This past week there were quite a few strawberries, melons and grapes to sort through. Unfortunately, the melons were a little past their prime to feed to my family but our flock of backyard chickens sure loved them.
Out of the 3 boxes of produce scraps Mr. Produce Guy gave us, this is what we kept. If I had to guess this is probably a weeks worth of fruit for most families. Lucky for us, we didn’t have to pay a dime for it.
In case you are wondering what we did with all the produce, I took all the apples and made 2 batches of dehydrated apple chips. With the reclaimed stuff from the grocery department and the produce we have growing in the backyard I thought it would be nice to make a few batches and tuck them away for my kids lunches this fall. And when I say tuck them away I mean HIDE them. 😉 Shhh. Don’t tell my teens or they’ll go looking for them.
The strawberries were washed, trimmed and tossed into the freezer to use later in the year in smoothies.
And the grapes? Well most of them went in a glass refrigerator container for easy snacking, but I did put a few in zip baggies for the HH’s lunch.
And last but not least, I chopped up the broccoli, red pepper and lone carrot for an easy stir fry dinner.
Waste not, want not.
I thought it was a great week for free produce, don’t you?
Have you tried talking to your local grocery, CSA or favorite farmer yet about getting a deal or possibly picking up FREE discarded produce yet? Well you should. After all, the worst someone can do is tell you know.
Peace Out Girl Scouts, I’m off to go water the garden.
~Mavis
Would you like to see what else we have brought home over the past year?
Head on over HERE to read all the past stories and to see all the pictures.
If you have just stumbled upon this series and are wondering how I got all this food for free, you’ll want to read this story first.
Denise says
Last week I got SIX huge boxes from my local place. I had to call a friend to help me sort, chop, and freeze (I shared of course). Awesomeness.
Mavis Butterfield says
Sweet!!
Heidi P says
Thanks for reminding me about dehydrating! I’ve got a full tree of apples ready to be picked. Has anyone ever dehydrated transparents? They are a soft apple.
Ellen says
Make applesauce! Transparents make THE BEST applesauce. Or make apple leather if you want to dehydrate.
Jessica says
I finally worked up the courage to ask my produce guy for scraps for my chickens, and he told me that they “only throw away things that are on the floor, and that would be unfit to feed chickens” (because you know, chickens would NEVER eat anything off the floor). sure, sure… you sell ALL your bananas before they’re over-ripe, and nothing EVER gets tossed because it’s bruised or ugly? I bet!
Joyce Derhousoff Tucker says
Regarding the transparent apples….. YES!!! I dehyrdrated many last summer. They make a wonderful dried apple.. The grandson thinks it’s candy (wonderfully tangy!)…. Moving to a newly built home.. A transparent apple will be the first fruit tree we plant!
Lisa says
Got some reclaimed produce today: 2 big mangos, a papaya, a banana, an orange, two apples, a nectarine, 4 apricots, 2 green peppers, bag of sweet peppers, bag of red grapes, pound of strawberries and a pound of cherries, a couple carrots, a pineapple and a couple potatoes. So thankful!
Mavis Butterfield says
Wow! What an assortment Lisa.
Gardenpat says
My produce manager was culling in his dept late this morning so I casually asked him ( he has obliged me twice in the past but I don’t always go there at the right time! ) He gave me an empty box an asked about strawberries. Well, yes! I think those would be lovely! He told me that anything in his rolling can was okay to have as long as I was willing to take it out of it’s plastic boxes/ bags! Fair enough (actually gives me more space in my box!) I asked if he would like me to pick through can so he could continue his work without me slowing him down . He said that that would be great! Even switched over to a bigger box for me! I scored and froze 11 quart bags of strawberries, 1 cucumber, 1 perfect peach, 2 huge bunches of baby bananas, 1 quart of raspberries that I will use to make raspberry vinegar, and at least 15 quarts of beautiful Queen Anne cherries! I am so thrilled!!
lindasue says
Well, I have had no luck with free items, however, I have been able to get some things for $1 a bag, which I am pleased with. Generally things like citrus, potatoes, onions, peppers, spinach and lettuce.it has cut down on my produce bill. Was able to barter for 5 gal of cucumbers, zucchini just shows up on my porch and tomatoes too. Happy Happy days!