a year. That’s even better than the coupon deals that I find!

Oh, and I’ll also have peppers and herbs to add to that, so I won’t have to buy anything for any of the sauces, either. I’ve probably saved $300 on my grocery tab just from the fresh tomatoes and tomato products that I’ll can, plus I’ll make another $150 or so from selling the extra plants. That’s $400 in my pocket, just from the tomatoes that I’ll be growing on my patio.

Discover the golden days’ practice for getting all you can eat food without buying from the supermarket!

Flavor

Mealy, tasteless grocery store tomatoes were what finally pushed me to start growing my own veggies again. I was raised in West Virginia and until I moved away at the age of 29, I typically ate fresh garden tomatoes, at least through the summer. I can tell you – once you eat a home-grown tomato picked at the peak of ripeness, you’ll never want to eat another store-bought tomato again.

The same goes for home-canned spaghetti sauce. I have canned tomato products, fruit jellies, vegetable soup, and peppers, plus I have several containers of freshly dried herbs.

Speaking of herbs, they lose their flavor over time. You may have noticed that some herbs taste stronger than others when you buy them, even if they’re the same thing. That could quite likely be because the herbs have been sitting in storage somewhere or a year or so. I know exactly when mine were grown!

I don’t just can plain fruits and veggies, either. I can soups, sauces, pie fillings, and other prepared goods. When I serve up my vegetable soup, I always get compliments about how fresh it tastes. When I say it’s been canned for a few months, everybody is always amazed. That makes me smile!

No Chemicals

This is a huge thing. I didn’t really think much about this until I started getting serious about what I was putting in my body. A tomato is a tomato, right? Well, no. Emphatically NO. Commercial growers have one thing in mind – profit. That means that they need to grow as much produce as they can using minimal space. If a plant dies or a veggie rots because of bugs or mold, they lose money.

To battle that kind of loss, they use pesticides and herbicides to minimize the risk of losing any product. Most of those products have been linked to serious health problems in humans. You can buy organic, but the produce is a lot more expensive and you still have the problem of flavor.

You’ll be paying good money for an inferior product when you can grow at least a couple of plants yourself. A good beefsteak plant will yield as many 40 1-2-pound tomatoes over the season, so it’s well worth your time and the little bit of space it will take up. A single pepper plant will yield anywhere from 20 to 40 peppers. At $1 per pepper, that’s nothing to sneeze about.

When speaking about ready-to-eat foods, I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you to check the ingredients. You likely won’t be able to even pronounce many of those ingredients, but you can bet that they’re not natural. Artificial flavor, colors, and preservatives have almost certainly been added to processed foods, and many of them have been linked to horrible sicknesses.

All of my sauces, soups, deserts, fruits, and veggies have natural ingredients – you’ll be able to pronounce every word on my label!

So far, we’ve got delicious, chemical-free produce that we can literally get paid to grow. If this isn’t sounding like a good idea to you, then I’m not sure what would. I have one more point to help convince you if necessary.

Independence

This is worth its weight in gold. You won’t have to spend your money at the grocery store and you won’t have to depend on the store and commercial growers to provide you with food.

That’s a HUGE deal!

Get all you can eat food without buying from the supermarket!

I’ve been through more blizzards than I can count, as well as three major hurricanes. In all of those situations, I didn’t have access to a grocery store for up to two weeks at a time. Through all but a couple of the hurricanes, I had home-grown and canned food to fall back on.

While everybody else was cracking open canned spaghetti rings, I was making fresh spaghetti. During the hurricanes, I had to do it over an open fire, but I did it. And I also had canned fruit.

Of course, you can buy generic canned fruit at the store, but you’ll pay a couple of bucks a can, and it won’t be seasoned and spiced (or even have that fresh taste) that home-canned fruit will. Oh, and mine had zero chemicals or additives.

To drive the importance of food independence home just a little better, let me tell you about my grandparents. They were kids during the Great Depression, and they both lived on a farm. Before the depression, they were considered poor kids. During the Depression, they were sharing their lunches with the kids who had been well-off or rich before the Depression.

