Speaker 1: Episode three eighty eight, how to make the most of
Speaker 1: a farmer's Market.
Speaker 2: Welcome to the Brugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to
Speaker 2: save money, embrace simplicity, and live a life. Here your
Speaker 2: hosts Jen and Jill.
Speaker 3: Tugging it up.
Speaker 1: I'll not for a good friends talk show. I'm Jen,
Speaker 1: I'm Jill, and today we're talking about issues, about real
Speaker 1: important issues, talking it up about farmers' markets.
Speaker 3: We cannot be recording in person anymore. We're getting so
Speaker 3: much more unhinged. I don't know. I don't know if
Speaker 3: we're going to keep you, we're gonna lose you. But
Speaker 3: we will talk about farming, about chest hair today.
Speaker 1: Talking about crazy cool medallion.
Speaker 3: So I don't know how many of you love farmers'
Speaker 3: markets or not. I guess we've got a poll. Yeah,
Speaker 3: oh no, this pole didn't go out soon enough. We
Speaker 3: don't know.
Speaker 1: Now we are, okay, So we're going to take a
Speaker 1: poll in the room. Jill, how do you feel about
Speaker 1: farmers markets?
Speaker 3: I love the idea of them, but it does feel
Speaker 3: to me like they're a little bit more expensive than
Speaker 3: I would want them to be. But we're going to
Speaker 3: talk about that today. And I learned some things.
Speaker 1: I feel the same. I feel like the time cost
Speaker 1: is also a factor. Why would I go to multiple
Speaker 1: places when I can get everything I need at one place.
Speaker 3: Spoiler alert, though, this one did kind of convince me
Speaker 3: to get myself to some farmers market.
Speaker 1: It inspired me. I'm not going to change them a
Speaker 1: whole life around, but I think a little bit differently now. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so I'm excited for you guys to hear about this one.
Speaker 3: But first, this episode is brought to you by toats,
Speaker 3: not like the abbreviated version of totally, but the reusable
Speaker 3: bag you can take to the grocery store or the
Speaker 3: farmer's market. We love toats for the sustainability, how cute
Speaker 3: they can be. And speak of totes, we have a
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Speaker 3: you also think would love it just five Referrals is
Speaker 3: going to get you that tote for free so you
Speaker 3: can totes look adorbs at the farmer's market with your
Speaker 3: frugal friends swag Frugal friendspodcast dot com. Did you like that?
Speaker 1: Yes, our toats loved it talking about ches.
Speaker 3: I don't remember who medallions. Okay, if you I'm gonna
Speaker 3: keep going here because gens gens unlocked over there. If
Speaker 3: you are interested in content like this, like farmers' markets,
Speaker 3: but also just buying food, we all are. We want
Speaker 3: to figure out how to reduce our food costs, reduce
Speaker 3: our food waste, buy better, have the nutrition that we
Speaker 3: want to be feeding ourselves in our families. After this,
Speaker 3: feel pretty Cue up episode two ninety six where we
Speaker 3: talk about grocery saving strategies that Ken has the ability
Speaker 3: to cut your bill in half with Gina Zachariah. That
Speaker 3: was a really awesome interview that still stands up. We've
Speaker 3: also got episode two fourteen how to save money on groceries.
Speaker 3: That's just a whole lot of frugal food tips to
Speaker 3: be considering. But stay here with us because we learn
Speaker 3: things about farmers markets. We also think you're going to
Speaker 3: learn some things about farmers markets. So let's get into
Speaker 3: the articles.
Speaker 1: Yeah, farmer's markets are one of those things where when
Speaker 1: you're looking at this list of one hundred ways to
Speaker 1: save money, shopping at farmers' markets is sometimes on that
Speaker 1: list as a way to save money produce, but in reality,
Speaker 1: we haven't seen that, at least not in the way
Speaker 1: that we buy produce. And so we wanted to take
Speaker 1: a deeper dive into these things to see what's what's good,
Speaker 1: what should we be picking up, and what truly is
Speaker 1: more expensive or maybe just not for me but could
Speaker 1: be for someone else. So we want to start out
Speaker 1: with this article called uh, it's from fedbythefarm dot com
Speaker 1: and she asks our farmer's market's more expensive than the
Speaker 1: grocery store.
