K Carpenter

Robbie,
Exactly like life, its trial and error. That's the point!
 I wanted to be lazy and buy plants. I was forced to buy seeds and grow my own. I grew Lemon Balm, Tulsi and Catnip. All from seed. Very well I might add. And I've not been successful at growing anything from seed.
 Sure, I could have given up. But those are the herbs I wanted to start with in my herbal healthcare adventure. And if I couldn't grow them, my last resort would be to buy products from someone.
 So yeah, look at what you want/need, what grows in your climate, how much effort you want to put in. There's growing, harvesting, preparing it for consumption, storing etc.
Lemon balm and tulsi grew easy from seed. In my opinion great for beginners and both useful for many different things.
**Edit- Look at the retail prices for Tulsi and Lemon balm products too. That alone is incentive to at least try to grow your own!

 Last winter, which was single digit temps, I actually had a lemon balm survive. It was in a raised bed that was 3 feet off the ground. We had a week long ice storm and I didn't get it covered at all. So I was happily surprised when it sprouted and it grew like crazy!
 I also planted LB seed in another raised bed with the tulsi. It did well too, but was much more tender being new plants. The older one had tougher stems and 3 times the size of leaves.
 I'm guessing between the old plant and 2 newbies, I harvested enough to last until next spring.
 I'm going to start some seeds of Tulsi and Lemon balm inside to see how they overwinter indoors too.
 If you can find local plants or some seeds online, give it a try next spring. Eat fresh as you walk by, use leaves fresh in salad or on a sandwich,  make tea or tincture.
Good growing!

Followup to my Tulsi Holy Basil post:
*every time I went to a local garden shop and asked for the plant or seeds, I'd get this blank look.
*Finally ordered some seedlings off of Etsy. Looked great when arrived, then died.
*ordered a couple plants, I think from Home Depot which arrived looking healthy  One survived.
*Geez! Found some seeds. Started my own. Believe it or not they did well, even though it was late in season.
Harvested 2 full batches for dehydration. And got some seeds too!

 I too was booted by my Rheumatologist. I had Sacroiliac Joint pain for about a year. He took an x-ray of back from base of skull to tailbone. "Go to pain clinic." I went to Ortho for second opinion. She took one look and said with all the other stuff (fibromyalgia, c-spine fusion, knee replacement, osteoarthritis, many drug allergies etc) and I'm 73, I was a mess.
 I told her I didn't want to be drugged up cuz I didn't want to injure anything worse. She ordered me a cream from a  compounding pharmacy. To my utter amazement it works  . I hate taking pharmaceuticals,  but I haven't had a life for 4 years. I'm due. I'm an outdoor person who barely got off the couch.
  I changed my diet and lost 35 pounds after heart attack, TIA, stroke, afib, high BP. My cardiologist keeps me alive. Hair falling out from medication? Live with thinning hair or die with luscious locks! Yeah, he has a sense of humor.
  Wild lettuce tincture is awesome. My husband takes it before bed for pain (he has peripheral neuropathy and rheumatoid arthritis ) and I sleep so much better. So does he. Tastes nasty mostly from alcohol but hey, it works. We're non drinkers, but we're only getting a teaspoon or 1 1\2.
Great to read about all things for nerve pain. You get to the point you'll try anything. And my husband had tried many including injections and infusions (yuck).

Alina,
I use dried Tulsi as an adaptogen to work with other things I use. But mostly to help with stress and arthritis issues.

HOWEVER, this is one of very few herbs I'll use as tea. Yep, me drink tea? I mix Tulsi and Lemon Balm ( about 1 tablespoon each per cup of tea)which is also a calming herb. It actually tastes good. I use no sweeteners.

In my opinion Tulsi stinks. Don't expect the smell of cooking/eating basil. To me it smells like a$$.

I also have a hard time finding plants. And I need to grow more this year! I know, I know. I should grow from seed.

Patience is not my virtue. Plus I'm a 'live or die' gardener. I give them what they need and tell em to live or die.

*First consideration is how will you use/take them? Tea, tincture, capsules or otherwise?
*Tea seems to be easiest process. But when I figured out all the things I wanted herbs to help me with, it seemed I'd be drinking tea sun up to sun down. And I hate tea!
*So it's tinctures for me. Easy to make and take. Here's what I started with: Tulsi (Holy Basil), Lemon Balm, Greek Oregano, Lemon Thyme, Camomile, Rosemary. I'm in zone 7 and they're all doing very well.
*There are several things growing wild here. I'm still researching all this. And I hope to harvest some of them this year. Specifically wild lettuce (Latuca). It helps calm your brain, mild pain relief, and sleep aid. We also have boneset, Hawthorne, Yarrow, dandelions, several mushrooms, wild cherry, black walnut and so much more.
*So pick something you’ll use that will grow in your area. Start with 2 or 3. Even up to 6 depending on your gardening experience.  
*There are great websites and books on growing and benefits of medicinal herbs.
Have fun and good luck!