Unlike the “rich” kids, my grandparents lived in homes that were independent. They grew and canned their own food, so their lives weren’t particularly changed because of finances or food costs. We live in uncertain times. There’s nothing to say that a time could come when we will need to know how to feed ourselves without depending on a grocery store.

A plant takes anywhere from sixty to ninety days to bear fruit from seeds. I don’t know about you, but if something were to happen today, I wouldn’t have to wait that long to eat. I’ve got my plants growing. I have food canned. I’ll be set. I won’t be eating as well as I would have when I was a kid because I don’t have that much grown yet, but I won’t starve, either.

That brings me to another suggestion, and another benefit of growing your own foods. I have plenty of seeds to start my garden again next year. I had to buy some to get started, but after the first year, you won’t have to buy seeds again. That means that if you already have plants going when things go south, you’ll be set indefinitely as long as you save your seeds.

Preserving the Old Ways

It’s generally true that if we forget history, we’re bound to repeat it. In this case, that’s not the case. Once the knowledge is gone, it’s gone. If you don’t know how to grow your own foods and suddenly find that you need the knowledge, it’s not going to be there for you.

All of the discoveries and progress that our forefathers worked so hard for will be lost and we’ll have to start anew. Fortunately, there are still many people who have the knowledge, so how popular are they going to be in a scenario where grocery stores no longer exist? Really popular. Plus, their food supplies probably need to be hidden, which you should prepare for already.

There’s no reason why you can’t grow at least part of your food. There are plants meant to be grown in small spaces. They’re more compact and hardier than standard plants.

So without that excuse, what are you waiting for?

Get those seeds in the dirt, then get those plants in the ground and wait impatiently for your first round of food that you grew all on your own!

This article has been written by Theresa Crouse for Survivopedia.

from Survivopedia Don't forget to visit the store and pick up some gear at The COR Outfitters. How prepared are you for emergencies? #SurvivalFirestarter #SurvivalBugOutBackpack #PrepperSurvivalPack #SHTFGear #SHTFBag

#SHTF #TEOTWAWKI #MARTIALLAW #BUGOUT #PREPPERBAG #USAF #USSOCOM #ARMY #NAVY #SurvivalFirestarter #Sur

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sportsandfitnessinfo · 8 years ago

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New Post has been published on http://fitnessandhealthpros.com/foods/what-to-consider-when-deciding-what-to-spend-on-food/

What to Consider When Deciding What to Spend on Food

Farmers market it Portland, OR

Money is a touchy subject. Even without bringing up finances directly, people like me who encourage others to eat Real Food often get branded as elitist out of hand.

I get it. Finding and affording fresh food can be difficult or impossible for some people, and that is heartbreaking. But I don’t think that should make the entire subject off limits.

Food is a complex topic that includes issues related to health, economics, culture, human rights, animal welfare and the environment/sustainability. We also need to make food decisions multiple times a day in order to survive.

I consider all these things when deciding what to purchase for myself and my family, and know first hand what kinds of tradeoffs come up when choosing what to eat. Over the years both my priorities and financial means have changed dramatically, and ultimately evolved into the system I use today.

Here I’ll take you through my thought process in making food decisions, including how I’ve adapted to lower and higher income levels.

Of course none of this is intended as a judgement or condemnation on anyone else’s decisions. Everyone’s values are personal and equally valid, and obviously you need to do what works for you and your family.

My goal here is to shed some light on a difficult subject and hope it provides some clarity for those who are trying to make heads or tails of these issues.

But first a bit about me

For context you should know that I don’t come from money, and even calling my family middle class is a stretch. While I grew up in a decent suburban neighborhood, my family sometimes needed help from our church putting food on the table. My dad lived his entire adult life without owning a bank account, let alone a savings account. We did our best, but often had to sell things to make rent.

When I got to college (paid for by scraping together scholarships, student loans and a few jobs), money was really tight. My dad would send me fifty bucks when he could, but there was never any real safety net. It wasn’t unusual for me to live on eggs and canned tuna for the last week of the month. The dieter in me found this to be only moderately inconvenient.

