Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

Whatlifeis

I called into Mr M’s on Sunday and they were completely out of peppers and cucumbers. They said there is a huge shortage of salad for the next few weeks (at least) as bad weather has ruined the crops in Spain and Morocco. So it could explain the high price for your peppers?

Debsnewbudget

I am struggling to find peppers and tomatoes recently, as well as the Tesco instant coffee we buy which has been missing for weeks now.  I also cannot find the Lloyd Gro..... sachets of sauces for chicken. 

weenancyinAmerica

That's only £1.50 per pepper - ours are over $2.99 each right now, except I managed to find a green one for 99 cents in the leftover vegetable section. May have to start growing our own. Just using the seeds in the pepper should work as it has before.

foxgloves

Morning all,
Interesting about the peppers, as after reading people's responses, I came across an online 'Guardian' article about the shortage of certain salad, veg & fruit items. Yes, it is just as @Whatlifeis says....poor weather in Spain & Morocco has reduced crops by a significant %. At the same time, growers in the Netherlands are currently producing fewer peppers & salad crops because the energy crisis has made it too expensive to heat those enormous glasshouses.
Our homegrown peppers did really well last year - I grew the long 'Corno del Torro' pointy variety - & we are both thinking it is probably worth trying to make space for a couple of extra plants. 
@weenancyinAmerica - I'm not familiar with the exchange rate re UK ££s & US dollars, but I thought £1.50 per pepper was outrageous! I do understand the reasons now, but am still making sure I get best value for them. Already frozen 2 pots of diced, added some to last night's spicy couscous, sliced & frozen some for fajitas, will use some in Thai-spiced fish I'm making on Thurs, some in the chipotle tuna wedge melt on Fri & will still be able to freeze some more towards a pizza, chilli or lentil bolognese 
Well, I'd better get on .....Ash has arrived on my lap & is being very cuddly, but he will have to move & there will doubtless be a grumpy face.
Have a good day all. Hope poorly folk starting to feel better.
F x

marionmgcars

It’s great that you are both involved with the shopping , it makes us value anything we purchase.  My partner has started to do some of the shopping.  He used to just scoop things from the shelf and cost us a fortune.  Now he shops with a list and we stick to list but allow ourselves one extra purchase if there is some treat we fancy.  Most of the time I come away without it, and don’t really miss it when home.  

marionmgcars

I found that my jam funnel is really handy to fill the bird feeders, rather than having peanuts escaping all over the garden.  (Obviously I give it a good clean before returning to kitchen).  I might see if I can find a spare at the charity shops/car boot sales this year.  

Sun_Addict

That's an extortionate price for the peppers! I paid £1.25 for a pack of 3 this morning on my Mr M delivery. They were quite large too. I did quite well with peppers last year so they're on my list to grow this year as I get through quite a few. 

WinterWarrior

Just popping on to say that I’m always annoyed when the peppers are out of stock and they just have the thin pointy ones which are so much more expensive. I don’t mind the frozen bags at a pinch, but I’m not keen on green peppers and they are always in the frozen mix.

2Scratters

This is certainly making us think more about what we eat and when. 
We have the resources to grow our own but then make ourselves to be too busy. I think mother nature is throwing some stones back at us and making us think more about how we live our lives. I remember a work colleague having some digestive problems  and she was simply told by her GP to eat food what is in season and her body will be able to manage. Yep! she does just that and is problem free. As I am sat here writing this I have some cherry tomatoes sat in the fridge, I am going to take a few and see how I get on with the seeds.

2 Scratters xx

EssexHebridean

The tomato shortage was on the radio news this morning - apparently it's going to become more of an issue for the same reasons that people are already finding peppers are in short supply. Hopefully this could be a good opportunity for the British growers in a few months time though - it always makes me cross that we have the perfect climate for growing them yet even in the summer import so many from other parts of the world! I'm SO looking forward to having proper growing space for fruit and veg! 


A jam funnel is a great idea for bird feeder filling. I use the top half of a plastic drink bottle - I think the one I've got on the go currently originally contained tonic water. Sits nicely in the top of the feeders and is wide enough to pour into easily - more so if you squish it so it's more of an oval. 

the huffing and puffing about prices did make me smile. And I agree with Mr F about the price of branded yogurts too - although as yet the Mull3r ones seem to be holding their ground on the same multibuy offer they've been on for a good while, I am wondering how far off an increase they are. It wasn't so long ago we used to buy Y30 Valley ones for £1 for a large pot - now if you see it for £1.50 on offer it's a surprise!