Buying Vegetables

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devonguineas

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I am fascinated by the threads on here from people saying that tesco, lidl, wherever has a deal on veggies so they have stocked up.

I always ask my local grocer for a bag of surplus and get beautiful stuff (in fact have been known to eat some myself as was so good!) Not good enough for sale due to appearance / shape etc, but perfectly fine - fresh etc. We get perhaps the outer leaves of cauli, broccoli or cabbage, carrot tops or wonky carrots, slightly blemished apples.

Why do people buy their fruit and veg when their is stuff that will otherwise be chucked out?
 
To be honest I don't have many fruit and veg shops by me there is one but it means me spending more in petrol to get there and its not cost effective at the moment.

Also I have issues with buying veg that will be thrown away because if it isn't fit for me then it isn't fit for the pigs. :)
 
Ah - but the point is that it IS fit for me! Perhaps it's because we grow out own as well - but stuff that is deemed "not fit for sale" is often just the wrong size or shape. Of course we would never eat old or mouldy food and neither would my piggies - but I really don't mind a wonky carrot or two! ;D The apples on our tree in the garden sometimes get a blemish on them - nothing harmful and we eat them anyhow - and I get this kind of thing from the grocer too. People just won't buy them. :(
 
Oh yeah if its only a wonky carrot then sure! :D Some odd people out there. We did have a local green grocers but Morrisons came and took the custom. ::)
 
sokel said:
I get stuff from my local shop aswell but I still buy most of my veggies because TBH there wouldnt be enough variety for my liking if I gave just the waste stuff
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Thats why i buy mine. My mum always comes back with freebies from a shop near where she works but its usually the same stuff and it wouldnt last all week, couldnt give them the same things all week! If she gets carrots free and some cauli leaves i just dont buy them that week lol!
 
Most of the stuff that is chucked away is perfectly edible, ie, it's normally cauliflower leaves, cabbage leaves, the odd carrot with a chunk missing, apples with a squisy bit, etc. So, it's nothing wrong with it, but people wouldn't buy it because people are fussy.
 
The only freebie I can get ... if I am lucky ... from my local greengrocer is carrot tops that another customer has had removed! ::)
The greengrocer says his cauliflowers come in with their greens leaves mostly off already ... I am not sure if I believe him, bet he has piggies of his own. ;D
Apart from that, he might sell a few mouldy carrots in a bag for 20p, which I wouldn't give my lot anyway.
It is mostly large supermarkets around here I am afraid now :(

Wish I had a nice and friendly greengrocer near me!
Well done devonguineas for finding one :)
 
I get boxes of veggies free from a few grocers. friend does Birmingham veggie market for me and I do a big nursery/ veggie seller on a Saturday. This week Ive had peppers, apples, asparagus, pears, cauli, savoy, parsnips, clementines and cucumber and all for freefers !
 
Angeladeedah said:
I buy all my fruit/veg for the girls as I don't have the confidence to go up to the owner of a shop and ask for freebies.
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I'm like that...lol I have also been looking and organic boxes online for the pigs. But you can't choose your own products and you get potatoes and mushrooms in them which obviously they can't eat. :)
 
I buy most of mine, we grow some too :)

I once went into the co-op and they were stripping leaves from the cauliflowers so my mum asked if we could fill a bag up for the guinea pigs, the lady doing it said yes no problem i always take some home for my rabbit help yourself! and i got them for free :)

my neighbour is kind too whenever she has cauliflower/carrots etc she always brings the cauli leaf/peelings around for them.

I'm sure it was a morrisons magazine i read near xmas time that said they leave the boxes of leaves under the veg you know how they have veg up on stands, apparently they leave the boxes of leaves under there for people to take home for their rabbits.. havent seen this in my local store before but I'm sure it was a morrisons mag that said it. So next time your in there have a look! lol
 
I get all mine from asda and the market :) I find it cheaper in the market also better quality and you get lots more :)
 
I get the value veg when i can... Bag of kilo carrots for under £1 always get two bags of spring greens which are usually on offer at the end of the day a bag of value apples, tomatoes, and value peppers...
Only thing that are not value are celery and cucumber... I just double up on the veg i get for myself usually, only £5 extra on top of the weekly shop
 
I try to give mine our homegrown stuff as much as I can, but obviously I can't at certain times of the year.

We have a veg shop but I've never been in it - my parents say it's not too good and it's mainly fruit and sweets... all veg shops round here seem to end up selling sweets, then turn into sweet shops! Crazy!
 
That's rather odd Jane. I might have a giggle about that with a workmate at work. The only non fruit and veg produce work sells is bags of nuts. But unlike most towns out there, it's old fashioned.
 
Well, we had a large veg shop...at first it was all veg. Then they had a sweets bit behind the counter, then they turned the whole of the INSIDE of the shop into sweets, and had veg OUTSIDE. Then they gave up on the veg and it was just sweets. Then they closed the shop... Then another veg shop opened, and it is already half sweets. I think it's because it's on the highstreet which is where a lot of people from my school go at lunchtimes, and of course a bag of sweets is more appealing to children then a carrot and an apple!
 
I guess so :( I would rather eat a carrot or an apple though ;)

Before I worked there I often tried to get boxes of cauli greens from the market but the farmers beat me too it.
 
The local supermarkets are stingy when it comes to off-cuts and leaves....they rather throw them out.
My local greengrocer is really good. I told him I had 10 mouths to feed of the four legged variety and he rocked over with a huge box full of leaves, odds and ends that are all good and fresh but just not the size or shape or look the customer wants.
People rip off the broccoli stalks and leave them behind, the same with cauli leaves and carrot tops. They also don't like spotted bananas (they are ready to eat now, not like the green ones .. in a weeks time) and when an apple has fallen on the floor he can't sell that one any more it goes in the bin. So now there are three of us every second day raiding his store of the "left-overs" and we have happy pigs and buns.

Sometimes a little smile and courtesy goes a long way.
 
Well - if you don't ask you don't get lol! At least you're keeping someon in business Angeladeedah!
 
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