At the time my main priority in food shopping was low price. I shopped at Costco and Trader Joe’s and thought organics were a scam to take money from chemophobic hippies (I know! LOL). I ate a lot of cheap takeout, which in Berkeley was still pretty good, if only moderately healthy.

In grad school things changed a lot. I started becoming a foodist, learned about Real Food and discovered the farmers market. I was a recipient of a fancy NSF graduate fellowship grant that afforded me a luxurious salary of $ 30,000/year, but because I was living in San Francisco I was still spending over 30% of my income on rent.

Still I ate pretty great. The Ferry Plaza Farmers Market in SF is one of the best farmers markets in the US, if not the world. I know a lot of people who consider it ludicrously expensive, but that was not my experience at all.

Yes, it’s possible to pay $ 4.50 for a peach, but it will be the best peach you’ve ever eaten. More important is that I could pack a bag full of kale, radishes, squash, onions, carrots, herbs and other incredible seasonal produce for $ 30. Fruit, especially ripe seasonal fruit, is expensive. Vegetables are cheap. I actually saved money during this period by cooking way more at home and cutting down on how often I ate meat. I also felt amazing and lost 12 lbs.

Things really changed after I graduated, wrote Foodist and got married. Suddenly I could afford steak and sit-down restaurants whenever I wanted, but by then my priorities had shifted as well.

I had never had to worry much about the ethics of eating before I had disposable income. I mostly bought produce from local organic farmers, a convenient luxury that was a byproduct of where I lived. I knew that industrial meat and dairy production were terrible for the environment and a disgusting form of cruelty to animals, but I couldn’t afford it anyway so there wasn’t any conflict. My biggest splurges were an occasional wedge of fancy cheese and wild Alaskan smoked salmon.

Now that more animal products were literally and figuratively back on the table for me, I wanted to make the most responsible choices I could.

There’s no way around it, ethical food costs more money.

Conventional produce is cheaper because big industrial farms exploit workers (sometimes as literal slave laborers) and demolish the environment with cheap petroleum-based fertilizers and Monsanto’s pesticides and herbicides. Smaller organic farmers must spend the time and energy tending to the soil to keep it healthy, and diversify their fields to prevent weed and bug infestations. More time and resources means more money to produce the same amount of food, and higher prices at the market.

Farmers market fruit tastes better because it is grown in season and picked while ripe, making losses due to bruising much more common. Organic certifications are also expensive. Even more cost.

Grass-fed beef and pasture-raised poultry and eggs require more (higher-quality) land, better feed, and sanitary living conditions. Farmers also face more difficulty and expense in processing these products, because they lack economies of scale. Again, these all cost more.

When I was a brokeass grad student I cared about these issues, but opting out was easy because I couldn’t afford it. Now that I can afford higher-quality, ethically produced products I’m happy to pay extra for the farmers who care enough to grow the best crops and for the animals I eat to live a decent life.

I’m also willing to spend a little extra time sourcing those products, which are not always easy to find.

San Francisco makes a foodist’s life easy, but I’ve found it much more difficult to eat to these standards in New York. Restaurants and grocers that source sustainable, ethically-raised food exist, but it isn’t the default like it is in the Bay Area and I often have to take looooong extra trips to find what I want. And I live in bougie Williamsburg.

I find myself preferring to cook at home even more in NYC than I did in SF, largely because I’m unsure of where restaurants sources their ingredients and it’s kind of obvious they aren’t amazing. A lot of the time I end up eating vegetarian so I don’t have to worry about it.

These experiences have led to me to create a mental hierarchy for my priorities when choosing what to eat. It isn’t perfect, and I make exceptions often, but it helps me to have a framework to think about these issues since I eat pretty darn often.

My priorities when buying food

1. Health

My personal energy (and I’d bet yours too) is highly dependent on how I fuel my body. If I’m not eating a wide array of different kinds of vegetables, legumes, grains and seafood/meats I feel lethargic and foggy, and will usually get sick.