Speaker 3: And she actually is from Saint Petersburg, Florida, which excited
Speaker 3: and delighted. Yeah, when I read that.
Speaker 1: We didn't look for it, but Saint Petersburg does have
Speaker 1: a fantastic and very well known farmer's market. So if
Speaker 1: there's gonna be anywhere for a farmer's market to kind
Speaker 1: of save you money, we thought it might be Saint Petersburg.
Speaker 3: So Sarah is the AUF of this blog, and I
Speaker 3: like the method that she utilized to compare farmer's Market
Speaker 3: to the grocery store. So she was comparing organic to
Speaker 3: organic because where the farms that she was shopping at
Speaker 3: the farmer's Market were certified organic also obviously locally grown,
Speaker 3: so she was comparing the things that she bought in
Speaker 3: season organically locally grown too, as comparable as possible at
Speaker 3: the grocery store. So she compared it to our local store,
Speaker 3: which is Publix. It's very similar to like a food
Speaker 3: lion that others might have in other parts of the country,
Speaker 3: and so wherever she could find it organic, especially if
Speaker 3: it had maybe a locally grown sticker on it, there
Speaker 3: were just a couple of circumstances where it didn't have
Speaker 3: It didn't meet either of those criteria, so she just
Speaker 3: compared it to maybe be just the non organic. But
Speaker 3: that kind of outlines her method. Of course, sometimes it's
Speaker 3: weighted or you pay by pound versus at the grocery
Speaker 3: store you might pay per item. So she did it
Speaker 3: as closely as possible the amount that she got at
Speaker 3: the farmer's market to the amount and quality that you
Speaker 3: might get at the grocery store. And we want to
Speaker 3: take you through some of these comparisons because they are
Speaker 3: quite interesting. Another poll, what do you think before going
Speaker 3: into this article, Jen, would you have said it's going
Speaker 3: to primarily be more cost effective at the grocery store
Speaker 3: or the farmer's market.
Speaker 1: I think so I don't buy, I don't prioritize organic,
Speaker 1: locally grown. It is something that I think is really great.
Speaker 1: I will I'll preface this article by saying, my father
Speaker 1: in law is a farmer. He is a legitimate farmer
Speaker 1: who sells commercially and also has a Upick farm, So
Speaker 1: I know a little bit of the back end of
Speaker 1: from the local farm standpoint, and so I think I
Speaker 1: maybe would have said the farmer's market for these really
Speaker 1: high standards. But well, as we go through these two articles,
Speaker 1: I will share some reasoning behind why I make my
Speaker 1: choices and why.
Speaker 3: Okay, cool, Jill, you what was your I one would
Speaker 3: think farmer's market is more expensive, but willing to pay
Speaker 3: it because of the higher quality and supporting local businesses.
Speaker 3: But like you've said, some of that time suck of
Speaker 3: how often do I have a Saturday morning available to
Speaker 3: go pick up my groceries from the farmer's market as
Speaker 3: well as need to supplement from the grocery store. Sometimes
Speaker 3: that can be prohibitive to me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so she h. She compared a few things, so
Speaker 1: like basil, bell, pepper's back choy, cherry, tomatoes, cucumber, eggplant, fennel,
Speaker 1: let us, squash time zucchini. So all of these things
Speaker 1: you can easily find it a grocery store or a
Speaker 1: farmer's market. I would say if you're somebody, if you're
Speaker 1: a chef or you love to experiment with cooking, farmers'
Speaker 1: markets are great and that they have a lot of
Speaker 1: things you won't find at a general grocery store. Grocery
Speaker 1: stores sell the stuff that sells well, so it's it's
Speaker 1: not very often you're gonna find a co Robbie at
Speaker 1: a grocery store, so at least not the you know,
Speaker 1: the grocery stores I shop at. So that is one
Speaker 1: tick for farmers markets. If you are looking to experiment
Speaker 1: more in the kitchen, then farmer's market is going to
Speaker 1: be worth your time.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I think adjacent to that is if you're looking to
Speaker 3: eat seasonally. I think we've talked in the past about
Speaker 3: some research pointing to our bodies benefiting from the produce
Speaker 3: that is currently in season for kind of how we
Speaker 3: move through the seasons physically. So there's a benefit in
Speaker 3: that regard again supporting local, getting to talk to some
Speaker 3: of these farmers and have them give you some tips
Speaker 3: on how to prepare the food, trying new recipes, getting
Speaker 3: you to build some of those skill sets. I'm probably
Speaker 3: getting ahead of myself with this, but it really did
Speaker 3: inspire me to kind of read through this, especially because
Speaker 3: as we go through and we cost compare, a lot
Speaker 3: of things were actually more affordable at the farmer's market.
