Supporting local business

elona

Queenie

They sound great! I go to a market on Tuesdays and Thursdays and they have a good veg and fruit stall but not a lot else.

Chipps

Just been to our local farmers market this morning. Its only on 2nd & 4th Tuesdays of the month.
Bought huge cauli, fresh spring cabbage, REAL carrots with the tops on :-) & some potatoes. A bit more than I would have paid at the saturday market, but they are fresh & local - taste much better!
On another stall I got some eggs - the sign said they were laid this morning. 70p for 6 - cheaper than "free range" in Tesco; I know cos we went there afterwards (to buy toothpaste; obviously not available at farmers market!!!! :-D

Queenie

:T Chipps!!! Don't forget ... those carrot "tops" make a great salad

catznine

Our local farmers market is on the first Sunday in the month so I am still waiting to try this form of shopping out!

Queenie how do you prepare carrot tops? Can they really be used in a salad?

Queenie

catznine wrote:

..... Queenie how do you prepare carrot tops? Can they really be used in a salad?

Yes, they really can be used in a salad.

They can be chopped, washed and added to a green salad with a balsamic vinegar/olive oil dressing.

I have chopped them, added them to grated carrot (the carrot root is sweet, which balances the slight bitterness of the "tops") and served with a basic dressing or even honey dressing to make it more palatable for our boys.

You can cook them in some olive oil, garlic and onion to serve as a side vegetable. You could add mushrooms, tomatoes and herbs then serve as a hot mixed "vegetable".

catznine

Thank you Queenie! I must try that sometime, love the idea of adding balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Still on the topic of buying locally, I received my locally produced box of organic vegetables and fruit today and have in it a kohl rabi! What on earth do I do with this? Anybody got any ideas?

squeaky

You can treat it pretty much the same as turnip. So for any recipes you have with turnip in them you could switch in some of your kohl rabi.

Edit: a google search on "kohlrabi recipe" will give you lots of ideas.

toniwoty2009

Hi all,
not sure if this is the right place to post this (apologies mods if not!) but I thought the OSers would probably have some opinions on it.
OH and I are lucky in that we live 5 minutes walk fromour town centre so have a variety of shops available to us. I'd really like to start supporting local businesses, I know they have struggled a lot through closure of car parks in the area, etc, by buying our food, as far as possible, from small local businesses. We have a v reasonably priced f&v stall nearby, a butchers which often has great offers on and a lovely bakery.
whats everyone's opinion? Am I going to end up spending a lot more money for not much gain in terms of taste etc?
I'm fed up with all the mass produced food, which frankly isn't a patch on 'proper' food taste-wise (sausages being a major example!). But I can't really afford to totally blow my budget on it
Are there any ideas of how I can save money elsewhere in order to give my family better quality food?

the_cat

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=369405

This thread will probably help!

toniwoty2009

aha! thanks very much! i did do a search but couldn't find anything. obviously using wrong words :doh: silly me