Lets talk about how we buy locally and reduce costs

[KariM]

I thought it might be fun to post which products we usually buy locally and how that helps us live frugally.

We are able to grow a lot of our own veggies and buy much of our meat from local farmers. DH also hunts a bit, but that's not such a reliable source for us.

We just picked up 20 chickens last week and DH pressure canned them for us.

We'll be getting half a hog in the fall.

We'll supplement those meats with a few others throughout the year, but the 1/2 hog with the chickens, some dried beans, and whatever wild game DH harvests will usually carry us through the year.

We shop at our local farmer's market as well to fill in some veggies I don't grow in our garden. We also pick up local honey at the farmer's market.

We'll buy bushels of apples from a friend's orchard in the fall and dry and can those.

I watch the labels on produce at the grocery store and try to buy produce and products produced in my state and neighboring states.

Which products are you able to buy locally?

[kytheria]

99% of our produce is purchased locally at farmer's markets. We try to stay within the 100 mile range for those items. We also get apples and cider, eggs, milk, and honey locally. There are a few times I'll buy something that's not local- bananas, for instance, and yesterday I bought a pound of cherries from North Carolina.

I'd love to buy bulk meats, but we don't have a freezer (other than the small one above the fridge) and DP is resisting my attempts to get one. We buy from a local butcher who has assured us his meats come from local sources.

[serenetabbie]

Our eggs are all from the farm in the valley not far from us. If we buy them at the store, they are from the local chicken farm too The milk we buy at the store is from the local dairies... but if we buy organic it is not. Other than those items... the produce I grow or buy from local farms at the farm market. We used to get cherries from DH's grandfather's farm... but since the old man died the farm has been sold off bit by bit and there are no cherry trees left

There is a woman I know who raises hogs and I am trying to work out a deal to buy 1/2 one this fall. Can someone tell me about how much I could expect from 1/2 a hog?

[sanguine_speed]

We frequent local farmer's markets and just yesterday I received my quarterly order from the natural food coop that includes a lot of local and organic products.

[KariM]

Originally Posted by serenetabbie

Can someone tell me about how much I could expect from 1/2 a hog?

Depends upon the size of the hog at butchering, but somewhere in the neighborhood of 55-70lbs of meat after processing.

[Leta]

We eat from our garden as much as we can. We buy local honey, eggs, and maple syrup. We shop at the farmer's market thru out the season. We buy only Jilbert's dairy products- made from hormone free U.P. cows.

I am veg, but DH eats venison and pheasant from his parents hunting.

And we go to Vinnie's once a week.