Speaker 3: There's your spoiler. So for instance, she starts by talking
Speaker 3: about basil, how she got a massive organic bunch of
Speaker 3: basil at the farmer's market for three dollars when price
Speaker 3: compared to the grocery store for about the same amount
Speaker 3: of organic basil. It was three dollars and forty nine cents,
Speaker 3: so about fifty cents more to get it from the
Speaker 3: grocery store than the farmer's market.
Speaker 1: Not a massive well, it was a smaller bundle and
Speaker 1: it was the same with time. She so it was
Speaker 1: like two seventy five at the grocery store and well
Speaker 1: two seventy five at the market to twenty nine at
Speaker 1: the grocery store, but it was half less than half
Speaker 1: of the size, so that was that was the biggest
Speaker 1: thing for me, is if you're cooking with fresh herbs,
Speaker 1: farmers market. Yeah, again, that's gonna be the same person
Speaker 1: who's trying to experiment with different produce. So I think
Speaker 1: that's a tick for the farmer's market.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Bell peppers, Bocchoi again at Bell peppers three two
Speaker 3: for three at the farmer's market. It was weighed by
Speaker 3: pound at the grocery store, but it was still about
Speaker 3: She got two bell peppers and a pound for three
Speaker 3: ninety nine, So farmers Market won out there, Bockchoi was
Speaker 3: she got for three bucks at the farmer's market, and
Speaker 3: total it cost her for about the same amount three
Speaker 3: seventy four at the grocery stores. Farmers Market again.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, and I was even seeing, like the
Speaker 1: eggplant at the farmer's market organic, locally grown two dollars,
Speaker 1: the similar non organic eggplant at the grocery store three
Speaker 1: seventy five. And the picture she took of this eggplant,
Speaker 1: it's beautiful. You will not find that type of eggplant at.
Speaker 3: A grocery store, no you you sure won't.
Speaker 1: I think it's worth So this is where my mind
Speaker 1: was kind of changed in this article, Like, I don't
Speaker 1: think I will change my lifestyle, but I think I
Speaker 1: will attend a farmer's market maybe every once in a while,
Speaker 1: especially in the summer because ours runs May through October,
Speaker 1: so it's it's not going on right now, but when
Speaker 1: it starts back up in the summer, when produce is
Speaker 1: at its peak, looking into trying some new things.
Speaker 3: Well, and you get some produce from the farm from
Speaker 3: your in laws too, So yes, that's kind of your
Speaker 3: version of the farmers market.
Speaker 1: And I will say that if you have access to
Speaker 1: a local farm, that's going to be less expensive than
Speaker 1: a farmer's market. Farmers markets are catering to a crowd
Speaker 1: that is willing to spend more. And we'll read a
Speaker 1: little bit about this in the next article. But they
Speaker 1: know their market and so that's why they're bringing the organic, local,
Speaker 1: you know, all this stuff, because that's who they're serving,
Speaker 1: that's what the community that goes there wants.
Speaker 3: And there's a cost to them to kind of load
Speaker 3: everything up, have staff supplied at the farmers markets. You're
Speaker 3: making me think about just roadside stands and if you're
Speaker 3: not familiar with what roadside stands might be in and
Speaker 3: around you, that's a good place to use Facebook as
Speaker 3: a resource to kind of ask some of your local groups, Hey,
Speaker 3: what are the good roadside stands that it'll be really
Speaker 3: where you can get some local produce for an expensive price.
