I finally was able to visit my friend Adelia this week! I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had time to make a trip to see her. So many times I’ve wished to send her an email, but it is impossible since she does not have a computer. When I had a not-so-busy day, I decided to go see her. I tried giving her a call, but was unable to reach her, so I hopped in the car with my daughter and off we drove. I didn’t know if she would be home, but she usually is, so I hoped we would catch her there. When we pulled up the house seemed lifeless; nobody was in sight. I got out of my van and went to the front door. I knocked. Nobody answered. I wasn’t sure if I should leave, or if maybe they were out at the barn. I didn’t want to be creeping around their house, but I thought they may be there, so I got Jada out of the car and we slowly walked behind the house toward the barn. I stopped and listened carefully, and was relieved when I heard voices coming from the barn. I yelled, “Hello!” in my friendliest, non-intrusive voice. I yelled one more time. Then the two girls came running out of the barn happily to see us, and the youngest yelled, “Jada!!” and ran to hug her. They giggled and ran off to play. I asked the smiling, oldest girl if her mom was in the barn. She said, “Yeah! We were just looking at the new kittens.” I walked with her to see the babies, and found Adelia. I sheepishly said, “I hope you don’t mind me just stopping by! I tried to call but couldn’t get you.” She was so kind, and talkative. She seemed fine with me just coming out of the blue.

The girls climbed up to the loft in the barn to watch as the new kittens nursed on their mother. There was also a new calf wandering after it’s mother in the pasture. A lot has been going on! We made small talk about the animals, and what’s been going on since we last spoke. After a while we wandered inside and sat on the couch for a wonderful conversation. They always impress me with their kindness and hospitality. I feel like I just invite myself over all the time, but they make me feel welcome and at home.

Somehow we got on the subject of herbs and herbal remedies. Oh, I know, I told her that I had Pink Eye last week, and how my doc. bill was $87! She said smiling, “You know, there’s an herb for that.” She told me that Eye Bright is used to treat Pink Eye, along with Allergies (and probably some other things as well). Then she told me a story of how her husband once got Shingles on, in and around his eye. It was a really severe case and the doctor warned him that if he didn’t get it treated he would go blind. Well, when he went to pick up the prescription he was astounded to find that even after insurance the cost for the med’s would be more than a house payment! He called Adelia and told her to break out her herbal books. She did, and by that night she had come up with a solution. She found that Chickweed is a great cure for Shingles. She made eye drops, a tea to drink, and a salve mixture using Vaseline to spread all over his eye. By the next morning she says it looked a whole lot better; and soon it was gone. Wow! I told her that I was calling her the next time my family had an ailment!

The discussion of herbal remedies prompted her to go and retrieve her newest gadget. She brought out this little thing called a “Cap-M-Quick”. It is used for making your own pills, out of whatever herb or vitamin you want! You just make your powder, fill these capsules, and there you go. Home made meds. She had bartered with her herb shop owner friend, and traded some bales of hay for this neat little device. I didn’t even know that they made such a thing. She hasn’t tried it yet though. She said it will be good to use with the herbs that don’t taste so nice going down.

She also told me during our discussion, that Flax Seed is very good brain food. She has a friend who has three autistic boys, and said that the flax seed really improves their behavior. She just mixes it into their chocolate milk, and they never know it’s there. (By the way, to get a free sample of flax seed call 1-800-333-5813, they are really friendly). I think I’ll give it a try.

I started telling her about my quest to become less of a consumer, and start trying to make more of my own things. She suddenly said, “Oh! Did I give you that book “Henry”?” I told her no. She jumped up and went to her room for a minute, and came back with a little paperback book in her hand. It was called, Henry and The Great Society. I couldn’t wait to get home and read it! She wouldn’t really tell me what it was about.

We talked a while longer about family and living on less. She mentioned a big family reunion that they have coming up. I told her how I just got back from California and my own family reunion. I talked about how I hadn’t seen just about all of them in over 10 years; cousins, aunts and uncles. She said that her family gets together every year for a reunion. There are many of them, by the sounds of it, and they all camp out and visit with each other for about three days. It sounds like a wonderful time of fun and fellowship. I told her how sad I think it is that so many family’s are like part of mine, and don’t see each other very often at all. I love that my family here, my dad’s side, is very close. We always get together for birthdays, and major holidays. I’m glad that my kids see and experience that.

