Feast Days 3 & 4

Day 2, May 28

Movement: Cardio Salsa workout, Feldenkrais Lesson "Freeing the Hip Joint"

Food: Mangoes, Cherry-banana smoothie, romaine lettuce

Joy: I finally got the last of my melons planted! My baby is so happy to spend some time naked now that the weather is nice. Nothin' is cuter than a naked baby running about happy and free.

Day 3, May 29

Movement: Slim and Sleek Fast workout, walking

Food Nightmare!!! I tried so hard today. We only had 3 ripe mangos left, so I enjoyed those. I went to a different Farmer's Market, as I had a class to attend in a different town. No ripe strawberries yet. :( I went to the store after my class but could not get anything ripe, so the pile of "ripening" fruit in my kitchen has grown, but nothing to eat. I ate two pints of sour raspberries that were starting to mold on the way home. How can they look so pretty and be so sour?

I was really hungry and really annoyed by the time I got home. First I cut up a pineapple. Not ripe, too sour for me. I tried the papaya that was yellow as can be and starting to mold a bit. I knew by smell that it might need a couple more days, but I had to try. Unfortunately, some rot had gotten into the stem and invaded the seed cavity. I tried to salvage some undamaged fruit, but it was, of course, unripe. Then I tried the last watermelon. No good. Over-ripe, slimy, verging on fermented... I had one bunch of bananas that had sugar spots, but they looked a bit hard and green still. I tried. As I suspected, not ripe. With no options left, I blended 5 of them with some frozen sweet cherries. I also had some delicious baby bok choy from my garden, and some Freckles lettuce from the Farmer's Market. This tided me over for a little while, but not surprisingly, by dinner time, I was eating cooked lentils and brown rice and veggies because I was hungry and frustrated. Hey Universe, I need at least 3000 calories of good quality fruit per day!

I really start feeling despair when I spend so much of our limited resources on fruit that ends up in the compost. I have to predict how much to buy when my children's eating habits can be unpredictable. Some times I have too many ripe bananas, other times we run out. I have to order my bulk produce sight unseen, and pray that it is good quality and will be ripe in a reasonable amount of time... about half the time something goes wrong in this equation. And the worst is when I have to take a risk on buying unripe fruit, like pineapples, papayas and mangoes, and hope they will ripen before they rot. Or when I have to buy fruits, like melons, that might look fine on the outside but are horrible inside. Ack!

\

Well, chalk it up to a learning curve that I am going to master. (But I am afraid the real solution here is to move to a farm in a semi-tropical location, or become moderately wealthy and increase my produce budget by 300%.)

In other complaining news, I stepped on a bee today and was in horrible pain for about 2 hours afterward. And so, no gardening.

Self-Love: I love that I am a work in progress. I love that I am beginning to have clarity about some of my stumbling blocks in my raw journey, so that I can start to attract solutions.

Joy: Got to reconnect with some good friends at the Farmer's Market today. And I got to see Trudi Temple speak. She is a fabulous, funny, inspirational firecracker of a person.