Since feeling crappy impacts 100% of my other responsibilities in life, eating a diverse assortment of Real Foods is my number one priority when it comes to grocery and meal selection.

This has some implications. If I’m traveling or even very busy I don’t always eat local/seasonal/organic/sustainable. I try to avoid these scenarios, but when it comes down to it I’ll take what I can get.

It also means that sometimes I pay stupid prices for room service salads if greens have been hard to come by.

2. Quality

Quality is a very close second to health, largely because they are often related. As someone who prioritizes health to the point where my daily nutrition is almost always well-balanced, quality is often the deciding factor in choosing a specific meal.

What I mean by quality is close to what I mean by Real Food. To me, quality food has been crafted with care and fashioned from real ingredients, rather than mass produced in a factory. However, quality doesn’t always correlate with the healthiest choice.

If I’m traveling in Texas and have a choice between an artisan brisket sandwich from a world class family owned restaurant or a salad from Starbucks, I’ll take the sandwich on most days and hope there isn’t too much sugar in the coleslaw. That said, I wouldn’t make a choice like that two meals in a row, so health still wins down the stretch.

On the ethics side I am not going to repeatedly buy bad tasting chocolate just because it is fair trade. Ideally I’d find a delicious fair trade chocolate, but if I’m bothering with chocolate at all it had better be tasty.

3. Ethics/sustainability

I want to live in a world where the people who grow our food are respected and earn a living wage, and where we don’t pretend animals raised for food are less sentient than pets we keep at home. There are people who raise food this way, and I consider it an honor (not a luxury) to support their work.

I understand that it is not practical to demand this standard for 100% of the food I eat. Ethical and sustainable food is still sadly hard to find in most locations, and can be prohibitively expensive for many people.

That said, I would encourage anyone who does have the means to consider supporting ethical and sustainable food whenever possible. Our support is they only way these practices will be able to grow and reach more people.

I hope to see a day where sustainable food is ubiquitous enough that I can move it to #2 or #1 on this list.

4. Price

When it comes down to it I don’t want low-quality, unhealthy or unsustainable food, so even at a super low price it isn’t worth buying.

That said, it also drives me bonkers when restaurants and grocery stores try to sell mediocre food at artisan prices. I can tell the difference you jerks!

For me, as long as pricing seems fair (or I’m completely desperate for something green) I’m willing to pay for food that fuels my body and soul, and supports my values. I don’t consider stores like Whole Foods a rip off, because they are working so hard to offer transparency where nobody else will. In fact, I’m happy to support their mission.

It’s unfortunate that so many of us need to make such tough decisions in order to feed ourselves and our families. As always, all we can do is our best.

What factors do you consider when deciding what to spend your food dollars on?

Originally at :Summer Tomato Written By : Darya Rose

#Consider #Deciding #Food #Spend

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nottwopennies · 8 years ago

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It has been six months since starting this blog, and now feels like the ideal time to give you all an update and help remind myself of what we’ve already achieved and what we want to work towards in the months and years ahead.

It’s also time again to spend a little more, in hope of saving a lot later. I’m also really keen to lessen our impact on the planet some more and in the process become a smidgen more self-sufficient.

Food, Shopping & Waste .

I am working more hours than I’d like, to pay off our little loan. However, we have found ourselves with a few extra pennies each week. Rather than continue to cut our food budget to the absolute minimum, we have decided to take responsibility and have set ourselves a few guidelines for the food we will buy in future.

Our food should meet as many of the following points as possible:

be organic

be vegetarian (but we’re still eating eggs)

be fair-trade

be as locally produced as we can find

have minimal packaging, especially plastics

There’s one exception to buying local, as I’m not aware of any coffee plantations in Spain.

Giving up caffeine is something I’ll work towards, but not before my hours drop back down. It’s also a bit too cold for us to grow olives here, something that has become a favourite snack of ours.

Organic, fair-trade and local produce tend to be a little pricier than normal products found in supermarkets, but we’ll also be supporting local businesses, small shops, and also local producers when buying fresh stuff in the bi-weekly farmer’s market. Which seems like a good compromise.