   Ahhhh yes. Wood heat. Had it most of my life. Dad always said, it heats you twice; when you cut and stack it, and when you burn it.
   Dec 2017 we bought 35 mostly undeveloped acres, at the age of 65. Most of our family thought we were nuts  . .too old to start such a project. 25 miles from the 2 closest towns and the nearest hospital and doctors.
   I think it was 2019 we put in a driveway and several months later built a barn. After hiking over hill and dale for a year, we bought a used sidexside to get around. We lived an hour away so we ended up buying a used container and camp trailer. Then finally had a 1000 Sq ft log cabin built. We moved in around Thanksgiving 2021.
   Oh yeah, the woodstove.  We had a load of seasoned hardwood delivered. NOT! It was not seasoned and we suffered all winter with that. No more believing what people say. We planned to cut our own anyway.
   So in 2023 I had a TIA and a stroke. I'd already been layed up a year needing knee replacement  
But didn't want to get the surgery because of all the covid BS. So i had to wait 6 months after stroke to get it done.  It was a rough start on the homestead  But I managed to help stock up on firewood.
   We have a system, at age 72, which works well. We go to the tree with chainsaw, hook the splitter to sidexside. He cuts down tree and cuts it up. I split it and semi stack it in SxS. Sometimes we'll stack the wood where it is, or we drive it up to where we store it.
   We spent alot of money those first 3 yrs,  but took advantage of sales and craigslist, and some of our retirement and sale of old house. We saved for years and hunted for acreage a long, long time.
     We have a small efficient wood stove that heats the whole house if you leave all rooms open. We circulate heat via ceiling fans and/or a couple rechargeable small quiet fans.
   We burned 4 cords of wood last winter, half of which was semi rotten. But it burned! And we had a long cold winter, down between 9-20 F about a month. It's not usually that cold more than a couple nights.
   We are off grid via solar, and have a minisplit for backup. We use it mainly for A/C in summer on occasion. We cut way back on kw use from our last house.
   I'm sure there'll come a time we'll no longer be able to do it.  We'll enjoy it while we can.  But we have a year round creek, live in a forest and even had to cut a few trees to do the things mentioned above. Quiet, an occasional bear, bobcat, possum etc. We free range the chickens,  have a few cows.  Great neighbors too.
We love it!

We bought our property out in the sticks for a few reasons. The small subdivision we lived in wasn't bad as far as the CCRs went. It was the clique of the first people who built there. We got tired of the constant whining and complaining and 'special treatment '.

The codo we had owned was not as bad, but you have to deal with other residents on a closer basis. No yards in between. Just walls. Nice large yard areas that kids weren't allowed to play in. And they weren't allowed to play in the parking area. Why allow kids?

Out here on our acreage we went solar. While we were building we seriously considered hooking up to the grid. That got nixed because  it was an electric co-op and their requirements are ridiculous. We considered it a couple more times and just couldn't bring ourselves to sign that agreement.

When we first came to the state we checked out one of those all-in-one communities.  But you have no choice but to pay-in to all the services and if you're not a people person forget it. They assured us we would learn to love the social gatherings etc. They're fun! Even group trips! WHATever!

So being older and retired we didn't want to be locked in to anybody's rules and regs and lifetime fees. Ugh! We wanted peace and quiet and nobody for the most part telling us what to do. There is the county though.

If you're old enough to remember communes, they worked pretty well. But my idea of a modified elderly commune would be like mentioned above. A version of tiny homes but not so tiny and everyone owns their own lot. Whether that lot is acres or just a lot.

People change. People may have friends that aren't so desirable. Having rules can eliminate certain issues but can also cause problems. So we moved into a very small rural farming community.  And it's awesome.

All of our neighbors stopped by to say hi when they'd catch us outside. We had a mechanical issue and were pulled off the road with our heads under the hood. 6 different people stopped and asked if we were OK or needed help..

Nobody bothers us and they don't expect to have a midday coffee clatch. We all have work to do or want to be left alone! It's grand.

WHAT? I had no idea. . . .really!

I don't do social media. Until recently.  I tried Telegram just for the medicinal herb forum and it turned into a bunch of 'Click Bait'. CANCEL. I'm on Truth Social for some news and for most part it's not bad. So far.

Permies is just a different animal. It's a joy to come here and research, find great information from decent people (as far as I know). But I guess I kinda have a PollyAnna point of view.

I had no idea. . .that there was any 'censoring' going on in the background. Not that I disagree with it at all! It's just that it's done in such a way we aren't aware of it. And I for one appreciate it.

What was the question? 8^)

I like the current system of thumbs up/down, apple and pie etc. But all of us including staff and volunteers have to take people as they present themselves.  I feel that we'll figure out how genuine they are after reading a few of their posts.

I for one am not the least bit interested in what they may or may not have posted on some other site. And won't waste my time looking for said information.

You be you and I'll be me!

I too use a scraper. It's a small, about 2.5" Wide X 3.5" long blade. Here's how I clean my pan, which also cleans out flavors I may not want in next meal. 😋

Every time I use my cast-iron pans:
** I scrape and wipe out as much food as possible.
** Then I put a scant layer of water to just cover pan bottom.
** Turn on heat to get it to simmer. Turn off heat and let sit just enough to loosen stuck food, using scraper as needed. Immediately wipe out pan to finish cleaning. It'll still be hot so be carefull.
** While still hot add some coconut oil and spread it all around sides, bottom and top edge of pan. Let sit over night or at least until fully cooled. It'll absorb some of the oil.
** Wipe out excess oil. I lay a paper towel in pan if I'm putting in drawer and might set another pan in it.