Local produce markets and the frugally inclined

[Curmudgeoness]

Last edited Sun Aug 12, 2012, 07:00 PM - Edit history (1)

can have a great relationship. My local farmers' market is not always the cheapest place to get fruits and vegetables, but for years now, I have bought the tomatoes and peppers that are overripe or have spots on them for a great price. I get one of those produce boxes full for $5-6. And since I have shared tips with the Amish women who run the stand, they always find a few extras to fill the box fuller. These purchases get me through the whole winter and beyond.

I take the box home and clean and dice the peppers up immediately (since I don't want anything going bad to get worse). Them I put them in freezer storage bags---they don't need need cooked or parboiled, just put in the bags and freeze them. Whenever you would use peppers in cooking, you can use these right from the bag....and at time when peppers are expensive, this is great.

The tomatoes can be washed, dried, and put in freezer bags whole. When you take them out to thaw, the skin will come right off in one piece without effort and you can use the tomatoes in cooking. Flavorful tomatoes to use in cooking in the middle of the winter is a wonderful thing.

And if I knew how to take the lazy way out on other produce, I would also buy other things at this time. I have tried some things that do not work out. Anyone know what to do with potatoes bought in bulk?

On a side note, I also hunt for wild mushrooms that also can be frozen and used whenever they are needed, but that is a little more work---they need parboiled prior to freezing.

Editted to include: I took a trip out into the country today, and the produce stands that I ran into out there were much cheaper than the ones close to town. I got another produce box of tomatoes and a box of green peppers for $5 each (paid $6 for a box of soft tomatoes in town).

[cbayer]

1. I am both impressed and envious.

No farmers market, and very, very little freezer.

And the stuff from the local store is super expensive and rots quickly.

But huge kudos to you!

[Curmudgeoness]

2. Oh, that sucks for you.

At this time of year, there are farm stands on practically every corner. This time of year, I make myself sick eating so much fresh produce.

I wonder, what do your grocery stores do with produce that is starting to turn? We have one (out of all the grocery stores in our area) that marks it down instead of tossing it. The point is, you know it may have bad spots.

As to the freezer space, I have a chest freezer and it is the absolute best investment I have made. I can buy things on sale in quantity instead of being subject to the prices at the time I need something.

[cbayer]

3. It is all supply and demand out here.

Only game in town and she sets the price.

Someday we will go back to land and I will garden. Not soon, but down the road.

And I will have a freezer!

[Sherman A1]

12. May I suggest something that worked for us

to keep produce fresh. Rubbermaid Produce Savers work superbly and we find them to have saved us a great deal in preventing fresh produce from going bad. Even bagged salad mix holds up wonderfully in these containers. If they are not available locally for you, check Amazon. They are worth their weight in gold. The small one, we have found is kinda useless, but the medium and large are great.

[cbayer]

13. You know, this is exactly what I have been looking for and

I am going to order some today.

Because it is so difficult to get fresh produce here, it kills me to have to throw any of it away.

I am also tired of having to eat it all so fast, getting barely a week of fresh fruits and vegetable and then a week with none at all.

Thanks so much, Sherman!

[Sherman A1]

14. My pleasure,

I hope that you enjoy them.

[cbayer]

16. I found the set on Amazon for about $20.

Will rapidly pay for itself. Need a few other things as well, so this provided great incentive to do a little shopping.

[Sherman A1]

20. Great!

We sent a set to our daughter in NYC this year. She was complaining that when she bought salad mix she could only get a day or two out of it and without a car, she can only bring home what she can carry from the grocery store. These have really helped her out. Be sure to hang onto those vented inserts that sit in the bottom. My wife managed to toss one out one day and they don't make individual replacement parts available and those are kinda important to the whole process. Another thing she uses is the green bags (I think Hefty makes some as well as whoever did the available on TV thing) for corn, squash, peppers and such keeping them in the crisper. Those really seem to extend the storage life of those items as well.

