What are you doing?

[Addie]

We do get melons, watermelons, and other veggies and fruits during our growing season. Needless to say we have plenty of local apples. And not only during the growing season. Apples and potatoes are stored after the growing season under controlled conditions as you know. Broccoli, salad greens and other foods are available during our growing season. Along with berries of all kinds. Blueberries, cranberries, strawberries, etc. During our growing season we have plenty of produce available to us the day it is picked. Not all of New England consists of only rocks, in spite of what you may have heard. A lot of farmers have built walls with those rocks and creative for themselves a productive land for farming.

 

[GotGarlic]

I was going by what you presented in your store's flyer as being less expensive because it takes longer to ship it to New England. Florida oranges, California celery, lemons, and avocados, Fresh Express salad from my dad's old backyard in the Salinas Valley, South Carolina rice, etc. And right now, summer berries are coming in from South America.

We're talking about now, not July. Remember that you don't actually get salable produce until at least 30-60 days after planting. So your actual harvest season for warm-weather produce is about two months. T'would be mighty difficult to last the winter with only local produce.

 

[Addie]

I was going by what you presented in your store's flyer as being less expensive because it takes longer to ship it to New England. Florida oranges, California celery, lemons, and avocados, Fresh Express salad from my dad's old backyard in the Salinas Valley, South Carolina rice, etc. And right now, summer berries are coming in from South America.

We're talking about now, not July. Remember that you don't actually get salable produce until at least 30-60 days after planting. So your actual harvest season for warm-weather produce is about two months. T'would be mighty difficult to last the winter with only local produce.

And with that said, I don't buy produce from Peru. There have been too many problems with their food stuff. Starting with poisonous spiders. But I do get oranges from Cal. and FL. I make an effort to buy American if it is something I need. And I am not to fond of buy Mexican foods either. I would have to say that the majority of my produce is from CA. or FL. at this time of the year.

We have a patch outside that the maintenance workers have planted their produce this past summer. I recently noticed one of them working there with his hoe. At this time of year? It seems he planted a bunch of root veggies and his is placing straw over the patches. He will pull what he needs throughout the winter months. He is a young kid and has a family to feed. They will be eating well.

 

[GotGarlic]

Z, your produce in mostly shipped in from Texas. So it costs less for you than it does for us.

Market Basket Weekly Circular Sales Flyer

Take a look at what we are paying up here.

... The south has a farm belt in Texas and has a longer growing season than we have up north. We usually get our first frost around the end of September or middle of October. And we don't start planting our vegetable gardens until after Memorial Day. If we are lucky. So we are unable to provide a lot of our food for a longer time than the south. We have a much shorter growing time.

I'm responding to the above and you're continually changing the subject.

What am I doing? I'm heading out for a box of wine and get the weekend started! Have a lovely afternoon!

 

[Chef Munky]

I was going by what you presented in your store's flyer as being less expensive because it takes longer to ship it to New England. Florida oranges, California celery, lemons, and avocados, Fresh Express salad from my dad's old backyard in the Salinas Valley, South Carolina rice, etc. And right now, summer berries are coming in from South America.

We're talking about now, not July. Remember that you don't actually get salable produce until at least 30-60 days after planting. So your actual harvest season for warm-weather produce is about two months. T'would be mighty difficult to last the winter with only local produce.

Your Dad's old backyard still hasn't changed much.It has in ways.
Some of the local growers are now experimenting with growing potatoes.Up higher closer to the hills where the rocks are last I heard.Huge windmills are being built.I think they're just eye sores.But hey, if it helps the farmers cut costs and the local economy by providing jobs for people it can't be all that bad.I'm just too used to seeing beautiful green farmland as we drive by.Salinas Valley as you probably already know isn't called the "Salad bowl" for nothing.

 

[GotGarlic]

Your Dad's old backyard still hasn't changed much.It has in ways.
Some of the local growers are now experimenting with growing potatoes.Up higher closer to the hills where the rocks are last I heard.Huge windmills are being built.I think they're just eye sores.But hey, if it helps the farmers cut costs and the local economy by providing jobs for people it can't be all that bad.I'm just too used to seeing beautiful green farmland as we drive by.Salinas Valley as you probably already know isn't called the "Salad bowl" for nothing.

Yes, even though he moved to the Sierra Nevadas about 10 years ago, he still goes to professional meetings and visits friends there and talks about the economy of that area. At his house in Spreckels, the lettuce fields literally wrapped around two sides of his property. It was amazing to see.

As a master gardener, though, I'm not thrilled about some of the farming methods the large producers use, but I understand that it's not possible to feed 300-million-plus people using traditional methods alone. It's a dilemma.

 

[Chef Munky]

Yes, even though he moved to the Sierra Nevadas about 10 years ago, he still goes to professional meetings and visits friends there and talks about the economy of that area. At his house in Spreckels, the lettuce fields literally wrapped around two sides of his property. It was amazing to see.

As a master gardener, though, I'm not thrilled about some of the farming methods the large producers use, but I understand that it's not possible to feed 300-million-plus people using traditional methods alone. It's a dilemma.

Was he as shocked to see those things as I was?
It had been a while for me to go that way and see those sticking up like a sore thumb.HEY!