She said that her small living room floor is usually full of sleeping people during these reunions, and her yard is open for tents to be pitched. I marveled at her hospitality. I told her that I feel like I can’t entertain because I have such a small home, but I realize that that shouldn’t keep me from opening my home up to others. I shared with her a recent account I’ve read of a family in a third world country who really has nothing, and a tiny shack of a home, yet they are so happy to invite guests into their humble home for a meal. Though they only have two bowls, nobody seemed to mind waiting until a bowl was washed for their turn to eat. Why can’t we be more like that?

Anyways, I had to leave before I wanted to (as always), so I gathered Jada up and headed back out to the van. They all walked us out and the girls said their goodbye’s. It was so good to hang out with them again. Adelia told me as I was leaving that she would like to take me to her herb shop friend to introduce me sometime. I told her I’d love that. I’m almost done reading the book that she let me borrow. I’ll have to write a review about it for you guys to check out. It’s really thought provoking!

Until next time,

I have to say, I’m having withdrawals from my new friend Mrs. Adelia. I haven’t gone to see her this week, and I’m just bursting at the seams with questions! It’s hard to find excuses for me to go to her house without just saying, “Uhh… can I come over?” But today I was going nuts wanting to get up with her again, so I called her and asked her if she was planning on going to the mill any time soon. I told her I’d really like to go sometime. She said she’d be happy to take me, so we’re planning on going some time next week (hopefully!).

Before I go on, I’d like to answer some questions from the last post. I would love to give out more info as to where the Amish stores are located, but I try really hard not to give too much information about where I live as a safety precaution, since I am posting pictures of myself and my children. We have had some really creepy people make disturbing comments before and the thought of them having some clue as to where I live really freaks me out! As far as sharing recipes goes, that’s something I’m considering. I’ve been holding out on them because I am pondering the possibility of turning this series into an e-book in the future… maybe. If Mrs. Adelia is interested in doing that with me, I would love to share her many recipes in the book. We will see!

Although I don’t have another meeting to share with you, I have remembered just a few things from my last visit that I forgot to share. So, here are a few tidbits on saving money from the Queen of Frugal herself:

As I mentioned in my first post, she makes her own bars of soap for her family and also sells them at the Farmer’s Market. Well, she showed me a frugal little trick she uses to make decorative soaps. Instead of buying a costly soap mold, she has used the plastic tray that chocolates came in to make small, decorative soaps. She also pours the soap into a PVC pipe, and once it’s hardened she just pushes it out and slices it however thick she wants it. Personally, she prefers the thicker, round soaps ’cause she says they are the perfect size for your palm. ( I think she said she also uses cookie cutters as molds. )

She buys her sugar from Walmart. She gets the huge bag, I think it’s like 25 lbs. It’s cheaper to buy it in bulk like that. She stores it under one of their beds in a big plastic bucket covered with a tight lid.

To save on gas, she plans to run all of her errands on one day. She rarely goes into town, but when she does, she goes everywhere she needs to while she’s there.

Instead of regular dishes, their family eats and drinks from camping Enamelware. When I asked her why, she told me because it doesn’t break if the kids drop it, and unlike plastic, it doesn’t melt in the microwave or dishwasher. She just prefers it’s durability. What a great idea!

Out of curiosity I asked her if she uses Ziploc bags. When she told me that she did, I asked if she washes and reuses them. She was a little chagrined as she nodded her head. Realizing she must think that I thought this was funny, I quickly said, “Oh yeah! I do that too!”.

As we talked during our last visit, she told me that often people will bring her stuff. She said that they feel bad for them, like “Oh, that poor family. They are so deprived!” She kinda laughs at that. I can see why. To me, they do not seem poor. They do not seem needy or deprived. To me, they are far richer than the world understands.

So, that’s all I have to share for now. Like I said, I’m planning on visiting with Mrs. Adelia again next week. Hopefully I’ll be able to share my first trip to the flour mill for next week’s Frugal Friday! So, keep an eye out for my next money saving adventure! (I’m so excited!!)