We’ve already come to accept that going totally moneyless is not a reality for us, not just yet. We will of course continue to reduce our need for money as much as we can.

And of course, we’re hopeful that the majority of our vegetables and some of our fruit will be home-grown… eventually.

Also, we hope to reduce our weekly waste. Something that has already happened without much thought. 80-90% of our weekly rubbish is recyclable and another 5-10% is organic.

After last summer’s worm massacre, we’ve yet to set up a real composting system. This is something else we will address. Having today spent some money on a decent compost bin, both one for the kitchen and one for the terrace.

I’m hoping to get all those rubbish numbers as close to 0% as I can. Composting kitchen waste and using reusable bags not just for carrying our groceries but for rice, oats and anything else I can find bought from larger sacks. Thankfully most of the organic shops have options for buying these plus nuts, quinoa, couscous and more in this manner.

So, we’ll try to make some sacks of our own to avoid using the plastic (supposedly biodegradable) from the shops loose produce section. We’ve also paid a bit more than usual for truly biodegradable bin bags, made from corn starch[!?] or something similar.

We’ve not gone fully vegan, but are still largely vegetarian. We eat eggs and have the odd treat of some cheese. Once in a while we still eat some chicken too. (More about chickens/eggs in the garden section.)

I’m currently looking into healthier options for our cat, the food we buy her now is expensive and processed. I have found a supplement that can be added to meat. Sure, we’ll still be supporting the meat industry and all the problems that brings, but my cat is a part of the family and deserves a healthy diet.

Keeping Warm.

We’ve given up on the olive oil lamps, not great light sources and yet amazing little heaters. I’ll try to find some way to use the parts and might come back to them next winter. The heating is now off and will stay that way indefinitely.

We’re also using our current small increase in financial stability to invest in beeswax tea lights. I hadn’t really thought about the ones we were using before, it was only when the last batch we bought produced a very nasty smell that we decided (much like our food) to go as natural/organic as possible.

I’ve found some that are sold with the option of not having the aluminium cups/containers. I have actually been keeping all of the ones we’ve used with the idea of an art project or upcycling of some sort in future. So, I can reuse them again for now with the new candles. I should do the same with our other light-candles, but we will use what we have first.

Power.

We found out where our power comes from, a nice move on our power company. Utter transparency and honesty, but not such a pleasant surprise. The breakdown was more or less:

20% renewable (a good start)

25% coal (the horror!!!!)

25% nuclear (oh dear!!)

I still need to translate the remaining 30% which came from several different sources.

Well, finding alternatives to both save money and not use this wicked electricity has become an even bigger issue for me.

Thankfully we have unplugged the fridge-freezer and the only major energy we use is my computer for work. Having eventually failed at trying a tablet and a low-energy computer like the Raspberry Pi.

The other three big items is the washing machine, and my husband’s Xbox and TV. He is very much willing to take on this lifestyle change with the exception of one of his favourite games. I’ve asked him to play less, but have promised not to ask him to stop altogether.

Let’s see how it goes, sometimes he says he wants a new electric razor and this and that. Maybe it’s old habits or maybe he’s just thinking out loud and not entirely serious about getting these things.

Currently we are generating our own power from the wood burning oven and kettle that both use heat to make power, plus the old small solar panels and a some wind-up torches.

In the future I’d really like a small wind turbine, rather than a questionable (environmentally-friendly speaking) solar panel and perhaps more human-powered options.

I’ve decided to donate my Kindle to my father, once I’ve read all the books, as I know he is interested in getting one. I’ll ask that he sells/hands it on in future and so my concerns over its sustainability should have been solved.

Cleanliness.

I have been using soaps and shampoos again, and I did need a shave last month.

I had a Xmas treat of a haircut too. I kept the top long, and just had the sides shaved. So, I can still see exactly how much my hair has grown.

I am not changing my mind about not shaving or cutting my hair, this was simply an end of year treat.

