Produce is high these days. Cheapest for me for 5 daily store bought
fruit & vege servings a banana, cabbage, dry beans, carrot, squash.

Home grown is even more expensive because animals and birds eat my
fruits before they ripe. I do however get a few odd veges and a good
crop of tomatoes and garlic each year.

James wrote:
Produce is high these days. Cheapest for me for 5 daily store bought
fruit & vege servings a banana, cabbage, dry beans, carrot, squash.

Home grown is even more expensive because animals and birds eat my
fruits before they ripe. I do however get a few odd veges and a good
crop of tomatoes and garlic each year.

Dried beans aren't a fruit or veg. They're a legume/pulse.

I was HORRIFIED to find that artichokes cost $4.98 each at my market
over the weekend! I know the weather in cali has been bad but I didn't
expect them to triple in price....

Still cheap here are the stuff from Chile/Latin America like mangoes,
papaya, grapes.Everything else seems to be through the roof - even
what's not native to Cali!!

On Feb 15, 8:08 pm, "James" wrote:
Produce is high these days. Cheapest for me for 5 daily store bought
fruit & vege servings a banana, cabbage, dry beans, carrot, squash.

Home grown is even more expensive because animals and birds eat my
fruits before they ripe. I do however get a few odd veges and a good
crop of tomatoes and garlic each year.

I shop the sales. THis week broccoli 99 cents a pound, bananas 33
cents a pound. Peaches and plums $0.99 a pound. Carrots are up, as
are most of the citrus.

I also find that the reduced price produce can be worth your while, if
you find a use for it that day.

Today I found 4 packets of the mini-vine tomatoes for $1.29 each
(regularly 3-4.99), a pair of red peppers, some eggplant and apples.
Had to cut out about a 2" square from the peppers, the eggplant was a
little soft but not off, and the tomatoes were perfect. I threw most
of that stuff into a beef stew that's simmering away, and the rest
into salad. The peppers worked out to $1.10 a pound, the eggplant
closer to 59 cents. Some of the apples were tonight's dessert,
washed, cored and filled with raisins, nuts, brown sugar and spices.
The rest which are fine, will go into our lunches and snacks the next
couple of days.

maxine in ri

"James" wrote

Produce is high these days. Cheapest for me for 5 daily store bought
fruit & vege servings a banana, cabbage, dry beans, carrot, squash.

Home grown is even more expensive because animals and birds eat my
fruits before they ripe. I do however get a few odd veges and a good
crop of tomatoes and garlic each year.

The best bang for the buck would be frozen vegetables.

nancy

James wrote:
Produce is high these days. Cheapest for me for 5 daily store bought
fruit & vege servings a banana, cabbage, dry beans, carrot, squash.

Home grown is even more expensive because animals and birds eat my
fruits before they ripe. I do however get a few odd veges and a good
crop of tomatoes and garlic each year.

The best bang for your buck is a small hydroponics system. See the 11
plant system at http://hydroponicsonline.com There is a learning curve
and a high startup cost, but it has been worth it to me. Just be
prepared for more food than you expected!

Read a basic book first. I suggest "Hydroponics for the Home Gardener:
An easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide for growing healthy vegetables,
herbs and house plants without soil" by Kenyon & Resh

A search at Amazon.com on "Howard M. Resh" will prvide you with several
titles worth reading,

Read about companion planting at http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/complant.html

Dick

On Feb 15, 9:54�pm, (Dick Adams) wrote:
James wrote:
Produce is high these days. *Cheapest for me for 5 daily store bought
fruit & vege servings a banana, cabbage, dry beans, carrot, squash.

Home grown is even more expensive because animals and birds eat my
fruits before they ripe. *I do however get a few odd veges and a good
crop of tomatoes and garlic each year.

The best bang for your buck is a small hydroponics system. *See the 11
plant system athttp://hydroponicsonline.com*There is a learning curve
and a high startup cost, but it has been worth it to me. *Just be
prepared for more food than you expected!

