Very cheap veg list needed (other half just lost job)

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daisychain

daisychain

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Hi

Does any one here have a list of staple veg to feed Guinea pigs (and rats?) that are cheap.
My other half has just lost his contract at work so shopping must be cut back (not that money was ever great). Untill now they have just had a big mix of what ever came in the veg box or looked good on the market but the veg book. is the frist thing to go.8...

I'm just looking for a basic 4 or 5 ish vegetable staples to get that I can top up with reduced and offer bits when they are there. I don't want to give them to much of the wrong thing.
Any ideas please.:)p
 
i am on a budget at the mo as my oh also lost his job.

mine get cucumber, red/green peppers, celery, romaine, bean sprouts and occasionally curly kale.

anything else i am afraid is a treat at the mo x
 
markets are good £1 for 500g curly kale in sainsburys and the same price for a stuffed carrier bag ful on my town market
 
I use Aldi and Lidl a lot for veg, often have things on offer and are cheaper anyway, I also give them a lot of our "waste" so the brocolli stalks, cabbage leaves, carrot tops, trimmings off green beans etc, I've also bought "living salads" planted in Lidl for less than £1 that last well and have a variety of leaves.
 
I find carrots, cuscumber, curly kale are the cheapest, peppers seem quite expensive.

Also I get things from the garden which are free like dandelion leaves, fresh grass, lavender when it is season and blackberry leaves, try growing your own veg from seed in a trough:))
 
As said above markets are good for cheap veg and also Aldi and Lidl. I tend to buy reduced veg and find it actually lasts for another week after buying so don't be put off with the reduced stuff.
 
All of the above mentioned places are good for cheap and reduced veg but also worth keeping an eye out for stalls at the side of the road. Lovely chap near me sells veg etc from his allotment at brilliant prices and he is also kind enough to keep me any outside leaves, carrot tops etc.

Teresa xx
 
lily 74 said:
I find carrots, cuscumber, curly kale are the cheapest, peppers seem quite expensive.

Also I get things from the garden which are free like dandelion leaves, fresh grass, lavender when it is season and blackberry leaves, try growing your own veg from seed in a trough:))
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Lavender? do they eat that? (Sorry to go slightly off subject)
 
Mine get fed mainly spring greens and cabbage plus carrots, celery, cauliflower, parsley etc. Cabbage is generally the cheapest veg weight for weight. Cauliflower can also be good value.
 
If no-one's mentioned it yet you can often get the tops from brussels sprouts free in markets. Dandelions are also just starting to come through in my garden.

Paula
 
We have a market stall that collects together extra cauliflower leaves, chopped off carrot tops (most of the customers ask for them to be chopped off) and the like in a box at the side of the stall and they allow customers to take a carrier bag full. So if you have something like this nearby it mught help you supplement their veggies.
 
Tigs said:
We have a market stall that collects together extra cauliflower leaves, chopped off carrot tops (most of the customers ask for them to be chopped off) and the like in a box at the side of the stall and they allow customers to take a carrier bag full. So if you have something like this nearby it mught help you supplement their veggies.
Click to expand...

Or maybe you could ask a local green grocer to do this too?
 
We buy sacks of pony carrots for about 2 pounds a bag in winter - they last ages in the shed kept free from frost.

I'm not sure where you live, so this may not work for you, but in the spring, summer and early autumn I don't feed mine any commercial produce at all. Instead they go out in their run on our lawn which is full of clover, dandelions, plantain, coltsfoot and various other edible weeds.

I also gather other edible weeds for them from the fields near my house and give them bits of veg out of the garden. Weeds are packed full of nutrients and as they eat them as soon as I've picked them, they're super fresh. Vitamin C is quickly depleted during storage, so freshly-picked weeds will contain far more of this vitamin. Just avoid any weeds that are near to crops in case they've been sprayed, or any that are starting to yellow (which means they've been sprayed with weedkiller), and any near a busy road (due to car fumes).

You don't have to spend a fortune on fruit and veg from supermarkets to keep your pigs healthy.
 
Local greengrocers can be very good, I get at least a carrier bag of free guinea pig bits every week.
 
I often buy the smartprice veg in asda, especially peppers, which can be expensive, they're usually just funny shapes, but are usually a lot cheaper.

Also, if you know anyone with a Costco card, try there, they have the biggest cucumbers I've ever seen!
 
tesco have some really good offers on at the mo. my local veggie shop gives me a bag of unsold gear every sunday you could try asking around!
 
I get all my veg from Asda because they're very cheap.
Aldi and Lidl are the place to go for cheap veg from what I hear. I've bought stuff from there before and my piggies never complained!

I'm sorry to hear about your partner losing his job, though...Things are tough everywhere, aren't they? I hope another job comes his way soon!

Tesco also do cheap veg.
I sometimes pop in there if I'm in a bind and I desperately need veggies pronto.
 
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