I am reading about making my own soap/shampoo and won’t buy new products. I need to be ready with my own by the time our supply runs out, or go a few weeks again without any.

I am still peeing in the bidet to save water, but once our compost bin is established I’ll be peeing there. I’m sure the neighbours will be giving me some funny looks, but I need to set up a screen for me to also have showers outdoors come summer.

It’s entirely possible for this screen to evolve into an outdoor shower and compost toilet cabin. I have been doing my research into compost toilets. And am wondering why these aren’t mandatory in all new buildings?! Well, it’s at the top of my wish-list but being one of the more pricey items, will not necessarily happen this year.

What about the garden?

I spent the princely sum of €0.80 to buy some garlic, lettuce, cabbage and a little more on a new apple tree, raspberry bush and I forget one more. We’ve planted seeds for some insect friendly flowers, more peas (our current ones were badly damaged in gales), cornflower, borage and chard.

I’m finally getting organized and have began making monthly planting schedules that I can refer to again year after year.

Some lettuce and cabbages I got at the farmer’s market €0.80 for all six and some garlic.

An iris, a survivior from our last house.

Some “Spanish Bluebells”, not really sure what these are. Some flowers we bought with us from our old house.

I also harvested some onions, but have replanted them to produce more. I was very excited to see five little onions had grown from the one I planted last year. Never have I smelt fresh onion before, wow!

We need to get more soil but have plenty of wood chippings left, and we’re avoiding spending money on more pots by upcycling anything and everything that has no other value or use. As part of our cutting down on rubbish, we now only have one bin, our old coffee maker, which no-one wants to buy, joins an old kettle, old cat litter box, mugs, vases, packets and more.

Having bees is a long way-a-way, given finding them locally has proven a headache. My source of worms has also disappeared, meaning I can’t get some once our compost bin has been established. :-(

And chickens? Given we still eat meat, and that I have found much cheaper starting options than I originally posted? Yes, they are back on the radar – but with no clear date in mind for when we’ll get them. I can always feed the kitchen scraps too, but will there be enough for feed and compost?

What else is new/old?

We’ve still got plenty of old pallets and wood to make more things but have no real need for anything just yet. Maybe our outdoor bathroom/screen or some pot containers. I guess there’s no rush to decide.

Sadly, I am still waiting for my Altered Nozzle, the sooner we get this and save some water the better.

We’re ready to sell on more items such as books and other odds, but having got sick of boxes, we recycled or upcycled them and will now just have to accept less for items than we had once hoped.

I’ve been checking through my social media and have lost access to my Tumblr, but I’m not currently too bothered by this. If you’re messaging me there, I won’t get it.

The future?

Let’s just see what happens with Instagram, vlogging and other social media, but for sure I am excited to continue writing here.

As I said, chickens sometime this year and hopefully bees who knows when.

Willow coppice for firewood is also on my list, but this may not be a reality until we have our own land… along with the wind turbine.

I plan on getting/making a camping shower for free hot water this summer, but in the meantime we will need the boiler and gas for short hot showers.

Other things for the longer future that require we own our home, need more land or basically money are a plant-based grey-water filtration system and that compost toilet.

I don’t expect many people dream and wish for a compost toilet, but I’m one of them now.

And of course, more crop plants.

Phew. I think I’ve said enough. Thanks for reading this mammoth post. I’m so excited for the year ahead, and hope you continue to follow us on this journey.

Time to remind myself of what we've already achieved & what we want to work towards. #gogreen It has been six months since starting this blog, and now feels like the ideal time to give you all an update and help remind myself of what we've already achieved and what we want to work towards in the months and years ahead.