August Food Expenses

Grocery Receipts

8/1 Cub Foods, $9.48, 1 1/2 lb. Fuji apples, 1 12 oz. package mango chunks, 1 12 oz. package cherries
8/1 Cub Foods, $11.07, 6 gallons reverse osmosis water, 1 seedless watermelon, 20 ears local corn
8/2 Cub Foods, $46.33, 1 large seeded watermelon, 2 lbs. Jazz apples, 5 lbs. Fuji apples, 6 lbs. organic Red Delicious apples, 6 organic kiwi fruit, 4 organic cantaloupe, 1 1/2 lb. organic nectarines, 3 large bags of discard bananas at 99 cents each--15 lbs.?
8/2 Sullivan's, $10.47, toilet paper, 2 12 oz. packages frozen raspberries
8/2 Nature's Path Health Food Store, $15.13, 1 lb. Brazil nuts, 1 lb. cashews
8/4 Freeport Farmer's Market, $22, 3 dozen ears peaches and cream corn, 25 sour apples, 8 large organic carrots, 1 organic Poona Kheera cucumber, 2 organic yellow cucumbers, 3 pints organic Mexican Midget cherry tomatoes, 2 quarts Early Girl slicing tomatoes, 1 bunch organi beets (given as a gift)
8/4 Aldi, $9.06, 3 seedless watermelon
8/4 Cub Foods, $6.68, 2 2/3 lbs. Fuji apples, 1 avocado, 1 bunch cilantro
8/5 Cub Foods, $77.16, 5 seeded watermelon, 7+ lbs. black grapes, 6 large Fuji apples, 6 organic cantaloupe, 2 bunches organic celery, 1 lb. organic romaine hearts
8/7 Sullivan's Foods, $10.87, 9 gallons reverse osmosis water, 1 lb. Fuji apples, almost 3 lbs. Michigan peaches
8/8 Edgebrook Farmers Market, $5, 2 large cantaloupes
8/8 Cub Foods, $13.03, 2 12 oz. packages each frozen cherries and mango chunks
8/9 Cub Foods, $41.12, 3 1/3 lbs. Fuji apples, 3 3/4 lbs. organic bananas, 2 1/4 lbs. organic red grapes, 4 large organic peaches, 2 1/3 lbs. organic green grapes, 3 lbs. organic Gala apples, 4 organic avocados
8/9 Cub Foods, $4?, 6 pack Mickey's beer (He is suffering extreme pain from a cracked rib and thought this would be a better option than Vicoden. I am not commenting on either choice.)
8/11 Freeport Farmer's Market, $27, 3 organic Florida Giant watermelons, 1 organic Crimson Sweet watermelon
8/12 Cub Foods, $20.89, 5 1/2 lbs. Braeburn apples, 9 lbs. organic bananas, 3 lbs. organic romaine hearts
8/13 Cub Foods, $3.09, 9 gallons reverse osmosis water
8/14 Cub Foods, $15.56, 2 1/2 lb. papaya, 1 1/4 lb. black plums, 5 1/2 Braeburn apples, 1 mango
8/15 Cub Foods, $98.24, 1 large honeydew melon, 13 lbs. Fuji apples, Canary melon (7 lbs.) Casaba melon (4 lbs.), 12 lbs. organic bananas, 2 lbs. organic red grapes, 2 heads organic celery, 2 lbs. organic romaine, 2 10 oz. packages organic spinach, 1 11 oz. package organic baby romaine, 2 lbs. organic green grapes, 1 lb. Medjool dates, 4 organic avocados (all rotten), 5 lbs. clementines (from South Africa!)
8/15-8/16, Jason's trip to game convention, $45 (his estimate)
8/17, Cub Foods, $, 6 lbs. Fuji apples, 5 lbs. clemnetines, 3 lbs. red grapes, 3 lbs. green grapes, 1/2 lb. Medjool dates, 2 nectarines, 5 lbs. organic bananas, 1 gallon reverse osmosis water
8/18 Freeport Farmer's Market, $46.50, 3 organic Florida giant watermelon, 2 organic Crimson Sweet watermelon (the best melons we've eaten this year!), 3 organic Sugar Baby melons, 1 lb. organic carrots, 2 organic lemon cucumbers, 7 oz. organic raspberries
8/19 Cub Foods, $17.44, 5 lbs. bananas, 2 1/2 lbs. green grapes, 2 1/2 lbs. black grapes, 4 lbs. Fuji apples


Total: $556.12


Free Food

8/3 Gift of 3 apricots, $1
8/4 Gift of 3 nectarines, 2 ears of corn, 2 yellow zucchini, and 1 lb. green beans, $5
8/12 Gift of 1 honey mango, 3 ears corn $2
8/15 Gift of 3/4 of a large papaya, $4
8/18 Gift of 5 lbs. of local pears, $5
8/19 Gift of 12 oz. dried Calimyrna figs, $3
Total: $20.00

Garden Produce (charging ourselves the value we'd get selling it at Farmer's Market)

8/1 Green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, summer squash, $12
8/3 Green beans, yellow French filet beans, red okra, tomatoes, cucumbers, sugar snap peas, $15
8/4 Savoy cabbage, $2
8/6 Worked in a friend's garden as an exchange--Slicing cucumbers, Thelma Saunders Sweet potato squash, various heirloom cherry tomatoes, green Japanese eggplant (given as a gift), $12
8/7 Heirloom tomatoes, Armenian serpent cucumbers, yellow French filet beans, okra, sugar snap peas, $6
8/8-8/19 I haven't been keeping up with this, but we've been eating a lot of tomatoes and cucumbers, okra, a bit of sweet corn (wrong variety for eating raw, so we'll be giving most of that away), tomatillos, summer squash, and a few snap beans, let's say $50

Total: $97.00

Garden Income

8/1 $18.00 (sold to Margaret Larson)
8/2 $17.00 (sold by a friend at a bigger city market)
8/4 $17.75
8/8 $37.55
8/11 $9.25
8/14 $17.00 (sold to Margaret Larson)
8/15 $24.00 (sold by a friend at a bigger city market)
8/18 $2.50
Total: $143.05

Garden Expenses

Total:0.00

July Food Expenses

Photo from the Greensboro News-Record

This month's goals are to reduce our spending on groceries and gasoline. We plan to take fewer trips to the grocery store and to limit 90% of our grocery spending to local foods and bananas.