Read a basic book first. *I suggest "Hydroponics for the Home Gardener:
An easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide for growing healthy vegetables,
herbs and house plants without soil" by Kenyon & Resh

A search at Amazon.com on "Howard M. Resh" will prvide you with several
titles worth reading,

Read about companion planting athttp://www.attra.org/attra-pub/complant.html

For the average home gardener an inexpensive fence and some netting
works just fine... I don't think very many families will be interested
in investing in like $40,000 worth of arbortorium to grow a dozen
heads of lettuce and a few pounds of green beans.

Sheldon

James wrote:
Produce is high these days. Cheapest for me for 5 daily store bought
fruit & vege servings a banana, cabbage, dry beans, carrot, squash.

Home grown is even more expensive because animals and birds eat my
fruits before they ripe. I do however get a few odd veges and a good
crop of tomatoes and garlic each year.

Try using bird netting to cover your fruit trees, I use it with great
success to keep the grackles and squirrels out of the several fruit
trees I have. A good cat or small dog will keep them out of your garden
area. My rat terrier does a fine job of running squirrels and birds out
of the veggie garden, doesn't even try to kill them, just enjoys running
them off.

Biggest bang for your buck is growing your own. We canned 42 pints of
green beans last year from a 24 foot row of Bush Blue Lake green beans.
Plenty of broccoli, cauliflower, green peppers, hot peppers, tomatoes,
and various greens too. More than enough to feed the wife and I plus
extras for the dog, who enjoys veggies.

George

On Feb 16, 9:19 am, George Shirley wrote:
James wrote:
Produce is high these days. Cheapest for me for 5 daily store bought
fruit & vege servings a banana, cabbage, dry beans, carrot, squash.

Home grown is even more expensive because animals and birds eat my
fruits before they ripe. I do however get a few odd veges and a good
crop of tomatoes and garlic each year.

Try using bird netting to cover your fruit trees, I use it with great
success to keep the grackles and squirrels out of the several fruit
trees I have. A good cat or small dog will keep them out of your garden
area. My rat terrier does a fine job of running squirrels and birds out
of the veggie garden, doesn't even try to kill them, just enjoys running
them off.

Biggest bang for your buck is growing your own. We canned 42 pints of
green beans last year from a 24 foot row of Bush Blue Lake green beans.
Plenty of broccoli, cauliflower, green peppers, hot peppers, tomatoes,
and various greens too. More than enough to feed the wife and I plus
extras for the dog, who enjoys veggies.

George

It's pretty hard to net a 30' high tree.

Once a bird was under the grape netting. It found a way in but
couldn't find a way out. Trouble with fruits is if you're the only
one growing them every bird and animal in the neighborhood stops by
for a snack.

On Feb 16, 9:57�am, "James" wrote:
On Feb 16, 9:19 am, George Shirley wrote:





James wrote:
Produce is high these days. *Cheapest for me for 5 daily store bought
fruit & vege servings a banana, cabbage, dry beans, carrot, squash.

Home grown is even more expensive because animals and birds eat my
fruits before they ripe. *I do however get a few odd veges and a good
crop of tomatoes and garlic each year.

Try using bird netting to cover your fruit trees, I use it with great
success to keep the grackles and squirrels out of the several fruit
trees I have. A good cat or small dog will keep them out of your garden
area. My rat terrier does a fine job of running squirrels and birds out
of the veggie garden, doesn't even try to kill them, just enjoys running
them off.

Biggest bang for your buck is growing your own. We canned 42 pints of
green beans last year from a 24 foot row of Bush Blue Lake green beans.
Plenty of broccoli, cauliflower, green peppers, hot peppers, tomatoes,
and various greens too. More than enough to feed the wife and I plus
extras for the dog, who enjoys veggies.

George

It's pretty hard to net a 30' high tree.

Once a bird was under the grape netting. *It found a way in but
couldn't find a way out. *Trouble with fruits is if you're the only
one growing them every bird and animal in the neighborhood stops by
for a snack.

What type of tree... orchard/grove trees are typically no more than
15' tall... sounds like yours need serious pruning.... how are you
harvesting fruit 30' up? If your trees are kept tall primarily for
shade/specimen planting then there's nothing much to be done about
marauders. My vegetable garden is fenced with 5' turkey wire, but it
also contains blueberry bushes and strawberry plants, those get
netted. I also employ plastic owls (Cabela's has the best prices),
those keep a lot of birds away... I also have a few whirlagigs
attached to the fence, the constant whirring, clacking, and the fence
vibrating keeps a lot of poachers away. With netting it's not
necessary to cover completely, in fact no matter how carefully you
apply the netting some birds will find their way in... so the trick is
to leave a few escape routes... the little a couple three birds eat
won't hardly be noticed... and having some birds is very helpful, they
eat beetles and cut worms, they also help fertilize.