As requested, and due to the overwhelming popularity of my first post, I’ve decided to turn this into a series. As I learn, you will too. I will call the series, Lessons From Butterberry Farm. Since most of you expressed desire to read even more, I thought I’d write a bit longer this time. I hope that you will find it as intriguing as I did!

First off, I wanted to address some questions and misunderstandings from my first post (if you missed it, it’s a must read!). I didn’t make it very clear before, but there are now just three children, not five, living in the home. The two oldest are grown, and out of the house. There were a few questions as to what the Husband does all day. He is a handy man, and works many different jobs. He is also Assistant Fire Chief at the local Fire Station. I do want to say however, that I am not here to scrutinize every aspect of this family’s way of life. I am not interested in asking how much money her husband makes, how much money they have in savings, or if they have a retirement or college fund in place. I am not going to ask personal family life questions. All I am interested in is learning how this amazing woman provides for and takes care of her family. She truly inspires me, and I am eager to share her wealth of knowledge with you all so that you might be inspired as well.

I was fortunate enough to be able to meet with Mrs. Adelia again. I kinda invited myself over. (I couldn’t help it! I’m fascinated by her). I went to the Farmer’s Market to bring back a big bucket that she had sent home with me (filled with rabbit droppings for my blueberry bushes). After making small talk I finally blurted out, “So… I was wondering… if you aren’t busy tomorrow, would it be okay if I came over, just for a little while?” She shrugged, laughing, and said, “Sure! We aren’t very interesting, but you’re welcome to come over.” We made plans for me to visit.

The next day I got up early and headed out the door. When I pulled into their dirt driveway I saw in my rear view mirror the three youngest kids running up to greet us. I got out of the van and said “Hey you guys!” I opened the van door to let Jada out, and the youngest girl jumped in and started unbuckling Jada’s carseat. They’ve formed quite a little friendship, and were very happy to see each other again! As I was unloading the kids the oldest girl came over and said, “Mama wants to know if you want to go to the Amish store?” Cool! Of course I said, “Yeah!” The boy, about 11 yrs. old, unloaded my extra carseats to make room for everyone. He’s very helpful. Before we left, the oldest girl brought out some made from scratch blueberry pastries for everyone to eat for breakfast as we drove. We all loaded back into my van, and away we went. This was the first time I’d ever gone to the Amish store. I didn’t even know there was one around.

As we pulled up, and all began getting out, I heard the youngest say to my daughter, “Come on Jada! I’ll buy you something.” I thought that was incredibly generous (coming from a 7 year old)! I began asking Adelia how she taught her kids to be so thoughtful and unselfish. She said that when they go to the Farmer’s Market, the girls have their own things to sell (like lemonade and baked goods). The boy gets to work with his Father occasionally to earn his own money. Whatever they earn, they pay tithe off of first, then they can do whatever (with guidance) they want with the rest. They have a “Fun Funds” jar, which they all can contribute to. If there is something that all of them are wanting, like going out to eat or something, they get their money from there. They are learning the real value of a dollar. And, when a little friend of theirs has a birthday or something, the kids wrap up one of their own toys to give as their gift.

I was enthralled with this gift giving idea. What a wonderful way to teach your children to give, I mean really give from the heart! Then sadly I realized how frowned upon this would probably be by most people. Our society is so spoiled and ungrateful; most people would probably think that this would be “cheap” and unacceptable. Yet still, I am contemplating this method myself, at least with close friends. I’m ashamed to say though that I would probably be the one being greedy with the toys, and wanting to keep the “best” ones for my own kids. Nevertheless, teaching my kids such a valuable lesson would be a great way for me to learn as well about being more giving, and overcoming selfishness.

As we entered the Amish store, Mrs. Adelia showed me around. She led me up the narrow aisles, pointing out bags of baking needs, spices, candy and more. I noticed that a lot of the items for sale were quite over priced. I would not buy most stuff from there. She was right about the spices, however. They were priced very reasonably; much cheaper than the grocery store! I bought a 1 pound bag of Dutch Cocoa Powder for about $3.00. (My hubby just adores chocolate milk!) She said it’s way better than Hershey’s! She showed me how she peels the sticky label from the bag, and uses it to label the Mason jar that she stores her own in. We left the little shop, and went to a newer one up the road. I didn’t realize there was an Amish community so close to my own home! This next store was even more expensive. It was nice though. Adelia showed me her weakness; lacey, embroidered handkerchiefs. This is one of the only things she gets from this store. I kinda laughed and asked, “What do you do with these?” She said, “Blow my nose”, laughing at my ignorance. I was surprised! I didn’t know people still did that! I guess they don’t buy Kleenex. I thought that was funny… but frugal! The kids played outside in the handmade playhouses while we looked around. Jada enjoyed the sucker that her new friend had so generously purchased for her. She wanted to buy Jada some ice cream too, but they were all out.