Speaker 3: But I want to before we move off with this article,
Speaker 3: just do She goes into a debrief then at the
Speaker 3: end where she tallies up the total grocery bill. So
Speaker 3: everything she got at the farmer's market cost forty four
Speaker 3: dollars and twenty five cents. For all of those same
Speaker 3: items at the grocery store fifty one dollars and eighty
Speaker 3: seven cents. So total savings by going to the farmer's
Speaker 3: market was seven dollars and sixty two cents. As not
Speaker 3: a massive amount of money, but if your barrier to
Speaker 3: going to the farmer's market is this assumption that it's
Speaker 3: more expensive, it kind of dispels that, yes, it's going
Speaker 3: to be the time suck, and you know other possible barriers.
Speaker 3: But if this is the thing that can kind of
Speaker 3: tip you over into taking advantage of this thing that's
Speaker 3: happening in a community supporting locally, getting yourself some of
Speaker 3: that good nutrition. I love this. It really shocked me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And we're all looking for ways to support small businesses, right,
Speaker 1: and we think that means buying the chochkeys from the
Speaker 1: boutiques or from ther you know, your church's bizarre. In reality,
Speaker 1: when you don't have farms, you don't have food. And
Speaker 1: so if you're going to support a small business, buy
Speaker 1: produce from a local farm.
Speaker 3: Yeah, buy your consumables versus the things that are just
Speaker 3: kind of going to be dust collectors on your shelf.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So this is where I would prioritize. Supporting small
Speaker 1: businesses and shopping local is in your produce. And if
Speaker 1: you can't do it every you know, all the time,
Speaker 1: you can do it maybe once a quarter. I would
Speaker 1: say that's more than reasonable to try new things and
Speaker 1: support local, get organic. I think that's kind of where
Speaker 1: I'm leaning to.
Speaker 3: So the next article is titled fifteen tips you need
Speaker 3: when shopping at the Farmer's Market. It comes from tastingtable
Speaker 3: dot com. We're not going to go through all fifteen
Speaker 3: but our favorites, and one of my favorites was number one,
Speaker 3: which is start with a lap around before buying I
Speaker 3: personally can't emphasize this enough, and I have fallen victim
Speaker 3: both at farmers markets and flea markets. I'll get sucked
Speaker 3: into the very first spot that I am looking at
Speaker 3: and purchase from them, only to discover ten steps away
Speaker 3: that I could have gotten maybe a better product or
Speaker 3: a less expensive price. So yes, it's going to take
Speaker 3: some time, but this is where we can kind of
Speaker 3: view the farmer's market like an activity that we're doing too,
Speaker 3: to do that lap around, take inventory of what is
Speaker 3: on offer, where you're getting the most quality, where you're
Speaker 3: getting the best prices, what you want to be buying,
Speaker 3: so that you can kind of know where you're going
Speaker 3: to spend the money that you have planned to spend
Speaker 3: at the farmer's market.
Speaker 1: The next for me, I'm going to jump down to
Speaker 1: number nine time well, so peak freshness and choice. You're
Speaker 1: going to find that first thing in the morning, but
Speaker 1: if you want the best deal, you can go right
Speaker 1: before closing, depending on the market's policies. I actually don't
Speaker 1: know Saint Pete's markets policies, but this is going to
Speaker 1: be especially this is going to be even more true
Speaker 1: if you're going to local farms. So my father in
Speaker 1: law owns a you Pick, and they do give they're
Speaker 1: more lax with like they'll charge you the same price,
Speaker 1: but throw in a few extras, like near the end
Speaker 1: of the day if you're going. This is so if
Speaker 1: you're going when the U Pick is open, but it's
Speaker 1: not like the busy season. They also have like one
Speaker 1: hundred chickens. So sometimes people will get free eggs when
Speaker 1: they come in like a shoulder season, because they need
Speaker 1: to get rid of the eggs and my in laws
Speaker 1: can't eat all those eggs me, so sometimes you'll get
Speaker 1: other things thrown in near the end of the day.
