Fresh fruits and veggies

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I live in northern Canada, in an isolated area where “fresh” has to be trucked in over 800 miles of dirt road. Even at that I have:

At home:
Cabbage
Rutabaga
Carrots
Potatoes
Celery
Red & Green Sweet Peppers
Onions
Elephant Garlic
Mushrooms
Broccoli
Apples - Granny Smith
Oranges
Pears - Bartlett
Avocado
Romaine Lettuce

At the office:

Grapes
Carrots
 
I have to agree that frozen fruits and veggies are not to be put down. They are just as healthy as fresh, and they don’t go bad.

But, you asked what we have fresh in our house right now, and here’s my list:

Fuji apples
tomatoes
broccoli
iceberg lettuce
Romaine lettuce
carrots
avocados
onions
red potatoes
brown potatoes
 
We need groceries in the worst way, but right now we have:

bananas
apples
clementines (I’ll bet they’re nutritionally identical to oranges)
strawberries
canteloupe
mangos (My new favourite fruit and 99 cents/pound this week!)
carrots
lettuce
onions
turnip

If frozen counts…it’s the only way I ever buy the following:

broccoli
brussel sprouts
blueberries

I hate being out of salad stuff. I recently started trying new fruits and vegetables which is how I discovered yummy mangos. My biggest disappointment was papaya. It tasted awful. I tried it in December and I wonder if maybe it was just out of season, or took too long getting to Canada.😛 (I notice Phemie doesn’t have papaya listed either.) Does anyone actually like it?
 
I HATE frozen and canned fruits and vegetables. I keep a few on hand for emergencies, like when I haven’t had time to go shopping. I can’t cook without vegetables. Having said that, I have on hand:

mushrooms
yellow and red peppers
onions
potatoes
avocados
garlic
zucchini

However, today is my grocery shopping day. When I go, I’m going to pick up:
spinach
clementines or strawberries (we’re borderline seasonally)
more peppers
more mushrooms
more zucchini
and possibly some lettuce.

I live alone, so I have to be careful to buy only what I’m likely to eat before it goes bad. Mushrooms, peppers, and zucchini are my staples. They go in almost every dish I make - omelettes in the morning, spaghetti, curry, wraps, or whatever else in the evening.

The avocados were an indulgence last week - we can’t buy them here, but a friend found some imported and got them for me. I also had strawberries and yogurt for breakfast every day last week, which was also an indulgence. I’m usually too broke to buy much besides mushrooms, peppers, zucchini, onions, and garlic.
 
Broccoli
carrots
celery
onions
garlic
shallots
basil
roma tomatoes
romaine lettuce
iceberg lettuce
tangerines
cantaloupe

I’ve bought those expensive grapes before. Not worth it. Better to buy what is on sale which is usually what is in season. The best bet of all is the farmer’s market. You can load up for just a few dollars.
 
Good_Daughter said:
mangos (My new favourite fruit and 99 cents/pound this week!)
I hate being out of salad stuff. I recently started trying new fruits and vegetables which is how I discovered yummy mangos. My biggest disappointment was papaya. It tasted awful. I tried it in December and I wonder if maybe it was just out of season, or took too long getting to Canada.😛 (I notice Phemie doesn’t have papaya listed either.) Does anyone actually like it?
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I never mentioned that I have a whole mess of frozen veggies in the freezer. They range from single veggie offerings like peas and plain green beans to blends like run-of-the-mill ‘mixed vegetables’ (peas, carrots, corn, green beans & lima beans), “pea pods & baby carrots”, “whole green beans, yellow beans & baby carrots” .

I don’t think I’ve ever seen papaya up here and mangoes go for $3 apiece and they’re usually terrible so I don’t buy those until I go on holidays and then I pig out.

It’s funny, before Christmas I picked up a pomegranate for a snack; they’re a lot of trouble but so worth it.

The clerk rang it up and said “Wow, that’s expensive!”

So I asked her, “What’s the cost of a Coke and a bag of potato chips?”

“Why?”

“You wouldn’t blink if I bought that for a snack, would you?”

“Hmm, never thought of it that way.”

Yeah, I can be snarky.

BTW, NB, NS, PEI or NL?
 
I have:
Apples
Oranges
Grapefruits
Bananas
Carrots
Celery
Spinach
Grape tomatoes
Onions
Garlic (does that count?)
Spring mix greens

Also: Frozen

Peppers (have you seen the price of fresh bell peppers lately?)
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Peas
Berries
Mixed Tropical fruit
Mixed Veggies
Brussels Sprouts

And finally,

Canned tomatoes in the following varieties:
Whole peeled
Crushed
Diced

And for Whatevergirl 👋 ,

Clementines are tasty, very similar to tangerines. They are citrus fruits, so they should be high in vitamin C.
 
Let’s see…I’m due to head to the grocery store tomorrow, but…

bananas
apples
butternut squash (LOVE it)
potatoes
onions
carrots
cherry tomatoes
green peppers
corn on the cob (we’re in the deep south!)

I wish I liked broccoli; I can stand it steamed with a little cheese sauce, but it’s a chore.
 
Phemie said:
BTW, NB, NS, PEI or NL?
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NB

I was just pulling your leg about the papaya. It’s not exactly the tropics where I live either.😃 I find pomegranates overrated to eat but they sure are gorgeous.

BTW, PQ, ON or are you making isolation pay somewhere north of 60?
 
