Cure the winter blues with a green hobby!

"Green hobbies" usually involve dusting off your homesteading skills and reviving house-holding traditions. Some examples of green hobbies include maple tree tapping for syrup production, cheese and yogurt making, beer brewing, soap making, seed sprouting and even bee keeping.  

Green Hobbies are on the rise for several reasons.  

1) They are sustainable and a better alternative for the environment: Green hobbies often require that you reuse materials or conserve resources when you make or use them. In the case of beekeeping, with Colony Collapse Disorder on the rise the bees need backyard beekeepers to extend a hand – or hive. There are low-cost, highly regarded classes near here. Beekeeping is easier than you think! Brewing your own beer lets you reuse your bottles and reduce the carbon footprint by not having it delivered and packaged.

2) They can be economical: The products of these hobbies, including the equipment, are often cheaper in the long run then purchasing the manufactured version. A little green math: Let’s say you drink and some friends drink a few high-end microbrews over the weekend and you start talking about brewing your own beer ... again. On average, a six-pack of good beer costs $10 to $12. That’s about $1.50 to $2 a beer. Now, with the crazy market and weather the past couple of years we’ve seen big increases in some key beer ingredients – like hops.

To buy the deluxe model of a beer brewing equipment kit is about $120. If you buy a prepared ingredient kit, it can range between $25 for standard brews up to $55 for all organic kits. A standard kits makes about 60 beers. You can cut the ingredient kit cost down substantially by buying ingredients in bulk and growing your own hops. It’s only a few dollars for seeds and, if you save seeds at the end of the season, you can have hops for life for a few dollars.

So, let’s say you make one batch per month your first year brewing. You can get 720 beers. The cost of the original equipment and the ingredients ($30 x 12) comes up to $480 total or 67-cents per beer. Uh ... 67-cents per beer puts it right there with the cheapest beer you can buy. Let’s say you do buy the cheapest beer possible and still spend $480 for the year. You have missed out on the experience of brewing, hanging out with your friends, trying new flavors, becoming the master of your own brew and, no doubt, a few hysterical disasters.

In my humble opinion, the cheap beer is gross and not made of anything resembling the tasty, healthy, organic ingredients you could be drinking if you brewed your own. And, being a brew master makes you everyone’s “favorite friend.” Try this same math on maple syrup and fancy cheeses.

3) They are family friendly: Doing things together provides the interaction that is so important to healthy families.  Whether it’s dedicating a winter to learning how to keep bees like my youngest brother and I are doing this year or taking 30 minutes to make string cheese, you are working towards togetherness.  

4) They are often the healthier alternative: The best way to make sure what you eat (and drink) is healthy is to make it yourself with healthy ingredients. When you make your own cheese or yogurt using local milk, you can choose not to support the hormone-laden industrial agriculture system. You can also add your own ingredients from your own garden or a local farmer to make your cheeses and yogurts exactly the way you like it! Making your own syrup lets you leave the high fructose corn syrup off of your delicious pancakes! Adding sprouts to your diet lets you bring back in the diversity of greens that is often missing from our diet of three or four lettuces and greens. Have you tried adding radish sprouts to a roasted turkey sandwich instead of fatty horseradish? It tastes better and is better for you!

5) It can be fun and rewarding and can provide a sense of accomplishment: Green hobbies can help you feel good by learning new skills, teaching traditions to your family and choosing healthier options! My friend, Kel, stopped into my store as I was writing this to pick up some cheese wax. She is hoping to make a cheddar to share during a family vacation planned for this summer. She said her ability to make cheese is further evidence of her “awesomness.” I concur.

Cheese, Bees, and Beer, Baby.

Big Mo

Photo credit:http://www.cheesemaking.com/starterspecialkit.html