After a long, brutal winter here in the Northeast, spring is finally here — at least according to the calendar. We should start seeing budding branches and blooming flowers in the coming weeks, so now is time to start planning this year’s garden.
BDCWire Staff
Anna Marden Correspondent
Anna Marden is an ex-vegetarian and current bacon enthusiast. She is a freelance budget food and lifestyle blogger for the SALT Blog and works full time for Circulation Journal. She has contributed to The Boston Globe, Boston.com and The Weekly Dig.
Stories by Anna Marden
Sure, it’s nice to have someone with whom to share Valentine’s Day, and not having one can be hard. Coupled friends are making reservations for expensive dinners, stressing out over choosing a gift, and paying inflated prices for roses. Someone on my Facebook newsfeed offered to pay real money to buy a browser extension that would block all Valentine’s Day content from his Internet experience. Before you desperately message potential dates on OK Cupid, consider the alternative — you can be your own awesome Valentine. More
The polar vortex may have passed, but unfortunately, we’ve got to get through about three more months of winter weather here in the Northeast. If you weren’t already suffering from seasonal depression, I hope I didn’t just trigger it with that reminder. Don’t fret, though, I’m here to help. I’ve got a few tricks (besides drooling at the ridiculous above photo) for inspiring a little summery cheer on the coldest and snowiest days.
Resolving to cut down on your spending this year can leave some extra cash in your pocket for things like going on vacation, buying a car, establishing an emergency fund, moving, paying off student loans, or getting out of credit card debt. One easy way to cut back on spending is to reduce your utilities bills costs by making some changes in your usage habits. Watching your bill go down can feel like an accomplishment on its own, too… just don’t become an Extreme Cheapskate. More
Whether you’ve had divorced parents for half your life or half a year, the holidays can be extra stressful. Everyone has a different circumstance, of course, but as a kid of divorce (well, technically my parents were never even married), I figure I may have some good insight for my fellow 20-somethings on how to cope with the holidays when you’re trying to be in multiple places at the same time for a holiday that emphasizes “family togetherness.” Here’s eight things I’ve learned. More
Are you an underemployed 20-something who can’t afford a nice holiday gift for your boyfriend/girlfriend or your parents this year? Or maybe you’d just rather give something more personalized? Here’s a few DIY gift ideas that won’t hit your wallet too hard, but will be really special for the person receiving them. Warning: Gifting some of these items may cause tears in the recipient. Especially if its your mom.
More holiday gift ideas:
– 8 craft beer gifts for the beer snob in your life
– Go old school: Mix tapes make the best gifts
– Don’t be the lame relative: 7 horrible gifts to avoid
– Perfect gift for the Masshole on your holiday shopping list More
I’m not really sure why I’ve been under the impression that cider making is a big challenge, because it really isn’t — well, it doesn’t have to be. I’ve been procrastinating the whole way, dreading that I was going to have to take the time to do some big involved project for the actual fermentation step. It’s literally so simple though — yeast + apple juice + airlock = fermentation started, hopefully. It’s so much easier than homebrewing beer. More
If your house looks anything like mine right now, apples are spilling out of the pantry. New England had an especially abundant apple season this year and apple picking is a fall tradition. If you’re sick of baking and bored with packing apples for lunch every day, there’s one great way to finish off that stock: Juice those suckers. For the adventurous DIYers out there, take on a new project — fermenting the apples for a delicious homemade hard cider. More
The journal of a DIYer from Jamaica Plain giving hard cider-making a shot. Follow her elating successes and devastating failures through our three-part weekly series. Along the way, tell her what she’s doing right and wrong. This is part one. More