After a little while, we decided it was time to go. As we drove home through the country roads, I began asking tons of questions. I asked about how she does her laundry, how she feeds her animals, how she stores her flour and sugar, how she makes her yogurt and bread, what kinds of herbs she uses, and on and on. She was very sweet to tell me everything I was so curious to know. Here are some of the things that I learned:

To keep her line dried clothes soft, she does use fabric softener. She gets the cheap kind from the dollar store, and pours it in a downy ball. It holds less than the cap does. She says one bottle lasts forever.

I asked her if she line dries every single thing, even tiny baby socks. She said yes. Every thing, one by one.

In the winter, she still line dries. If the clothes are frozen, they thaw when hung inside. She hangs them pinned to clothes hangers on the shower curtain rod. If it’s going to rain on washing day, she considers that her day off, and does it another day. If it’s going to rain for a few days, she washes all she can before the weather gets bad.

She stores her flour and sugar (about 25 lbs. at a time) in large covered buckets. She said she’s never had a problem with bugs in either. The flour from the mill is fresh, and doesn’t have bugs or bug’s eggs in it.

She has limited space in her humble home, so to make good use of what square footage she does have, she stores tons of stuff underneath all of the beds, and her husband has built shelves wherever he had space to.

To feed her cows she uses the hay from her field, her father-in-law’s 10 acres, and even from friends who just want their field cleaned up. The only cost is the tractor fuel.

To feed her pig she said that she has a couple of old ladies at the church who fill buckets for her of all the church’s leftover food scraps, along with their own family’s leftovers. There is also a man up the road who owns a small convenient store. Whatever goes bad he sends to her for her pig. Her own family’s leftovers go to the pig as well.

The chickens run loose, and eat whatever they find: bugs, plants, etc. They throw bread crumbs and stuff out to them occasionally.

I forgot to ask what she feeds the rabbits, but I’m sure it’s straight from her garden.

She does not compost. There is no need. The manure from the field turns it’s soil so black and rich, it’s perfect for the garden. Besides, the pig gets all of the food scraps.

Speaking of the pig, I asked her if she has to buy a new one every year. She said no, she breeds the one she has, and once the babies have been weaned, it will be ready for the dinner table.

She has an incubator to hatch chicken eggs.

They heat the Water Stove with junk mail (other people bring them theirs too), trash, boxes, and wood. They only have to burn one fire to heat three days worth of hot water.

She doesn’t buy trash bags; she has no need. Most of their trash is burned or fed to the pig. What little trash she can’t use just goes into a plastic grocery bag to be thrown out.

She has a bread maker, but prefers not to use it. She has a favorite bread recipe, and it doesn’t “agree” with the machine. She doesn’t mind making it by hand.

She does not have a yogurt maker. She said that to make her yogurt, she fills a gallon size glass jar with fresh milk, cream and all, and adds one cup of plain yogurt to it. She leaves it out all day, and by nightfall the whole thing has turned into yogurt.

She makes her own syrup from strawberries and other things.

She grows her own pecans for pies and whatever else.

She dehydrates fruit, and loves to experiment with new recipes.

She gets her popcorn from a Popcorn Farm just up the road from me. I never even knew there was such a thing! She said she’d have to take me there sometime. I asked her if she had a popcorn maker. She showed me what she had. It is an old fashioned looking pot, with a crank handle on it that turns a rod along the bottom of the pot to keep the kernels from sticking. It has a lid on it to keep the popcorn in as it fills up. It works with any kind of heat source, electric stove or fire. (That sounds like a fun field trip!)

She has a Pressure Cooker and a Canner, which is much bigger.

She makes her own Mozzarella and Cottage Cheese, but says she hasn’t mastered the aging process of the other kinds of cheese yet.

