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Buying lots of veg that doesn't cost the earth?
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vikki_louise
Posts: 2,358 Forumite



Hi, I was wondering where people got their fruit and veg from that don't cost the earth? We want to try juicing and already spend a lot on fruit and veg, juicing looks mega expensive! We haven't got an Aldi/morrisons/asda and our lidl veg looks fit only for compost. We tend to buy from a veg market stall, the stuff is lovely (tastes like home grown) but pricey and no other veg stalls around. Also buy it from sainsburys. I would prefer organic but that will just push the price up even more! I wondered what others do?
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Comments
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Can you sus out when your Sainsburys do their reductions, they are usually very good, in ours around 3.pm on a sunday is good.Slimming World at target0
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I would not juice.Non me fac calcitrare tuum culi0
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To be honest, I wouldn`t juice either, but your original question still relevant - we all want good fruit & veg as cheap as possible.
It depends where you are.
You have a Sainsbobs and a Lidl, a market with only one veg stall....sounds pretty out-of-the way. That`s not such a bad thing, if you`re in a rural spot there`s likely to be folks growing & selling stuff you may not know about.
I totally agree with the OP on Lidl`s unless you`re using produce the day you bought it.
I`d suggest asking around locally rather than asking on here.
A lot of small businesses rely on word of mouth - I`m lucky as here are 3 farmshops in our area, 2 are pricey as heck, but the one I go to is BRILLIANT! I found it by accident a few years back when it was just a small enterprise. and they`ve grown by folks telling their friends about it, not by advertising!0 -
look in the local press for weekly or monthly farmers markets - Libraries often have this sort of local info.
Pop down the local allotments and ask if anyone is willing to sell their surplus (its amazing how many people get carried away with the planting and end up giving stuff to neighbours (or as I once did - leave it on garden wall with invitation for people to help themselves).
get to know which farms have a shop, many do, even if its only the back door!
I agree markets can be pricey - I am lucky to have a very well run Aldi five minutes away - their super six is fantastic value. the veg and fruit always in top condition. it all depends on the manager and how good they are when it comes to ordering. so keep an eye out for management changes in the Lidl - usually every few years - you may find the quality and freshness of the produce will suddenly improve.0 -
If the fruit is for juicing i think it wouldn't need to be perfect? you could try asking at the shop if they have any damaged fruit which they would probably be glad to shift and you might be able to make them an offer on it. I am lucky enough to have a really good little greengrocery shop fairly local to me and I'm sure they would sell the damaged stuff rather than throw it away. Ask, if they say no you're no worse off than if you hadn't asked at all, Lyn x.0
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Juicing is a very expensive way of consuming fruit and veg and to be honest it is not the best way to consume it.
Most of the dietary fibre and many of the essential vitamins and minerals will be lost by juicing fruit and veg, this is why no matter how much fruit juice you drink in one day it will only count as one portion.
If you must drink it then you are better using it in smoothies where it is blended but even that is not as good and still more expensive than just eating it.1 Sealed Pot Challenge # 1480
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https://www.5adaybox.co.uk/ it has a min order spend across the shop but they do blemished soup/smoothie boxes.0
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Well I would say avoid the big supermarkets other than to look for mark downs.
I think Lidl and Aldi are good-the ones we go to are both great, but I know some stores aren't so good and it seems to vary depending on the store/manager. Best stuff we get comes from local farm shops-both fruit/veg and meat.
Been eating "maris bard" salad spuds from our local farm shop, freshly dug that morning yum yum and locally grown "bobby beans". BUT this isn't one of those fancy expensive designer type farm shops, similar to the other poster it started as a tiny shop in the barn just to sell their own grown stuff and grew from there-now it does locally farm butter/cream and varies cheeses etc, the meat shop we go to was in a little portacabin on the farm yard lol and now is a proper shop on the yard.
Given your description I am wondering if you are fairly rural or on the edge of a small town? In which case I would seek out the farm shops.
We also grow our own, which can be as cheap or expensive as you want it to be. Currently I have more courgettes than you can shake a stick at from 4 plants out of a couple of packs of seed-now 4 years old, which only cost around 50p altogether from Lidl then.
We make our own compost and feed, OH knocked up the raised beds himself a few years back for very little and we reuse stuff where we can for pots/plants supports etc. E.G Next door were chucking out 2 trellises as they had started to go on the bottom end near the soil-gave to us for free. OH cut off the rotten edge and we restained and reused, they look fab and currently have a cucumber and loads of sweetpeas growing up them. Freecycle is also great for pots and trays and our local council do free compost giveaways every so often as well.
Think this year I spent around £3 on a top of of some Lidl seeds and 3 bags of extra compost for seed trays etc (the homemade stuff doesn't seem to be fine enough), all in £13 for veggies and herbs which vastly reduce our food costs over the summer and fill the freezer to help out later. Trouble is its too tasty, picked a load of pea and bean pods this morning and left them in the kitchen to pod later for tea-almost all gone as kids and Oh kept going past and grabbing one to eat on the go. Baby broad beans are a revelation lol. Never buy a lettuce or salad leaf from April when the first lot in the unheated greenhouse are big enough.
Mind you I do love gardening and as we are both self employed I can do the day to day stuff and recruit OH for any heavy/construction jobs."Overthinking every little thing
Acknowledge the bell you cant unring"0 -
I know this doesn't help to resolve now. But thinking about growing your own?Ds2 born 3/4/12 8lbs 8.5:j
Ds1 born 28/4/07 9lb 8 :j
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