Here’s another way of looking at it. If you buy fresh, high quality spices (from, say, Penzeys or Spice House or World Spice), they’ll still be much better at the end of the year, no matter how you treat them, than lousy supermarket spices.

Kathleen, the magnetic spice jars are right near the stove. We replace nearly all our spices every December, so I feel free to abuse them.

I had some luck with cilantro last year and would like to plant that again. I spend way too much on cilantro and parsley at the supermarket, probably $20 some months. The cilantro did end up dying like everything else I plant, but I was able to harvest some while it was briefly thriving.

This is starting to sound like a good plan — I like the magnetic board idea.

I have to add — I’m a bad person and I like to have my spices very close to the stove, which I always hear is bad for your spices. I’m just too lazy.

Speaking of herbs, which go with spices, are you planting any this year? I overwintered some marjoram, oregano, and chives, which are doing very well — especially the chives, which I’ve already cut and used twice.

By the way, those $5 off coupons they have on the back of the Bed Bath & Beyond catalog mailings come in handy for tiny purchases like this.