Instead of paper towels, she just uses any rag or cloth she can find.

I asked her if she got her kids immunized when they were smaller. She told me that she did not sign for all of their shots, just the ones that she didn’t have an herb for. Like me, she did not give them the Chicken Pox shot. She said she was the one who all of the doctors dreaded, she was “that mom”.

She showed me some herbs that she uses around the house. Burdock for teething babies (not ingested; she actually dug one up for me to take home), Plantain for bee stings. Eye Bright for allergies. She has a friend who owns an herbal shop, who hooks her up with anything she needs.

She gets bananas from that nearby convenient store owner. When they turn black on the bottom from the air, and nobody will buy them, he passes them her way. The ones that are still good she dehydrates. The others go to the pig.

She makes a monthly menu for her family, and sticks to it.

She had a great tip for making homemade pizza on a budget. She makes the dough herself. For the toppings, she goes to a nearby All You Can Eat Buffet and orders a salad to go. She then fills the plate with all of her pizza toppings: cheese, pepperoni, olives, onions, green peppers, mushrooms, anything! They sell it by weight; she said it costs her around $2.00. What a great idea, I thought!

She has learned how to make Pita type pockets in mason jars out of leftover meals. She bakes them in the jar, and cans them to store in her cabinets. She makes them out of anything! She calls them “Dump It’s” because when you open the jar, you dump it out to eat it. She makes breakfast and lunch Dump It’s for her husband to take to work with him, so that he doesn’t eat out, or just have a cold sandwich. She fills them with anything from eggs and bacon, to BBQ Deer meat, potatoes and corn. He puts them in the window of the truck, and by lunch time it’s warm and ready to eat. They don’t go bad either. Apparently you can “can” anything and it will not spoil!

When we got back to their home, the youngest announced that she wanted to make grilled cheese sandwiches for everyone’s lunch. We sat around inside, talking, and eating our yummy food. Adelia told me tons of stuff. She showed me her favorite herbal books, and favorite “Non-electric” catalog. It’s called “Lehman’s”, and they do have a website. They are the ones who make things that the Amish use, including that neat Popcorn Pot. She said that whenever they get their tax money back, she gets to splurge on something she really wants from this catalog.

Time flew by, and four hours later I realized how long I’d been there, and told them that I needed to get going. Before I left, I traded a tube of toothpaste with her for a bar of her homemade soap. My dear “other” mom was just telling me how much she would love to have some of her soap. As we were loading into the car, the little girl begged me to let Jada stay and go to church with her. I smiled and told her maybe another time we can plan on it. Realizing what I’d just said, I looked at Adelia and said, “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but what denomination are you?” She said, “Go ahead and ask! We go to a Baptist church.” “Oh, good.” I said. “I didn’t want to say Jada could go to church with you not knowing what you believe.” So, we said our goodbyes, pried the girls apart, and I went home with a head swimming full of information. What gets me is that Adelia is so humble. She thinks it’s funny that I find her interesting. I do though. I really, really do. I hope that this is the beginning of a long friendship with this amazing family.

I went to a local Farmer’s Market last weekend, just to browse, and see what local farmers had to sell. While I was there I began talking with a kind woman in her late 30’s sitting behind a table with eggs, and handmade soap for sale. I told her I was really interested in finding a dairy farmer, who I could buy milk from. She said, “Well… I have a milk cow. I’m just now allowed to sell the milk here since I’m not inspected or licensed and all that stuff. I bought the cow years ago because I have five kids, and I have to feed the whole bunch of them!” I said, “Really?! Well, if you were to sell some, how much would you sell it for?” She told me that she actually does have a couple people who buy it from her, and she sells to them for $4-$5 per gallon. Whew! That’s a lot! I thought. I said, “Oh, okay.” I asked for her name and number, just in case, and then went on my way.

I kept thinking about her all day long, about how I’d really like to get some milk from her. Just not at that price. Then it occurred to me, work out a trade! But, what do I have to offer? I began thinking, and I decided I was going to offer to teach her about CVSing, so that she could get her toiletries and things for close to nothing, in exchange for a gallon of milk every week. I was very excited at the idea. Surely she would be interested in saving money on shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste and stuff.

