Cheap Fruit n' Veg

Yep, or a proper grocers if you have one locally.
The problem I had with the Vic was that the stuff wasn't much cheaper, and we always ended up buying more impulse items/treats from the deli. Save $3 on fruit, spend $8 on parmesan and $5 on a bratwurst.

Markets early in the afternoon are the way to go. For example, ready to eat Avocados can go for about 50c, a little unripe they go for $1. A tray of large mangoes goes for about $10 (12 per tray)..Get there late and the gyus just want to get rid of their stock so they cut the price, same as the meat sections...50% a lot of stuff around midday

yup have 2 proper grocers nearby

i find it hard with fruit n' veg because i really have no idea cost-wise

say what is the average price per kilo for pumpkin, broccoli, pears, corns, apples?

i have no idea!

i don't know when i'm paying too much

thats why the market is also good, as there are so many people there you can compare prices between the stall holders

price depends on whats in season.

my last choice to buy fruit/veg would be coles and safeway.

plant some stuff! (nows a good time too).

oh i'd love to grow my own vegies daisyb... hust can't do so where i live at the moment

i might just try my local grocer

i've been buying from queen vic lately but also coles

*just

actually, when you start paying attention to prices of stuff you pick up on things quick.
at the moment i seem to be paying attention to the price of bananas and strawberries. and mangoes.

Mangoes were $1.49 each and delicious yesterday afternoon.

yeah that's been my problem... not paying attention to prices of fruit n' veg - i always just bought whatever in the past.

so are banana's n' mangoes a good price now?!

Yup, just buy what's in season. Strawberries are super cheap at the moment. I just have to watch out for shit like lime and passionfruit which seem to be going for $2 each or something crazy.

queen vic market is the best.

once my folks started going there weekly they never looked back (or went back) to supermarkets for food groceries. (emergencies aside)

For people in Sydney - Woolworths in Marrickville Metro had tomatoes for 88 cent a kilo last week. Nice ones too! I don't know how much they are right now, but worth checking if you're in the area.

also in sydney, paddy's market in town is stupidly cheap and amazing for fruit and veg (not as good as queen vic for meat/fish/deli though)

strawberries, currently $2 at aldi - but they're shit.
$3 at Coles - dunno quality but fuck Coles.
$1.30 at the local market gardeners here in bacchus marsh and they are the best tasting strawberries! i bought two punnets.

i did note not long ago strawberries were $2 at foodworks and they werent bad.
dunno what safeways or iga have got to offer. i'd say they'd be shit though.

prahran market late saturday arvo, everything has to go so it's really cheap.

$5 a tray (12 punnets) this morning at Richmond market, Daisy.

I'd have picked up a tray, but I was on foot. I already squashed one of my avocados (I got a bag of about eight little ones for $2).

any ideas what time prahran market closes?

i went queens vicco market today... some prices off the top of my head $3 for 3 punnets of strawbs, !.50 for bunch of celery $2.50 kg for range of great apples $1.50 for naval oranges, $6 kg for mushies thick porterhouse steaks about $4 each, cheap amb and pork chops

blah blah great food cheap, good value day working overtime on sat morning and then shopping in the early arvo

asian grocery stores are great for cheap fruit, veg and fresh herbs.
eg. you'll get twice as much coriander in a asian grocery store and you pay a buck compared to $3-4 for the flavourless, insipid shit that coles/safeway peddle.

i got excited yesterday to find an organic grocer 2 km from my joint yesterday. i'm gonna start going there. full of old women standing around talking local gossip. i've had it with safeways fruit and veg.

whoreganic won't be cheap.

Yeah, sorry wrong thread. Just saying Modi.

Or in the long run I'll be healthier and thus life will be cheaper cos I wont be spending money on my sick old body, filling it with pills n shite.

say what is the average price per kilo for pumpkin, broccoli, pears, corns, apples?

pumpkin was 99c per kilo at the organic veg place at prahran mkt today. Around $2.99 usually. Sometimes you get a real bargain. Prahran is way more exxy than Vic Market. Buying organic at Vic is heaps cheaper than Prahran. But I can walk to Prahran, so... anyway - here's some of what I rmember seeing today:

broccoli - $.6.99 per kilo.
taters - $3.50 per kilo for fancy potatoes that don't taste of vaccuum dust
apples - $4.99
parsnip - $7.99
zucchini - $7.99
broad beans $4.99 (cheap!)

listen to Eat It midday Sunday on 3RRR - they do a market report and tell you what's cheap and in season.

I'm with MM if you have a car, hit the Footscray Market instead of the Vic one. Cheap and good.

pfft, formatting

elle-zo you seem to be on the ball. What's the difference, very roughly, between prices of organic and nor organic?

meg's fruit and veg in broady

well, funny you should ask. sometimes organic is cheaper! but only by $1 or $2. parnsips are $7.99 organic at Prahran, but $8.99 in other non-organic Prahran stalls. And as I said - pumpkin was a total bargain today. Tomatos are still expensive - in season they are $3.99 per kilo or less (non-organic). They're like, $11.99 at the moment.

on posh stuff - strawberries, avocados - organic is probably double. So - $5 a strawb punnet, instead of 2 for $5. It really depends. But you get a feel for it after a few weeks, and you work out your favourite stalls. It's a fun thing to do.

I decided a while back I was happy to spend on food and cut back on buying other shit. And really - although non-organic use sprays etc, if you're buying in season and locally grown, you can't really go too far wrong. Organic meat is well pricey, but if you only eat it a couple of times a week, then I think it is worth it.

But yeah - go to a market - Vic Market ideally as organic there is much more affordable - and not, like The Organic Grocer in Nth Fitzroy, as you will be selling one of your vital organs to pay for asparagus.

Thanks for your input elle-zo. I agree with what you say about being happy about spending more on food and just cutting back on other shit. I'm not happy with giving my money to safeways and the like, I'm happier putting my money somewhere else.

Food meant to by enjoyed and buying it is one of those enjoyment, growing it yourself too. In the end I'm happier eating fresh meals more than processed foods.

For real. That's also why I dig going to Prahran market - because Aldi is next door. So I stock up on - you know, cheap cleaning products, toiletries etc at Aldi, and then buy nice stuff from the market.

Although Aldi also do a decent organic range as well - milk, tinned tomatoes, yoghurt etc.

I limit the Safeway/Coles shopping to emergencies only!

Haha. Fair enough, Stew, maybe the money you save by buying ''conventional'' produce could be spent on health insurance?

Try Modi. Maybe that's what most of us are doing. Each to their own.

I meant True Modi, not Try Modi. Truth is I've never tried him so couldn't really say if that's a good idea or not.

Does anyone know a good place to get Australian grown lemons near Kew or Northcote for a reasonable price? Everywhere I've been seems to sell imports from the US, and the radiation process they go through simply can't be good for you.

Psarakos Market in Thornbury at a guess.

I'll have a look. Ta poprocks.

I like produce but dislike scenarios where you have to ask ''how much for the...''

Looking forward to having my tiny tiny unpaved garden space full of beans and a few other space-economic edible plants.