Grocery Receipts

7/1 Cub Foods, $5.52, 6 gallons reverse osmosis water, 1 12 oz. package cherries
7/2 Freeport Food Co-op (United Foods International), $63.99, 5 lbs. organic raw hulled sunflower seeds, 8 lbs. organic Medjool dates, 2 10 oz. bags organic frozen cherries, 4 rolls recycled toilet paper
7/3 Chana Outdoor Auction, $13, 2 huge watermelons and 1 large muskmelon
7/5 Aldi $6.06, 10 lbs. bananas, 2 lbs romaine hearts
7/6 Cub Foods, $6.42, 9 gallons reverse osmosis water, 1 1/2 lbs. Fuji apples, 1 bunch organic celery
7/6 320 Store (purchased by a friend), $5, Mission figs
7/6 Farmer's Market, $10.75, tomatoes, eggs (for the cat), Crispy Mint lettuce, cucumbers
7/7 Cub Foods, $3.52, 12 oz. frozen cherries
7/10 Cub Foods, $3, 9 gallons water
7/10 Aldi, $4.47, 5 lbs. bananas, 3 lbs. oranges
7/12 local chicken for the cat, $5
7/13 Woodman's Market, $71.08, 4 mangoes, 14 lbs. organic bananas, 6 lbs. organic apples, 3 12 oz. packages organic dates, 4 organic kiwis, 2 large honeydew melons, 3 seedless watermelon, 2 lbs. sunflower seeds, 2 lbs. raw cashews
7/13 Walgreens, $3, raisins
7/14 Cub Foods, $3, 6 gallons reverse osmosis water, 3 oz. cinnamon
7/14 Freeport Farmer's Market, $9, iceberg lettuce, raspberries, blackberries, tomatoes
7/16 Aldi, $23.93, 10 nectarines, 20 lbs. bananas, 9 lbs. Gala apples, 1 large pineapple, 1 cantaloupe
7/16 Sav-A-Lot,$9.48, 1 seedless watermelon, almost 1 lb. plums, almost 3 lbs. of ripe bananas, 3.5 lbs. peaches
7/16 Cub Foods, $30.75, 2 large seeded watermelon, 8 lbs. bing cherries, 1 cantaloupe, 1 honeydew, 2 bunches organic celery
7/16 Cub Foods (my husband), $8.97, 3 12 oz. bags frozen mango
7/18 Cub Foods, $5.56, 6 gallons reverse osmosis water, 3 lbs. Fuji apples
7/19 Devon Market, $22.17, 8 ears corn, 4 ripe mangos, 2 packages dried figs, 1 package fresh green figs, 1 package fresh Black Mission figs, 1 head baby bok choy, 1 young coconut, 1 large container Deglet Noor Dates
7/19 Pars Persian Store, $11.65, 2 lbs. Medjool dates, 1 package halvah (gift), 1 can Iraqi date syrup (gift)
7/19 Cousin's Incredible Vitality (raw restaurant), $73.38, 5 All-You-Can Eat "Salad" Bars, 1 flax pizza, 2 different smoothies (both with raw cacao), gratuity
7/19 Whole Foods, $3.27, fresh lychee
7/20 Whole Foods, $30.60, 6 Lara Bars, 2 Raw Revolution bars, 3 lbs. fresh lychee, 1 lb. Southern Rose apples
7/23 Huron Market (roadside stand), bicolor sweet corn, $4--seller claimed it was locally-grown, but others have raised doubts
7/23 Cub Foods, $3, 9 gallons reverse osmosis water
7/24 Aldi, $2.55, 5 lbs. bananas, 1 honeydew melon
7/25 CVS Pharmacy, $10.06, Roasted cashews, Honey-Roasted Peanuts, 2 Dove bars with Almonds (my husband was on a cheating spree--we ended giving the nuts away, but he ate the chocolate)
7/26 My farmer friend Phil, $5, 5 lbs. raw peanuts bought from a local feed elevator
7/27 Cub Foods, $13.36, 5 lbs. organic bananas, large Crenshaw melon, 6 oz. organic raisins, 2 organic nectarines
7/27 Roadside stand, $12, 13 ears corn, a quart of nectarines, a large muskmelon
7/28 Farmer's Market, $10, 24 ears corn, 2 lbs. sugar snap peas (purchased by my son with his own money)
7/28 Cub Foods, $2, 6 gallons reverse osmosis water
7/29 Sullivan's, $14.12, 4 muskmelons, 2 seedless watermelon (melons grown in Indiana)
7/31 Aldi Foods, $10.92, 6 lbs. Gala apples, 2 honeydew melons, 4 nectarines

