Photo by Geraldine Laufer

Herbs might not be the first thing that come to mind when you start considering ways to save money, but they actually can be a great help in cutting costs while boosting health, flavor and the general deliciousness of life.

In coming issues of The Herb Companion, we'll discuss these possibilities in detail, starting with Jim Long's "Cut Your Grocery Bill, Grow Your Own Food" article in our March issue and continuing with Kim Erickson's "15 Herbs to Save Money on Your Medical Bill," in June and continuing with "An Ordinary Food Makeover," by Pat Crocker in one of our fall issues.

• With herbs, you can boost your immune system so you don't get sick as often, and can gently treat the symptoms if you do.
• You can dress up any garden, patio or sunny windowsill with beautiful, aromatic herbs--there's no home decorating option as inexpensive or rewarding.
• Your cleaning supplies can be as inexpensive as vinegar and water, and smell as rich and relaxing as a stroll through a lavender garden with the help of a little essential oil.
• And even the most ordinary of dishes--for instance the scrambled eggs I had for breakfast–can become extraordinary with the addition of some garlic and a few fresh herbs (this morning: flat-leaf parsley and my container garden's last, brave marjoram).

For expert advice on turning your home from everyday to splendidly herbal, check out our regular contributors Tina-Marie Wilcox and Susan Belsinger's delightful and wildly useful book The Creative Herbal Home. And meanwhile, pick up a copy of The Herb Companion or keep coming back to this website.

Herbs can help us make it through these challenging times and we're going to be here to make sure that happens.

Photo provided by Wikipedia Commons

I recently have become fascinated by fractals. I can’t even explain what they are, only that they look cool as can be and are challenging even to consider. Every now and then I love bumping into something that makes my brain twitch. Fractals are my most recent obsession. Here’s what Wikipedia says about them, just as a place to start:

A fractal is generally "a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole,"^[1] a property called self-similarity. The term was coined by Benoît Mandelbrot in 1975 and was derived from the Latin fractus meaning "broken" or "fractured." (See Wikipedia.org for more information…)

What has me fascinated is this photo of a type of Romanesco broccoli or cauliflower (it seems to be called one or the other about equally). Its repeating design is a fractal and it has me wondering what other fractals are observable in the natural world.

If you have any other examples, please let me know. Send photos. I’m fascinated …