Where to buy budget bushels of vegetables/fruits

My Mom is reminiscencing about the 70s when she used to buy things in bulk cheap to save money. We used to do this when we lived in the SW suburbs, Justice (near Bridgeview) to be exact.

My parents moved to the NW suburbs (Roselle, near Schaumburg) - and my Mom says she just doesn't see these bargains any more. Well, I've seen bushels of tomatoes at Caputo's but that's it.

The question is - have times changed? Or is it just because she now lives in a more affluent area, and they don't bother with bargains like this in affluent areas?

If you know places that still have these kinds of deals, whatever time of year, let me know, and about when and where you tend to be able to get it.

Thanks a lot!

Nancy

Hint: consider the change in demographics of farming since the 70's.

Most youngsters don't recall that Schaumburg still had farms in the 1970's, as did many other suburbs that are now full of homes. Farms and orchards fell to development over the last 30 years and family farms in particular fell off precipitously nationwide.

I think it's partially affluence, but also related to smaller family sizes and people's lack of time to cook and in some cases lack of cooking skills.

Hi- Sometimes you can get a really good deal on large amount of veggies at the farmer's market. They are much more likely to deal on veggies than they are on fruit. Tomatoes and beans are pretty much over for the year, but you can get cabbage, root vegetables, winter squash, greens, potatoes and brussel sprouts. ome stuff you can get much cheaper than other stuff. You are not likely to get a really good deal on potatoes. You can also get peppers really cheap, as in 5/$1. Peppers are really easy to freeze. You just cut them up and freeze them on a cookie tray, and stick them in a bag when they are frozen. I know Schaumburg has a farmer's market. I know someone who goes there, but I have never been there, so I don't know who to recommend. The person I know that goes there also goes to the Evanston market, and she does not do bargains herself. I don't know when the Schaumburg market closes for the year. Maybe somebody else can supply you with more specific information about the Schaumburg market. I agree with the other poster that people don't want to bother dealing with large amounts of produce. I make jam, mostly peach, when I can get it for free from my sister, who has a fruit farm in Michigan, and people are constantly amazed that I know how to make peach jam. Hope this helps, Nancy

Hi,

There are deals, you have to be willing to drive to them. I don't go to Farmer's markets. I go to farms.

Last weekend's frost has really put a full-stop to the growing season. I went out to Von Bergen's farm to see what I might want at end of season. I bought 13.5 pounds tomatoes for $5. They had 40-plus pounds of tomatoes for approximately $20.

I never make peach pies and jam from perfect peaches. I buy the dinged peaches cheap. Perfect peaches are for canning or eating out of hand.

I bought a 23.5 pound squash last weekend for $2.99.

I spend a lot of time and gas to do this. However, I now have relationships with various farmers. Everything is there if you are willing to do the work.

Regards,

Thanks for the advice Cathy, I should be as good on these forums as you are. I was rather hoping you'd reply as I just knew you'd know something about this.

Nancy

Hi- I just looked at the village of Schaumburg website, and the farmer's market takes place on Fridays from 7-1 through October 30. The couple I know that used to go there, azpparently do not anymore. They appear to have a lot of bakeries there. They only hAve about 4 people there selling fruit and veggies. The only farmer that I am familiar with is Nichols. He comes to Evanston, and I buy a lot from him. Sometimes he sells stuff realy cheap when the market is getting ready to close. He often sells red peppers really cheap, and often the last day of the farmers market, he marks stuff down. The last day of the Evanston market is not until November 7th, so he might not be as likely to mark stuff bdown a lot at the last Schaumburg market. BTW- His garlic is really good. I usualy buy a whole bunch of it the last day of the Evanston market, when he usually marks it down. Right now it is a dollar a head. Hope this helps, Nancy