Total: $432.75

Free Food

7/1 Aldi dumpster, 1 pineapple, 4 D 'Anjou pears, 1 orange pepper, 1 unripe mango, 5 limes, approx. $7.23, other food not counted because it was given away
7/2 Red and black raspberries from a friend's house, approx. $12
7/3 Black raspberries from the roadside, approx. $2
7/5 Red and black raspberries and mulberries from friends' houses, approx. $6
7/5 Gift of dumpstered food from a friend, 2 heads iceberg and 6 Roma tomatos, approx. $4
7/5 Aldi dumpster, 16 limes, 6 lbs. strawberries, approx. $12
7/6 Aldi dumpster, 4 D 'Anjou pears, 5 heads iceberg lettuce, 4 zucchini, 2 pints grape tomatoes, 16 avocadoes (got 27, but wisely gave some away), 8 lbs. Roma tomatoes, 8 lbs. oranges, 1 lime, approx. $46.62, other food not counted because it was given away
7/6 Gift of apricots, $5
7/7 Aldi dumpster, 50 lbs. very ripe bananas, approx. $16.50
7/7 Gifts of raspberries, sugar snap and shell peas, approx. $5
7/8 Gift of raspberries, approx. $2
7/9 Gift of dumpstered romaine lettuce, approx. $9.52
7/10 Aldi dumpster, 50 lbs. ripe bananas, 5 cantaloupes, 3 lbs. Granny Smith apples, 2 lbs. Red Delicious apples, 2 lbs. strawberries, approx. $35.61
7/11 Aldi dumpster, 3 lbs. Vidalia onions, 2 cantaloupe, $6.50, plus more given away
7/11 Gift of raspberries, $2
7/12 Aldi dumpster, 10 lbs. red grapes, $13.45
7/12 Mother-in-law's garden, cucumbers and sugar snap peas, $10
7/16 Mother-in-law's garden, sugar snap peas, cucumbers, $10
7/16 Aldi dumpster, 3 colored peppers, 1 lime, $3
7/16 Community garden, iceberg lettuce, basil, $3
7/20 Gift of dumpstered food, 6 bags prewashed salad greens, 2 cantaloupes, $14.38
7/20 Aldi dumpster, 3 colored peppers, $1.99, other food given away
7/22 Mother-in-law's garden, 4 large cucumbers, $1.56
7/22 Gift of apples, White transparent and red/green unknown variety, maybe 50 lbs.?, $75.00
7/23 Gift of cantaloupe, $1.19
7/24 Aldi dumpster, 6 pineapples, 6 lbs. green grapes, 8 cantaloupes, 5 packages celery, 5 colored peppers, 1 pint grape tomatoes, 8 heads iceberg lettuce, $48.21
7/26 Aldi dumpster, 4 D'Anjou pears, 2 quarts strawberries, 2 lbs. green grapes, $9.67
7/27 Aldi dumpster, 20 lbs. overripe bananas, 8 colored peppers, $12.12
7/27 Foraging, blackberries and chokecherries, $5
7/30 Aldi dumpster, 2 heads iceberg lettuce, 3 limes, $3
7/31 Aldi dumpster, 40 lbs. bananas, $14

Total: $361.55

Garden Produce (Charging ourselves value we would get at Farmer's Market)

7/3 Endive $0.50
7/4 Endive $1
7/7 Kale, snow peas $4
7/8 Endive, snow peas $3
7/9 Endive, snow peas, sugar snap peas, mint $5
7/10 Endive, purple pepper, snow peas, sugar snap peas, mint $4
7/11 Kale, snow peas, sugar snap peas, mint $3
7/12 Endive, snow peas, sugar snap peas, lettuce, mint $3
7/13 Purple peppers, sugar snap peas, shell peas, mint $3
7/16 Endive, purple peppers, $1
7/20 Snow peas, shell peas, sugar snap peas, tomatoes, $12
7/21 Snow peas, shell peas, sugar snap peas, tomatoes, yellow french filet beans, $15
7/23 Sugar snap peas, snap beans (various types), yellow zucchini, $12
7/24 Shell peas, tomatoes, snap beans (various types, given away as a gift), cucumber, $16
7/26 Sugar snap peas, yellow french filet beans, Dragon Langerie beans, green beans, tomatoes, 1 purple pepper $12
7/27 Sugar snap peas, yellow french filet beans, 1 yellow summer squash, 1 zucchini, 1 overly large cucumber, a few cherry tomatoes, $6
7/28 Sugar snap peas, $6
7/29 Sugar snap peas, purple pepper, green beans, summer squash, $6
7/31 Endive, tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, yellow french filet beans, Dragon Langerie beans, summer squash, $12
Total: $115.50