The drought has hit just as bad for people down south Fresno area.Like up here it's cheaper to sell off the land to home developers than it is to grow a crop.Guess the mega new homes are better?

Were all paying the sticker shock price for produce to.Even though it's grown in our own back yard.

 

[bakechef]

Just finished making some little gifts for friends that we are seeing tonight. I saw these really cute ceramic dutch ovens at AC Moore, and I just had to buy some. I baked gingerbread in them to give as gifts, and made some really chocolate filled chocolate chunk cookies, with Belgian dark 70% and milk chocolate, they are delicious, I even browned some of the butter to give them more flavor.

 

[creative]

I am not techno savvy but, with the help of a computer forum, I successfully made a system repair disc (to boot up pc if it crashes)! Not rivetting news I know but feels like a huge achievement!

 

[Dawgluver]

Those look fantastic, BC!

Creative, I think that's a great accomplishment, congrats!

 

[GotGarlic]

Where did you get those beautiful gift boxes?

 

[bakechef]

Where did you get those beautiful gift boxes?

I got them at AC Moore, they weren't expensive either, like $3.99 for 5! Perfect size for 4 jumbo cookies

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Getting my weekend started...jammies, a cup of coffee and a movie.

 

[Cheryl J]

bakechef, I love those little ceramic dutch ovens, and your gift boxes! I'd love to be the recipient of one of those dessert gifts.

creative...congratulations! I'm not techy savvy at all, I'd be pretty proud of myself, too.

It's just past 8:30 here now, and I'm still fiddling with Christmas decorations. There's so many of my late mom's...she passed away only 3 years ago...and I've finally resigned myself to the fact that I can't put out everything she had. Packed away a bunch of them, and I'm happy that tomorrow my SIL is taking me to Home Depot to pick out my tree.

 

[Addie]

I went to bed at 11:00 o'clock. Here it is 1:15 am and all I have been doing is taking five minute naps. I can't seem to stay asleep. It looks like I am going to be up all night again. Last night I slept the whole night through. And I didn't take any naps during the day. I woke up early, and by eleven, I was ready for bed. So here I sit. I should take out my needlework and try to finish it.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

...Market Basket Weekly Circular Sales Flyer

Take a look at what we are paying up here....

Addie, how can you tease fellow posters with a Market Basket ad? No matter where else I've shopped, whether in OH, FL, or near me in MA or CT, no one else runs deals like they do. In fact, I just saw a Stop and Shop ad bragging about all their new "low" prices...and apples are still 40 cents higher than Market Basket charges every week. When we finally move back to OH, I will certainly miss MB. And one or two other things. But mostly MB.

********

Finally winding wining down after the fun of seeing friends at the theatre, I'm finally headed to bed. Tomorrow is another day...

 

[Addie]

Addie, how can you tease fellow posters with a Market Basket ad? No matter where else I've shopped, whether in OH, FL, or near me in MA or CT, no one else runs deals like they do. In fact, I just saw a Stop and Shop ad bragging about all their new "low" prices...and apples are still 40 cents higher than Market Basket charges every week. When we finally move back to OH, I will certainly miss MB. And one or two other things. But mostly MB.

********

Finally winding wining down after the fun of seeing friends at the theatre, I'm finally headed to bed. Tomorrow is another day...

I once sent a flyer to my girlfriend in Atlanta. I got a call from her at 10 at night. She was almost in tears. She couldn't believe the low prices for our produce compared to what she was paying in Atlanta. If you think S&S are so much higher than MB, you should take a gander at a Shaws flyer. They have been rated as a very expensive store with poor quality foods and produce. One of the top ten of bad stores.

I do appreciate MB. And I realize how lucky we are to have them.

 

[Zhizara]

It's quite a difference here. I get $888/month in Social Security with rent of $220. My electric costs around $25/month with level billing. Food prices are all high and getting higher, but my SNAP is only $26.

This year my raise was $13, my cable bill increased $14, rent went up $3, and food stamps went down $6. No way to get ahead.

 

[bakechef]

I once sent a flyer to my girlfriend in Atlanta. I got a call from her at 10 at night. She was almost in tears. She couldn't believe the low prices for our produce compared to what she was paying in Atlanta. If you think S&S are so much higher than MB, you should take a gander at a Shaws flyer. They have been rated as a very expensive store with poor quality foods and produce. One of the top ten of bad stores.

I do appreciate MB. And I realize how lucky we are to have them.

I bet that the only reason that Shaw's survives is because most of their stores are in densely populated areas like Boston with limited competition. We have SO many grocery stores here, it's kind of crazy, in my 5 mile commute alone I drive past 2 of my company and at least one of most of the others. One of our competitors has stores built within 1/2 to 1 mile from each other in some locations, you could walk from one to the other. These are pricey upscale stores.

The difference here compared to up north, stores here average much lower sales per store. Up north a grocery store doing 1 million a week is quite common, here it's pretty rare.

 

[JoAnn L.]

Just got done reading an obituary in our local newspaper, that a man wrote about his own life. It was so interesting and so touching. He was 78 when he died. At the end he said that he was sorry to the people that he talked to on a daily basis that he will no longer be there to answer their calls.
He said that there would not be a funeral but that his family were going to have a "Gone Away" party for him and he hoped his friends would stop by.

Makes you stop and think about what you would write about your self in your own obituary.