Sheldon

On Feb 15, 5:36 pm, "Jude" wrote:
James wrote:
Produce is high these days. Cheapest for me for 5 daily store bought
fruit & vege servings a banana, cabbage, dry beans, carrot, squash.

Home grown is even more expensive because animals and birds eat my
fruits before they ripe. I do however get a few odd veges and a good
crop of tomatoes and garlic each year.

Dried beans aren't a fruit or veg. They're a legume/pulse.

I was HORRIFIED to find that artichokes cost $4.98 each at my market
over the weekend! I know the weather in cali has been bad but I didn't
expect them to triple in price....

Still cheap here are the stuff from Chile/Latin America like mangoes,
papaya, grapes.Everything else seems to be through the roof - even
what's not native to Cali!!

It's not artichoke season here until around March. The best buys on
those are around that time and at Costco and Sam's Club you can get
huge artichokes, 4 pack, for about $4-$5. Unless we get massive
rainfall in the next month I don't think that'll be a problem. Other
parts of the year artichokes are imported from South America.

On Feb 15, 5:08 pm, "James" wrote:
Produce is high these days. Cheapest for me for 5 daily store bought
fruit & vege servings a banana, cabbage, dry beans, carrot, squash.

Home grown is even more expensive because animals and birds eat my
fruits before they ripe. I do however get a few odd veges and a good
crop of tomatoes and garlic each year.

Not saying these are the "freshest" fruits/vegetables but they do
still have shelf-life at the .99¢ Only Stores. Won't work for anyone
not in California, Nevada, Texas or Arizona of course. For example
yesterday when I was in there saw 4 packs of Asian pears and 5lb bag
of white potatoes.

In article .com,
"James" wrote:

It's pretty hard to net a 30' high tree.

True. I net a section of lower branches. At least some of the crop is
for us. The birds can have the higher fruit.

marcella

James wrote:
Produce is high these days. Cheapest for me for 5 daily store bought
fruit & vege servings a banana, cabbage, dry beans, carrot, squash.

Winter produce is always expensive. Buy what's in season or on sale.
Around here there's almost always one variety of apples cheap, and
either a plum, peach, or nectarine on special.


Home grown is even more expensive because animals and birds eat my
fruits before they ripe. I do however get a few odd veges and a good
crop of tomatoes and garlic each year.

I find tomatoes and herbs are my best bet. Fresh herbs in the store are
$4-5 a handfull. I grow my own for a fraction of that price and dry the
extra. I freeze extra tomatoes and peppers for cooking with later. I
also dry the grape and cherry tomatoes.

I save orange rinds from time to time, cook them in simple syrup, and
dry them for use in baking. A little chopped candied orange is amazing
in cookies and cake, and it's much cheaper to make your own than buy it.



Dawn

On Feb 16, 12:55 pm, "Seerialmom" wrote:

Not saying these are the "freshest" fruits/vegetables but they do
still have shelf-life at the .99¢ Only Stores. Won't work for anyone
not in California, Nevada, Texas or Arizona of course. For example
yesterday when I was in there saw 4 packs of Asian pears and 5lb bag
of white potatoes.

Oh! One other place for good buys on good produce are the ethnic
markets. I shop at the Asian market, and the prices are amazing.
$1.30/lb for ginger root; $1.99 for pineapple; Garlic 6/$1; Shallots
$0.99/bag of couple dozen small.

maxine in ri

I have a root cellar kept at zero degrees celcius behind my farmhouse full
of homespun stored vegetables. I can chose from carrots, turnips, sprounts,
cabbage and potatoes. I also have a cold room in my house containing
onions, garlic and various types of squash. A freezer holds frozen peas,
lima beans and soy beans along with frozen chicken and turkey. The cost of
these items is virtually nothing.

Farmer John