#Chickens #Cleanliness #Cooking #Eggs #environment #Food #gadgets #green #Heating #lighting & electricity #piggy bank #Plants #recycle #the pennies #them pounds #upcycle #Ups N Downs #veggie &039;n&039; vegan #Water

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mamamickterry · 8 years ago

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A few years ago, my boss introduced a fascinating book to our small group – StrengthFinders 2.0. The general concept was that humans spend too much time trying to improve upon our weaknesses instead of sharpening our skills in areas where each individual has the most talent. My co-workers and I took an intensive, validated test and then waited for the magic computer to spew out our secret super powers. In order, my top 5 strengths (with commentary) were:

Restorative: People strong in the Restorative theme are adept at dealing with problems. They are good at figuring out what is wrong and resolving it. I still scratch my head at this one. Maybe they meant causing problems? I am the BOMB at that :)

Discipline: People strong in the Discipline theme enjoy routine and structure. Their world is best described by the order they create. Raises hand. First-born German Catholic girl here.

Empathy: People in the Empathy theme can sense the feelings of other people by imagining themselves in others’ lives or others’ situations. I am a self-proclaimed Atticus Finch (pre-Watchman version)

Learner: People strong in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them. Remember that chick with bright notebooks at the beginning of each school semester? The one who was first to school because she couldn’t wait for the doors to open? Yep. That was me!

Relator: People who are strong in the Relator theme enjoy close relationships with others. They find deep satisfaction in working hard with friends to achieve a goal. No shocker here. Except, don’t make me do team activities, please. I just wanna hang in the corner with my best friend.

I had hoped for a few more interesting strengths like strategizer or intelligence or something really smart-sounding, but that never happened –even after testing twice. The goal of this test for our organization was to find a diverse set of people with different skills in order to cover all bases.

I hypothesized that these concepts might apply in a marriage as well.

While I didn’t talk hubby into taking the test, I easily postulated what his skills would be.

Grass Whisperer: He doesn’t use a lawn service or have a sprinkler system. I swear he simply walks onto the grass each season and chants magic growing incantations. He mows long after the first frost and complains that his grass is too plush and too abundant.

Circus Monkey Management: In his first career, Scott started as a cable TV tech, then moved to supervisor. Not long after that, he became a manager and then closed that chapter of his life by finishing as one of the top-ranked directors in the country. Now he’s a realtor without people management responsibilities, but that doesn’t mean he’s escaped the monkeys who need a little direction – he has a whole house full.

Flood and Risk Management: At the first threat of rain or a storm, you can bet that hubby has the generator ready, the sump pump primed, and escape routes planned. He doesn’t sleep on these nights, and I know it’s because he feels like it’s his job to keep us safe and dry and completely away from the flood that wrecked us several years ago.

Daddy Extraordinaire: I almost dropped extraordanaire simply because I couldn’t spell it right! But it’s the only word appropriate to describe. He does the hard stuff, and he’s so good at it. He knows when I’ve had a bad day and need a hug. He also knows when to go down to the basement and listen to whatever problem (football, girls, etc) has surfaced for the teenage man-cave dweller living in the basement. Same goes for the sweet girl who moved back home to go to nursing school.

Arranger: I grabbed this one from StrengthFinders 2.0: People strong in the Arranger theme can organize, but they also have a flexibility that complements this ability. They like to figure out how all of the pieces and resources can be arranged for maximum productivity. Need your dishwasher filled to maximum capacity? Scott is your man! Remember the egg photo from my recipe a few weeks ago? That was his work. He even has to make sure that the food is categorized within the shopping basket and on the conveyor belt when we check out–for maximum put-it-away efficiency. Want to see one of his favorite desserts?

An Arranger’s Nirvana

Of his five strengths, you might guess which one causes conflict. For example, how do you suppose an arranger would react to something like this sitting on a counter top otherwise absent of clutter?

Or this…

A “normal” person might relish in the accomplishment of fresh veggies from the garden to table to feed the family. Not an arranger. Poor Scott gets itchy when he sees something other than blank space on the cabinet. Our biggest tiff this summer?

What are you going to do with all of those stupid tomatoes we will never eat?

In March, I planted 24 seeds, placed them under grow lights and watched all 24 emerge like they were on plant steroids. Fast forward 4 weeks, and my basement was overrun by green. I moved everything out to the greenhouse in early April and counted the days until I could put those bad boys in the ground. Despite a minor mishap (hard frost, window open) I was able to save 13 of the original 24.