Garden Expenses

7/16 Evergreen Y.H. Enterprises, various Oriental vegetable seeds for fall planting, $14.90
7/31 Fall plants--broccoli, cauliflower, bartered for work in Phil's garden
Total: $14.90

Farmer's Market Income

7/6 $5.00
7/9 $7.50 (sold to a local bakery)
7/14 $8.00
7/21 $6.00
7/28 $10.00
7/31 $7.50 (sold to a local bakery)

Total: $36.50

Voting with my grocery dollars

Some of you may not be aware that I have been painstakingly recording our monthly grocery intake and dollar out-go every day in a post entitled June Food Expenses. Those of you who love to see what I get out of the dumpster and my garden will be really interested in that post.

Since today is the last day of June, I'd like to summarize our purchasing (and foraging) habits and reflect on how they impact our health and the health of our planet.

Total Grocery Receipts: $645.77

Estimated value of Free Food We Obtained This Month: $575.67

Estimated Value of Food We Grew This Month: $57.00

Total Consumption For a Family of 5 plus 1 Cat on a Raw Diet: $1278.44

This works out to $42.61 per day.

At first glance, this seems like an overwhelming number, but there are some mitigating factors to consider.

First, we spent a grand total of $135.81 on cat food for Bart, who we are transitioning to a raw diet. Much of this food is still in the freezer and though we will have continued expenses in future months, this amount will greatly decrease in upcoming months. Subtracting this amount from our total grocery receipts would make our total out-of-pocket expenditures for our 5 humans a total $509.96, much less than we spent before we discovered the amazing combo of raw food AND dumpster diving, when our average was more like $850.

Second, we spent $16.01 on non-raw food. This expense won't continue.

Third, this amount includes paying $0.33 per gallon for the water we drink. In June, we purchased 45 gallons of water. This may not be a concern for families who have water purification systems (or access to a clean spring). Our family spent only $470.10 on raw human food this month.

Finally, we have a large quantity of food remaining in the fridge and the freezer. This "inventory" is always in flux at our house and after months of tracking our expenses, it will balance out and we will be able to see our patterns of consumption more clearly.

$470.10 is NOT too much to invest in optimal health. For that matter, neither is $1278.44, if you have that kind of money to spend. (Check your budget. How much is spent on medications and out-of-pocket health bills? How much do you spend eating out, drinking alchohol or pop, and consuming processed junk foods? How much of your budget is spent on entertainment or luxury items? Are you sure you can't afford some fruit? :)

How do our spending habits affect the health of the planet? This question is so important to me, as I want my children and their children, and all children for that matter, to have the benefit of living in a clean, healthy, beautiful place.

One issue I am particularly interested in is consuming a high percentage of my food from local sources. Buying locally supports my local economy. It means that my food is fresher, healthier, and requires many less resources to deliver to my plate. I can meet (or be) the person who grew the food and have some influence on their practices. This month, $274 of local foods were consumed in my household. This equates to 21% of our total food consumption. However, if each dollar is a "vote" then the picture changes. Because of my gardening and foraging practices, many of our local foods were not "purchases." (Of course, by dumpster diving, much of our non-local consumption was also not purchased.) This means we only spent $35 purchasing food from local producers. This equates to 8% of our actual dollars spent on food.

Another issue is our support of organic (or better) agriculture. Conventional agriculture is doing so much damage to our ecosystem and our bodies, I feel exhausted just thinking about explaining it. In The 80-10-10 Diet, Dr. Graham says that choosing between cooked organic food and raw non-organic food is like "choosing whether to shoot oneself in the foot or shoot oneself in the hand." Unfortunately, though much of the produce we purchase locally is not sprayed with pesticides, much of it is not organic either. Many of the local producers use commercial fertilizer and/or use non-organic seed or seedlings (I do this one myself). Our source of local free-range eggs does feed some commercial chicken food to her chickens.

In our area, organic produce is difficult to find. Certain items are never available--watermelon, for example, or are available for short periods of time (grapes). The cost is quite high, usually at least twice that of conventional produce, and the quality is sometimes poorer. I believe that we will continue to improve our supply only if we demand it and build it. I plan to document my family's moves in this direction in the coming months! This month, we consumed $119.75 in organics, but only $42.78 in actual expenditures (or dollar votes, as I like to call them).