[cbayer]

22. I had not tried the green bags, as they seemed to be something of a hype.

But these containers are another things altogether. Will return to thread after I get and use them with feedback.

Thanks, again.

[dimbear]

19. You will be pleasantly surprised how cheap a simple chest freezer is, and how little juice

it consumes. Get one with no fads or fancy stuff that opens from the top.

It pays for itself in no time at all.

[cbayer]

21. My electricity is extremely limited and this would be out of the question currently.

[Kaleva]

4. There's one here in town. I'll have to check it out.

Spuds keep well in a cold (not freezing), dry and dark place. This also works for carrots, turnips, rutabaga and for some varieties of apples.

http://www.provident-living-today.com/Root-Cellar.html

[Curmudgeoness]

10. Dry and dark and cold----a closet?

Don't know that this is cold enough. Basement is dark and cold for sure, but dry is not what I would call it. I suppose that trying a few places won't hurt. I have never seen a real working root cellar, but I have always wondered how they are kept dry.

[Kaleva]

11. If you read the article I provided a link to

One could build a cheap one outside.in the ground.

You brought up an interesting question and I may spend some time today looking up sites that tell how to build inexpensive root cellars. If I do, I'll post the links to them here in this thread.

[Curmudgeoness]

15. The site you provided did have plans for a root cellar.

I still wonder how it keeps water out. My basement leaks like a sieve, and it is made of concrete. I do not know how a wood frame would work. I am not saying that it won't, I just wonder.

[Kaleva]

17. I started another thread about root cellars

Your basement might not work because of the water leakage but one could build a simple one outside.

[Curmudgeoness]

18. Yep, I found it.

A garbage can....

[Kolesar]

23. "Potatoes, carrots, and beets need to stay Moist & Cool" according to that article

Put carrots on top of a bed of moist sand in a shallow wooden box, or so I have read.
I have not done that yet, myself.

A root cellar in a basement is actually vented to outside to keep the vegetables at a temperature barely above freezing.

I wash my potatoes and put them in a cardboard box setting on some 2x4s on the basement floor. They last until February if we don't eat them first.

[jwirr]

5. Prices were sky high at the farmer's market this morning. We bought some things even so.

[Curmudgeoness]

9. I have always thought that our farmer's markets were high too.

And they are (and I also end up buying things anyways). But I can't beat the prices I pay for the overripe produce. I may be that you have to get a relationship with them to see if they do this. The whole point is to ask. It doesn't hurt.

[Lars39]

6. I haven't tried this method, but silver queen in the winter...

Last edited Sun Aug 12, 2012, 12:37 PM - Edit history (2)

http://community.tasteofhome.com/community_forums/f/30/t/668161.aspx

Forum question:
"Every year I freeze corn on the cob and it is just not that good when we cook it.
Seems to be rather mushy and loses alot of flavor.
I found this method on another board and I was wondering if any of you have tried doing this,
and if you did how did it turn out?"

***Answer:
" We freeze ears of corn with their husks intact.
We put as many as we want in a paper bag.
Close the bag tightly and freeze. When you want to cook the corn.
Remove as many ears as you want from the bag.
Husk and clean ears. Roll each frozen ear in wax paper.
Put frozen into microwave for about 10 minutes.
They will taste like you just picked them.
(We usually do about 6 at a time in the microwave)
The secret is to cook them from the frozen state."

[Curmudgeoness]

7. I will try this.

I have reservations about how it will work, but it is worth a try with a couple of ears. This is usually the only time of year that I eat corn---therefore, I eat it till it is killing me! I like my corn really firm and don't boil it for very long when I have it fresh. I have had that mushy experience with corn that I have tried to freeze too. Dont....like....mushy....corn!

For just a couple of ears as an experiment, I am game.

[Lars39]

8. I was thinking maybe to seal the paper bag in a food saver bag,

but that might be counter productive to how this easy method works. I've been a sloth this summer, but please let us know how the experiment turns out.