caffeine

I drink way too much caffeine.

Many of our addictions come from plant sources such as coffee, tobacco, and sugar(I'll stick to the legal addictions).
Although there is no way we could succesfully grow coffee or sugar cane in our back yard gardens, we could always create the proper environment indoors to make a go of it. Is there anyone planning to, or even doing that now?

Richter's Garden Centre carries seeds to grow your own tea. They have sold out already this year, but still it's good to know. They have also developed a stevia plant that doesn't have tha nasty after taste. So there you have it, your caffeine and sweetener. Supposedly tea is easy to grow, and I've grown stevia before. One plant supplied me with enough sweetener for 2 years. Man it's sweet.

I would love to know more about the Stevia...can it be substituted for sugar in other applications such as baking?

I would love to know more about the Stevia...can it be substituted for sugar in other applications such as baking?

Here's a link. Richter's carries the books too. I love that place.
http://books.google.ca/books?id=DUqoNwAACAAJ&dq=growing+stevia&hl=en&sa=X&ei=vaVzT-_fCaPn0QH6usX_Ag&ved=0CEEQ6AEwAA

Stevia is powerful stuff, a drop will do!

I had wondered what could be a potential sweet substitute and had completely overlooked stevia, thanks for the reminder!
On the subject of sweetners, we had a big fat bumble bee fly into our kitchen the other day and I couldn't have been happier! It seems we see so many less bees now due to environmental pollutions/pesticides...many of the local honey producers have closed up shop. The bee was gently shooed on his way - but it was a great harbinger of spring to see it!

Home made postum is a good coffee substitute- though postum will never taste as good as that first cup of coffee in the morning ( No matter how hard it tries, lol 😉 ) Many native herbs/plants/roots can be brewed to make a tea so I will be doing a little exploring/taste testing in the upcoming months. Ultimately, a hot beverage is a comforting thing and there are many substitutes if we don't get too picky. ( But I am going to continue to drink hearty cups of coffee while I can and continue to store coffee/tea as my budget allows!)

Stevia is powerful stuff, a drop will do!

I had wondered what could be a potential sweet substitute and had completely overlooked stevia, thanks for the reminder!
On the subject of sweetners, we had a big fat bumble bee fly into our kitchen the other day and I couldn't have been happier! It seems we see so many less bees now due to environmental pollutions/pesticides...many of the local honey producers have closed up shop. The bee was gently shooed on his way - but it was a great harbinger of spring to see it!

Home made postum is a good coffee substitute- though postum will never taste as good as that first cup of coffee in the morning ( No matter how hard it tries, lol 😉 ) Many native herbs/plants/roots can be brewed to make a tea so I will be doing a little exploring/taste testing in the upcoming months. Ultimately, a hot beverage is a comforting thing and there are many substitutes if we don't get too picky. ( But I am going to continue to drink hearty cups of coffee while I can and continue to store coffee/tea as my budget allows!)

my grandmother told me that when times were bad they used chicory roots for coffee

Articles on stevia
http://whatscookingamerica.net/CharlotteBradley/Stevia.htm

Make your own dried stevia
http://www.livestrong.com/article/513746-how-to-use-dried-stevia-leaves-as-a-sweetener-in-recipes/

make your own stevia liquid
http://herbgardens.about.com/od/herbalcraftsandgifts/ht/makeyourstevia.htm

Buy & Grow coffee plant in Canada forum (there's not much info here)
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/cangard/msg041706172087.html

Grow your own coffee beans
http://www.coffeeresearch.org/coffee/homegrowing.htm

Roast your own coffee beans
http://www.ineedcoffee.com/99/homeroast/