Grocery Store Rant!

[Strawberry Smoothie]

I asked hubby to take me to the supermarket tonight. He had to drive because I was in a car accident last week and don't know if my car will be fixed or if i have to get a new one. (Thanks Allstate) :rolleyes: Anyway, that doesn't matter.

So I wanted to go to Sweetbay because it's the only market around here that has young coconuts and I've been craving one all day. I got one from there a few days ago and it was soooooooo good. We got there and of course, they were out of young coconuts and all of the fruit looked like crap. I just wanted some apples, cherries, grapes, coconuts an bananas. The only thing I ended up buying were bananas because everything else was garbage. The apples were woody and heavily waxed, and they didn't have any organic. There were no cherries or grapes. And of course, no young coconuts. Even the lemons and oranges looked bad. I looked at all of the fruit and none of it was ripe, and the fruit that was ripe was rotting. By the time we left the store it was 5 minutes til 9:00 pm and the town that i live in the only other grocery stores close at 9:00 pm. (Why did we move here?) Anyway, I told him he's going to have to take me shopping again tomorrow. Maybe it will be a more successful trip. I hope. :(

[Coriander74]

Ohhhhh that sucks.

I hope that maybe tomorrow you have a more fruitful (!!!) visit and you can stock up on all the yummy things you want.

[luckitri]

Yeah, I am mad today at my local HFS. They had a "manager special" on Braggs vinegar - you know - the ACV with the "mother". I was out so I was glad to see it. Had it in salad dressing at dinner. It's downright alchoholic! It tastes nasty! I expect my HFS to have a little more honor about not dumping bad product on me. Of course I don't have the receipt anymore and I can just imagine one of those young male managers saying he can't smell anything wrong with it.

[Green Life]

I know what you mean. I run into this alot.

Just today they had organic red bell peppers that I needed to make a recipie. They wanted 2.59 for ONE.

I said to myself ,"the heck with this. I'll go to the outlet and get my 2/100 bells and wash the heck outta them when I get home."

That's just exactly what I did.

[juliebove]

I can relate. I lived on Cape Cod for a few years, then Staten Island. At times, good fresh produce was very hard to come by.

[JudyMac]

Our local (60 miles away) supermarket has a veg/fruit problem too, just as you said, unripe or rotten.

It was one of the reasons I started growing my own. I now grow or crop wild about 65% of my food. Luckily we also have an open air farmers market twice a week!

I wish we could get baby coconuts they sound so delish!

Do you have a garden, or in a city / town with community plots? You might be able to either rent a plot and grow your own, or swop produce with a plot holder. For instance I swop home-made nut butter milks for berry fruit, melons and courgettes.

[Strawberry Smoothie]

We'll be buying a house that has a yard in a few months. I'd like to start growing my own foods, but since I've never gardened before I've got a lot to learn. I also plan on planting fruit trees. I want grapefruit, honeybells & meyer lemons. I heard I can grow pineapple too pretty easily (I'm in Florida). And I can't wait to have an herb garden, even if I have to grow the herbs in pots.

Anyway, going to the farm market today, so I'm sure I'll be much happier with what I find there. Too bad they're only open til 5:30. I get off work at 5:00 and it's a 15 minute drive to get there. *sigh*

[puffysmom]

Strawberry.....get a lot of help on growing a garden in Fl. I lived down on the West coast and tried it but didnt have much luck. I know it can be done as a man from my church would bring produce to give us. I just never went to a garden shop with a knowledgable person to help me get a good garden growing. U dont need sprays for fruit trees so that should not be a problem. I think for the herbs big pots would be best but u can get all that info from someone in the know. I lived there for over 21 years and grew orchids.

Oh yea. Grapes do great in Fl. the rind is tough but u can just pop the middle out and eat that and toss the outer. I also grew strawberry quavas which i learned to enjoy. I had a lot of dif kinds of bushes that had fruit that i loved. I hardly ever planted anything that did not serve a duel purpose. Either flowers on it or fruit or both.

I have the same problem with organic foods. The local health food store does not carry fruit and veggies. No one raises them here. The grocery stores carry a small supply and charge a fortune for it. Then they quit carrying it as no one buys it and it goes bad on them. As far as peppers and some things like that goes i dont think they r sprayed as much as they dont use organic fertilizers. I have peppers, tomatos, beans and a lot of other veggies in the garden and nothing bothers them. The cabbage is being eaten up but i let the caterpillers have their share and then i cut it off and have what is left. They only eat the outer leaves anyway which i usually toss out. We r not organic growers but I want to be. It is just that our garden is only 2 years old and needed badly ingredients that organic could not produce on short notice. once i get it organic i plan on selling some of the produce and should get a following

I have a small greenhouse and instead of having a lot of flowers and such I am building some growing beds for winter. Tomatos, cukes, carrots, lettuce, spinach. I could wish for more but need room for my orchids.

I also have a miniture banana tree and a 3 in one dwarf fruit tree. Prob be years before i get anything from them but that is ok.