Finally, if you visited the June Food Expenses post, you will note that we went to the store virtually every day this month. This is RIDICULOUS. Sometimes, we went because we were going to our garden and it was on the way, but many times, we were making trips specifically to go to the store. Several days, we actually went to the store more than once. Surely, better planning next month will result in less pollution coming from our tailpipe and less money leaking from our wallet.

Next month, we plan to trim our expenditures by only purchasing bananas, cat food, and water at the grocery store. We will purchase everything else at the Farmer's Market, harvest it from our garden, or get it out of the dumpster.

June Food Expenses

Picture from http://www.platte.k12.sd.us/ttl/week3.htm

This is going to be a complicated post. Hopefully someone is going to teach me how to put this all into more readable tables.

Note: All figures represent the spending for a family of 5 and one cat

Grocery Receipts

6/1 Hare Today Gone Tomorrow (online), $100.06, frozen meat for the cat
6/1 Cub Foods, $25.59--bok choy, cherries, cantaloupe, frozen mango
6/1 Aldi, $51.08--romaine lettuce, apples, bananas, frozen raspberries, frozen mixed berries, cucumbers, multi-colored peppers, mangos
6/1 Sav-A-Lot, $35.92--8 large watermelons
6/1 Cub Foods, $2.60--cat food
6/2 Farmer's Market, $8--Raisin walnut bread (my husband's purchase for himself), eggs (for the cat), romaine lettuce
6/2 Cub Foods, $1.98, 6 gallons reverse osmosis water

6/4 Freeport Food Co-op Buying Club, $1.28, 1 can of albacore tuna (for the cat)

6/4 Aldi $4.18, bananas

6/4 Sav-A-Lot, $26.10, 4 watermelons, organic apples, nectarines and peaches, avocados

6/4 Cub Foods, $0.99, 3 gallons reverse osmosis water

6/7 Aldi, $25.99, 12 lbs. bananas, 4 watermelons (price went up on the watermelons!)
6/9 Farmer's Market, $5.50 Sprouted Salad Crunchies, eggs (for the cat)

6/9 Aldi, $23.08, 4 watermelons, Asian noodles (my husband's purchase for himself)

6/12 Aldi, $30.06, 4 watermelons, 4 cucumbers, 12 lbs. bananas, 3 lbs. Granny Smith apples, 4 plums, 4 cucumbers

6/12 Cub Foods, $8.98, 9 gallons reverse osmosis water, 2 12 oz. packages frozen mango

6/14 Cub Foods, 24.95, 5 cans organic cat food, 2 watermelons (sale!), 2 avocadoes, 1 pkg. sundried tomatoes, 2 12 oz. packages frozen mango

6/14 Nature's Path Health Food Store, $17.15, 23 oz. agave nectar, taurine (for the cat)

6/15 Cub Foods, $33.68, 5 watermelons, 2 pints blackberries, 2 pints raspberries, 2 12 oz. packages frozen mangos

6/15 Aldi, $13.91, 20 lbs. bananas, 4 lbs. green grapes, 3 large zucchini

6/16 Cub Foods, $9.79, 2 12 oz. packages frozen mangos, 2 packages scrub pads

6/16 Freeport Farmers Market, $3, sugar snap peas

6/17 Cub Foods, $8.07, 16 kiwi fruit, 2 pints blackberries

6/18 Cub Foods, $29.03, 4 watermelon, 8 kiwi fruit, 2 12 oz. packages frozen mangos, 2 avocadoes, 1 red pepper, 1 large head bok choy, 9 gallons reverse osmosis water

6/19 Cub Foods, $8.28, 10 lbs. bananas, 1 12 oz. package frozen cherries

6/21 Cub Foods, $29.07, 6 gallons reverse osmosis water, 8 lbs. bananas, 1 large watermelon, 2 large cantaloupe, 1 canary melon, 3 red peppers, 2 avocados, 2 lbs. tomatoes, 1 12 oz. package frozen cherries

6/23 Aldi, $7.68, 5 lbs. bananas, 2 cucumbers, 1 bunch celery, 1 watermelon

6/23 Farmer's Market, $7.50, 1 head bok choy, 1 large bag sugar snap peas, 1/2 batch of sprouted salad crunchies

6/23 SHARE food program, $13.50, Organic produce box containing 1 cantaloupe, 3 lbs. Golden Delicious apples, 4 kiwis, 3 pears, 1 large head broccoli, 1 lb. carrots, 1 cucumber, 1 head iceberg lettuce

6/24 Aldi, $9.87, 5.5 lbs. bananas, 2 lbs. green grapes, 2 lbs. red grapes, 2 avocados