The next day, very enthusiastically I called her up. I said, “I was wondering if you might be interested in bartering.” She was excited when she said, “Sure! Whatcha got?” I told her about my idea. When I was finished explaining she was silent for a moment, then said, “Well, I kinda have a system that I use. I only go shopping twice a year, once in January, and once in June. Each trip I spend $150 on stuff that I need to last me for the next six months.” My jaw hit the floor. I was absolutely flabbergasted! Did she just say $150 for 6 months?! I blurted out, “Oh my goodness! Are you serious?!” She explained that she figured out how much flour, laundry soap, everything, that her family uses in 6 months, and budgets on that for her trip. She said she makes her own soap (a head to toe, hair and all, bar of soap!), laundry detergent, dish soap, etc. As I listened I said to her, “I need to be learning from you!” In my astonishment I became filled with questions, and asked her tons of them. Towards the end of the conversation she told me that she is having to dry her milk cow up right now because it’s going to have a baby. But she offered me some blueberry bushes if I wanted them. I made plans to visit her a couple days later.

Now, I could go on and on about my 3 hour visit with this incredible family, and this amazing Christian woman, but to keep it as short as possible, and interesting for you I will just name the things that I learned from her about how she saves her family money.

They live in a humble single wide trailer, on 3 acres of land.

They drive an older model van.

They have a garden, and raise all of their own vegetables.

They have tons of different fruit trees, bushes and plants.

For meat, they raise their own cows, chickens, rabbits, pigs, a turkey (for Thanksgiving) and hunt for deer. The cows are gifts from some dairy farmer friends of theirs. It costs $.34/lb to butcher beef any way you want it.

They keep the rabbit fur to make mittens and other things.

She freezes, cans, or jellies all of the food that they produce.

She gets her milk from her cow, and makes her own dairy products, including cheese, yogurt and ice cream, among other things.

She never bought baby food.

They get their eggs from their chickens.

She doesn’t own a dryer. She line dries everything. And she only washes on Mondays.

She buys her flour and grains straight from the mill. She says they are fresh, and much cheaper.

They have well water of course.

She only turns on the air conditioner three months out of the year: June, July and August.

For a heating system, they don’t use electricity. They have a Water Stove. First I’d ever heard of one! It’s like a huge wood burning stove. It has coils inside that hold tons of water. There are two pipes which come out of it; one goes into the house, through a car radiator, and heats the home. The other goes to the plumbing and supplies the home with hot water for dishes, laundry and baths. People bring them lumber and boxes to burn all the time.

No computer. No cable TV.

She makes a menu and plans 3 full meals a day. She said a typical meal would be: BBQ deer meat, green beans, potatoes, and a fresh apple pie. All made from scratch.

She buys all of her spices and cooking needs from an Amish store. She said they are much cheaper. For instance, a whole cup of cinnamon would cost just about $1.00. You buy by weight.

She bakes goods for about a week in Fall to sell at the Fair for her shopping money.

Her and her daughters collect cans along the side of the road, and at grocery stores to recycle for about 10 cents per can.

She uses herbs for medicinal needs. She showed me a few growing in her yard, for teething babies, and bee stings.

If they feel like having a Frosty from Wendy’s, they make one at home themselves. Though, they do treat themselves with a rare splurge of going out to eat.

She was even recently given a wood stove for cooking on. She hasn’t begun using it, and is still learning about how to heat it properly and such, but she is very excited about the idea.

As I left there, I realized just how ignorant I still really am about how to live frugally. This woman truly is an example of the Proverbs 31 woman we all should strive to be. I am filled with even more questions now, and I can’t wait for my next visit with this wonderful family. What surprised me the most about Mrs. Adelia was when I asked her how she learned all of this, if it was from her Mother. She said, “Oh, no. My mother fed me Pop Tarts and Spaghetti O’s growing up. I decided when I was 29 that I was going to get a milk cow and make my own milk, and it started from there.” She began asking around about how to do certain things, and found that the very elderly, 80-90 year old women at a nearby nursing home could tell her the neatest things. And she has just learned along the way. What an inspiration! I honestly didn’t know people still knew how to do these things. I am excited about what more I have to learn.

*Don’t miss Lessons From Butterberry Farm, the second post in the True Queen Of Frugal Series!