Normally, I’d give away all but six, but something snapped in me and I decided to keep all thirteen–I couldn’t bear to part with any of them.

“Really?” hubs said as he watched me dig a Baker’s dozen worth of holes.

“You are the only one who eats tomatoes in this family.”

Some couples fight over money, or discipline, or sex. Scott and I put on gloves and go to opposite corners when we talk produce.

He pointed at me, “You, little mama, are a vegetable hoarder.”

“I am not a vegetable hoarder!” and then stuffed a handful of purple beans in my pocket and scooped up tomatoes and peppers with my dress.

In stubborn, German fashion I ignored him and continue to nurture and fertilize all spring and summer. By the end of May, they had grown to mammoth sizes. For June and July, they produced pounds of tomatoes like they supplied a Heinz ketchup factory.

Our family took a vacation to Wyoming in early August and my biggest problem was not packing or finding phone chargers, but trying to figure out what to do with a bazillion tomatoes sitting on my kitchen counter.

I didn’t have enough time to can them

You can’t really freeze tomatoes

My friends ran the other way when they see me coming with produce

For the each of the seven days leading up to the trip, Scott asked, “What are you going to do with those tomatoes?”

Then, his questioning became relentless until I decided to hide them in the garage refrigerator. Once the questions turned from tomatoes to departure times, I knew my ‘maters were safe until we returned home.

After an awesome week with my family, parents and siblings and their families the tomato problem was still there when we got home. I did what every good vegetable hoarder wife would do. I lied about their existence until the evidence became smelly. I’d planned the entire time to put what I couldn’t eat into my compost.

When I couldn’t find the tomatoes for environmentally conscious disposal, I suspected foul play.

“Honey, did you do something with the tomatoes in the fridge?”

He took a couple of steps back, “What fridge?”

“In the garage?”

He looked puzzled for only a minute, and then his face gave away the crime.

“Did you at least throw them in the compost?”

“They were SMELLING! They were LEAKING! Why did you plant so many tomatoes??”

He spent the next few minutes spewing the anti-logic of planting thirteen bushes for a family who DOES NOT EAT tomatoes. He suggested that I tear up the entire garden and never plant another *($)%($$ tomato seed again. Then he launched into my vegetable hoarding tendencies and threw in a few barbs about the messy garden shed and weedy front bed.

His baby blues burrowed into mine, “Next year. ZERO tomatoes. In fact, why plant any vegetables at all? We can buy them at the store. You should put your whole garden to flowers.”

In my best (feigned) sheepish voice, I conceded, “You’re probably right. I’ll convert the vegetable space to a cottage garden next spring.” Then, I walked away pouting until I was around the corner.

There is only one thing I hoard more than vegetables.

Problem solved – marriage saved. My sexy arranger won’t know what hit him.

My greatest strength? Maybe I am a Restorative after all ;)

****** Part one in a three-part series :)

Attack of the (marriage) Killer Tomatoes A few years ago, my boss introduced a fascinating book to our small group - StrengthFinders 2.0.

#gardening #marriage #strengthfinders #tomatoes #vegetables

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jesseneufeld · 5 years ago

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8 Tips For Keto on a Budget

If you’re committed to making Primal+keto work on limited funds, it can be done. Here are some tips for making it happen.

1) Buy What You Can Afford

2) Don’t Menu Plan

3) Shop Around

4) Skip the MCT Oil and Exogenous Ketone Products

Unless you have a medical reason to have very elevated ketones, these expensive products aren’t a priority. You don’t need them to do keto “right.”

5) Reconsider the Keto-fied Baking

6) Eat the Stuff that Other People Don’t Want

7) Your Freezer is Your Friend

8) Make Your Own Bone Broth (and Nut Milk)

Bone broth is a hot commodity nowadays—no pun intended—and you can spend a pretty penny on it at the store… or you can just make it yourself out of stuff that other people are throwing away.

The Good News…

So, let me turn it over to you: Do you have other tips for making Primal+keto easier on the wallet? Share them below, and have a great week, everybody.

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