Good_Daughter said:
NB

I was just pulling your leg about the papaya. It’s not exactly the tropics where I live either.😃 I find pomegranates overrated to eat but they sure are gorgeous.

BTW, PQ, ON or are you making isolation pay somewhere north of 60?
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Originally from NB now in LAB, not north of 60, only at 53.
 
Right now, I have one orange, four potatoes, two onions, a bunch of celery and some tomatoes. And 15 lbs. of frozen green chilies in the freezer (which I bought freshly roasted back in August–30 lbs. of it! It’s a New Mexico thing.)

I ate the last of the apples this morning with peanut butter and my son polished off the grapes last night.

I’m going shopping tomorrow.
 
Phemie said:
Originally from NB now in LAB, not north of 60, only at 53.
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Sorry, I was waaay off. For some reason, when you said north, I imagined you were in northern ON. Gosh, I’m in the Maritimes and I feel like Labrador is far far away. What kind of produce do you get locally in the summer? Apples, potatoes, berries, all that kind of stuff like back here in NB?
 
eggplant,
cauliflower,
apples
cherries
avocodoes
baby spinach
red bell peppers
onions
tomatoes
squash

I think that is it
 
Good_Daughter said:
Sorry, I was waaay off. For some reason, when you said north, I imagined you were in northern ON. Gosh, I’m in the Maritimes and I feel like Labrador is far far away. What kind of produce do you get locally in the summer? Apples, potatoes, berries, all that kind of stuff like back here in NB?
Click to expand...
There are only a few farms in the area so local produce is not plentiful. We can get local potatoes & root vegetables. As far as fruit goes, we have plenty of blueberries, raspberries and, if you know where to find them, cloud berries AKA bakeapples. In the fall we pick lingonberries AKA partridge berries or redberries (they’re like small cranberries).

I have a garden in the backyard and I usually plant salad fixings (radishes, tomatoes, lettuce); snowpeas; green & yellow beans; Yukon Gold potatoes. Growing season is short unless you have a greenhouse, which I don’t.

We aren’t that far north but we are isolated and almost everything that’s food is trucked in from Moncton or Quebec.

What quadrant of NB are you from? I’m originally from the North Shore, but over the years I’ve lived in Miramichi, Fredericton & Saint John.
 
Oh boy…lemme think

bananas
oranges
pears
apples
grapes
plums
raspberries
mangos
avocados
brocolli
green beans
spinach
lettuce (a couple different kinds)
tomatoes
cucumbers
sprouts
potatoes
sweet potatoes
onions
shallots
leeks
a green pepper
okra
carrots
a jalapeno

I think that about covers my stuff…not really sure what my roomie has. Yes, thats all just for me…and my bunny, we share. Somehow I manage to only spend 20-30 dollars a week on it all…and about $40 overall for my groceries unless I need hygiene products.
 
We have fresh

lettuce
celery
baby carrots
grown-up carrots
baking potato
pineapple
grapefruit
oranges
lemons

and an assortment of frozen veggies, including spinach, broccoli, peas & corn.

I was surprised that we do not have grape tomatoes - I guess somebody just ate the last one.

Betsy
 
Okay, just got back from the grocery store. Let me give you the inventory again:

Avocados
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Cucumbers
Red peppers
Orange Peppers
Yellow Peppers
Green Chili Peppers (forgot the red chilis, but I’ve got to go back to buy the heavy stuff anyway. I ride my bicycle to the store)
Six kinds of mushrooms, some of which I don’t know the names of.
Zucchini
Lettuce
Baby Greens with fresh herbs
Onions
Garlic
Strawberries
Grapefruit

There. That’s better. I spent way more than my budget, but it’s the first shopping trip after payday.
 
Turnips with their green tops
Mustard greens
Collard greens
Beets with their green tops
Leeks
Chayote squash
Carrots
Cucumber
Roma tomatoes
Onion
Garlic
Ginger
Limes
Lemons
Tangerines
Satsuma oranges
Grapefruit
Pineapple
Apples
Miniature pears
 
We only have oranges, grapefruit, blueberries, and blackberries. My husband and I really can’t afford produce this month, but we are going to start buying more. This is my first venture into berries. I’ve never had them before now. My are they expensive.
 
Phemie said:
There are only a few farms in the area so local produce is not plentiful. We can get local potatoes & root vegetables. As far as fruit goes, we have plenty of blueberries, raspberries and, if you know where to find them, cloud berries AKA bakeapples. In the fall we pick lingonberries AKA partridge berries or redberries (they’re like small cranberries).

I have a garden in the backyard and I usually plant salad fixings (radishes, tomatoes, lettuce); snowpeas; green & yellow beans; Yukon Gold potatoes. Growing season is short unless you have a greenhouse, which I don’t.

We aren’t that far north but we are isolated and almost everything that’s food is trucked in from Moncton or Quebec.

What quadrant of NB are you from? I’m originally from the North Shore, but over the years I’ve lived in Miramichi, Fredericton & Saint John.
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Your garden sounds lovely. I’m determined to plant one some year and my husband is on board so it should be fun. For now, I’m really looking forward to summer berries.

I hope to pick local strawberries in June/July and freeze a bunch for the winter. When you pick your own rather than buying them at the grocery store you get the most delicious ripe ones. My inlaws live in a densely wooded area with all the blackberries you could ever want in early September, right around the end of blueberry season. (We’re so close to Maine here, I think we have the same famous “Maine blueberries”.) I enjoy berry picking but so much more goes into me than the container!

I sent you a PM on our locations.
 
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