6/25 Cub Foods, $3, 9 gallons reverse 0smosis water

6/27 Cub Foods, $8.74, 2 12 oz. packages frozen mangos, 2 cans organic catfood

6/29 Cub Foods, $15.14, 5 cans organic catfood, 1 watermelon, 1 cantaloupe, 3 gallons reverse osmosis water

6/30 Farmer's Market, $11, Shell peas, 2 cucumbers, 1 large head heirloom cos lettuce, 2 lbs. better than organic apricots

6/30 Cub Foods, $36.55, 15 lbs.? Organic bananas (discounted for ripeness), 2 watermelon, cucumbers, 1 cabbage, 2 1/4 lbs. Braeburn apples, 2 lbs. strawberries, 2 12 oz. packages each frozen cherries and mangos

6/30 Nature's Path Health Food Store, $10.01, Amber Agave Syrup (not raw! A mistake made by my husband. We planned to take it back, but my daughter opened it without asking. Grrr.)

Total: $645.77

Farmer's Market Expenses

6/1 Bags for bagging lettuce, $4.40
6/4 Organic chickpeas for Sprouted Salad Crunchies, $1.01

6/21 Limes and onion powder for Sprouted Salad Crunchies, $3.80

Total: $9.21


Garden Expenses

6/1 Cub Foods, $7 watermelon and kale plants
6/2 Farmer's Market, $6 cucumber and melon plants
6/6 Local farmer, straw for mulching, $15

6/16 Farm and Fleet, organic pest control sprays, 12.82

6/17 Cub Foods, eggplant and tomatillo plants on clearance, $4.82

6/21 DeMeester's Greenhouse, purple and yellow snap bean seeds, yellow and white patty pan squash seeds, large bag of rotonone (organic pesticide), $19.85

Total: $65.49

Farmer's Market Income

6/2 $8
6/9 $15.50

6/11 $7.50

6/16 $17.00

6/16 $13.50 (a friend sold lettuce for me at another area market)

6/18 $7.50

6/23 $4

6/30 $0

Total: $72.00

Free Food

6/1 Aldi dumpster, approx. $13.45 in colored peppers, a lot of sweet onions that I won't count because we're not eating them
6/2 Gift of asparagus from Farmer's Market vendor, $3
6/4 Aldi dumpster, approx. 122.36 worth of stuff--15 heads iceberg, 1 lb. romaine, 3 lbs. Granny Smith apples, 1 lb. Red Delicious apples, 14 D 'Anjou pears, 1 mango, 2 lbs. Roma tomatoes, 3 cucumbers, 3 3pks of colored peppers, 1 quart strawberries, about 84 pints of blueberries (but 2/3 of it was waste), plus a lot of stuff to give away that I did not count in the money total because I gave it away
6/7 Aldi dumpster, 6 lbs. oranges and 3 lbs. Red Delicious apples, approx. $8.50

6/9 Aldi dumpster, 9 lbs. oranges, 4 lbs. organic sweet cherries, 10 pts. blueberries (about 1/2 waste), 2 3 pks. peppers, 11 D 'Anjou pears, 15 lbs. Granny Smith apples, 8 lbs. Roma tomatoes, 2 quarts strawberries, 2 lbs. baby carrots, one package of chicken patties for the cat, and a lot of other stuff not counted in the total because I'm giving it away, approx. $78

6/12 Aldi dumpster, 14 lbs. Roma tomatoes, 3 lbs. red grapes, 4 lbs. organic sweet cherries, 5 pts. blueberries, 3 lbs. Gala apples, 1/2 qut. strawberries, 10 colored peppers, 3 cucumbers, 2 D'Anjou pears, 8 lemons, 15 limes, 1 zucchini, and 1 lonesome perfect peach, approx. $66

6/12 Mulberries from local trees, approx. $3

6/14 Mulberries from local trees, approx. $2

6/15 Aldi dumpster, 50 lbs. bananas, 9 lbs. Red Delicious apples, 6 lbs. Granny Smith apples, 3 3-packs of colored peppers, approx. $38

6/19 Mulberries from local trees, approx. $3

6/19 Peas from my farmer friends, approx. $1

6/20 Bibb lettuce from my farmer friends, approx. $2

6/21 Mulberries from local trees, approx. $1

6/22 Mulberries from local trees, approx. $1

6/22 Aldi dumpster, 6 lbs. Red Delicious apples, 6 lbs. Granny Smith apples, approx. $10

