SELL SPROUT JAR KITS

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MOTHER feels strongly that youths can be creative "doers", working toward more ecological and self-reliant lifestyles . . . whether their tasks be raising chickens on a farm or maintaining rooftop container gardens in the city. To support the endeavors of our often overlooked "underage" citizens, we're glad to publish wellwritten articles from younger children and teenagers concerning projects they've undertaken. However, we recommend that all young authors query (that is, send us a letter telling about the story you'd like to do) before writing a full article. Address inquiries to Mother's Children,THE MOTHER EARTH NEWS ® , 105 Storey Mountain Road Hendersonville, North Carolina 28791.

I have my own home business . . . making and selling products that I call Sprout Jar Kits. Each package of sprouting equipment consists of one wide-mouthed quart canning jar, a lid ring and screen, two tablespoons of alfalfa seeds, four tablespoons of mung seeds, and a three-page instruction pamphlet. The kits cost me 90¢ to make, and I sell them for $2.00 (wholesale) or $3.00 (retail) apiece.

My business started as a home-schooling project. (My family are Seventh Day Adventist Christians, so I've never gone to public school. Our religion honors the seventh day — Saturday — as holy . . . looks forward to the second coming of Jesus Christ . . . and teaches that home is the best place to live, work, play, and study.) And I've certainly learned a lot from my selling experiences.

For one thing, I've begun to understand how to use money (as well as how to make it!). I record all the cash I get or spend . . . so I can keep track of expenses, income, and profit. Furthermore, since putting kits together takes time, I'm learning about discipline and setting priorities. I'm finding out about how to deal with customers and storekeepers, too. (Mom helps me a lot with this part of the job, though, because I'm a little shy.) And my parents tell me I'm probably even learning some lessons without knowing it!