6/23 Black raspberries from a nice lady's patch, $9

6/23 Aldi dumpster, 1/2 lb. sweet cherries, $1

6/24 Aldi dumpster, 12 heads iceberg lettuce, 9 lbs. oranges, 1 lb. sweet cherries, $22 (more stuff not counted because we gave it to friends and neighbors),

6/24 Red and black raspberries from a friend's patch, $12

6/26 Aldi dumpster, 16 avocadoes in perfect condition!, 15 lbs. oranges, 10 lbs. green grapes, 5 quarts strawberries (after trimming), 4 lbs. sweet cherries, 10 lbs. bananas, 1 3-pack zucchini (more not counted because we gave it to friends and neighbors), $71.70

6/27 Aldi dumpster, 14 lbs. oranges, 12 lbs. green grapes, 1 red apple, $71.66

6/27 Mulberries, gooseberries, $3

6/27 Purslane, huge quantities! $priceless? I guess I'll charge myself $4

6/28 Red and black raspberries from a friend's patch, $12

6/28 Aldi dumpster (via a dumpster-diving friend), 8 colored peppers, 3 lbs. Granny Smith apples, 2 lbs. red grapes, 12 Roma tomatoes, 1 pint grape tomatoes, 1 bag baby carrots, $17

Total: $575.67

Garden Produce (market value based on what I would charge at the Farmer's Market for said amount of produce)

6/1 Four Seasons Lettuce, approx. $2
6/2 Four Seasons Lettuce, approx. $2
6/3 Four Seasons Lettuce, approx. $1
6/4 Four Seasons Lettuce, approx. $2
6/5 Four Seasons Lettuce, approx. $2

6/6 Four Seasons Lettuce, approx. $3

6/7 Four Seasons Lettuce, approx. $1

6/8 Mixed lettuce greens, approx. $3

6/9 Mixed lettuce greens, approx. $3

6/10 Mixed lettuce greens, approx. $3

6/11 Mixed lettuce greens, approx. $1

6/12 Four Seasons Lettuce, approx. $1

6/13 Four Seasons Lettuce, approx. $2

6/14 Four Seasons Lettuce, swiss chard, spinach, approx. $4

6/15 Mixed lettuce greens, spinach, approx. $5

6/16 Mixed lettuce greens, approx. $3

6/18 Four Seasons lettuce, approx. $2

6/19 Four Seasons lettuce, approx. $1

6/20 Four Seasons lettuce, approx. $1

6/21 Spinach approx. $2

6/22 Four Seasons and Black-seeded Simpson Lettuce, approx. $4

6/23 Four Seasons and Black-seeded Simpson lettuce, approx. $2

6/24 Four Seasons and Black-seeded Simpson lettuce, approx. $2

6/27 Black-seeded Simpson lettuce, approx. $2

6/28 Endive, $1

Total: $57

A Gorgeous Day to be Gardening...

We were low on food, so I headed to the store with our last $30. (Luckily, there's a paycheck coming this week). I went across town because Sullivan's supposedly had a case of mangos for $3.99! I don't normally shop there unless there are some big sales like this one.

When I got there, they had about a dozen mangoes on the display. No cases. It took me awhile to track someone down, and they had no idea about the case sale. They showed me a circular that had the 2 for 79 cents sale price, but not the case price. Of course, I hadn't brought my circular with me. So, I bought 4 mangos, a large seedless watermelon, 3 red pears, and 5 lbs. of Red Delicious apples (also on sale) for $15.

Then we headed for Aldi. I took a quick peek in the dumpster and got a cantaloupe. There was a huge pile of white bread, hotdog and hamburger buns. Well, that was real garbage anyway... so I left it. In Aldi, we purchased 2 lbs. of red grapes, 3 cucumbers, a 3-pack of peppers, 3 lbs. of Gala apples, and about 20 lbs. of bananas for $13.

(My husband had to run an errand and he took the sales flier advertising the mango price back to the store. They issued him a raincheck... Something to look forward to!)

After our shopping, we headed to our garden at our friend's farm. Look how tiny my girls look in the picture and it will give you a hint of just how big this garden is. About 15 times bigger than I've ever planted before. The red stuff in the foreground amongst the weeds is our Four Seasons Lettuce. Some for us, some for the Farmer's Market... if I get it weeded.

The girls helped me plant peppers and 5 kinds of tomatoes.

Today's eating included:

Cantaloupe, red grapes, bananas, a smoothie with mixed berries and bananas, mango, and a big salad with romaine, cucumber, tomato, red and yellow pepper, sprouts (French Garden mix), and a little shredded carrot. Oh, and some raisins while watching LOST!

Now, I'm up TOO LATE. I have a big day tomorrow with all-day training for my new job.