Speaker 1: This is especially true on a Sunday. I would see
Speaker 1: less happen on a Saturday because a lot of these
Speaker 1: vendors are going to be going to a different market
Speaker 1: on Sunday. So if you're going to if you find
Speaker 1: a Sunday market and you're going at the end of
Speaker 1: the day, that's really when you'll find find the bargains.
Speaker 1: But if you're looking for peak choice first thing Saturday
Speaker 1: morning or even sometimes Friday morning, they'll be its markets.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm going to jump back up to number three,
Speaker 3: which is make a list of what you need, and
Speaker 3: this is my personal mantra. I've probably said this in
Speaker 3: nearly every episode we've put out over the last six years.
Speaker 3: I love me a list before I find myself at
Speaker 3: the store. It helps me to know actually what I
Speaker 3: need and not purchase duplicates. It helps me to stick
Speaker 3: to a plan, It helps me to not impulse buy
Speaker 3: things that I don't need, and just ultimately feel good
Speaker 3: about my spending decisions because I've planned ahead. This is
Speaker 3: not kind of a willy nilly Oh I think I'll
Speaker 3: throw it in, but then maybe I won't end up
Speaker 3: using it because I hadn't actually thought that much into it.
Speaker 3: So definitely take inventory of what you already have on hand,
Speaker 3: come up with some ideas of what you want to
Speaker 3: be meals you want to be preparing for the upcoming
Speaker 3: couple of weeks. But also recognize that you're not going
Speaker 3: to get all of your groceries there. Most farmers' markets
Speaker 3: are not going to have some of your pantry staples
Speaker 3: like flower and you name it, just some of your
Speaker 3: other goods, so you probably will need to have an
Speaker 3: additional grocery store run. But when it comes to some
Speaker 3: of your produce, definitely have a list on hand. But
Speaker 3: then be willing to get creative. So you might have
Speaker 3: had cauliflower on your list, but you don't find it
Speaker 3: and so you get broccoli instead. I actually just made
Speaker 3: something I might actually share it for lunch with you,
Speaker 3: Jen today. A It was a it's a chimmy cherry bowl.
Speaker 3: It was supposed to be cauliflower and chickpea, but I
Speaker 3: personally didn't have cauliflower on hand, so I subbed Brussels
Speaker 3: sprouts and threw up a prayer and a wish that
Speaker 3: Brussels sprouts and chickpeas would also be good. It was, Yes,
Speaker 3: it was great. I am learning that I don't need
Speaker 3: to follow recipes to a tee. I can kind of
Speaker 3: make it up as I go, So do the same
Speaker 3: thing at the farmer's market too. Go with a list,
Speaker 3: but also don't be afraid to get creative. And if
Speaker 3: you are a little afraid, talk to the vendor. Ask them, hey,
Speaker 3: here's a recipe I was planning on making, But do
Speaker 3: you have a substitute you would recommend, or maybe an
Speaker 3: alternative recipe that you really think I should try.
Speaker 1: Yes. My next one is ask your vendors questions. So
Speaker 1: there is you know the organic, locally grown is mainly
Speaker 1: what you're getting. We'll talk about some other the vendors
Speaker 1: that you might be getting too. But so, but just
Speaker 1: because it's not organic doesn't mean that it's not quote
Speaker 1: unquote organic. So what I mean by that is that
Speaker 1: becoming an organic farm is not feasible for a lot
Speaker 1: of smaller farms because it is a three year process,
Speaker 1: it's quite expensive, and it does not yield the return
Speaker 1: if your small farm, it doesn't return the the on
Speaker 1: investment as well as if you are a really big,
Speaker 1: mass producing organic farm. So there are a lot of
Speaker 1: these local farms that may not be certified organic, but
Speaker 1: still don't use the harmful pesticides that these larger farms
Speaker 1: are using. They don't need to because the farmer is there,
Speaker 1: Like my father in law lives on his farm, right,
Speaker 1: and so he's there, you know, scaring away birds and
Speaker 1: spraying his his crops. Like he's the one that told me,
Speaker 1: you don't need a pesticide. You can just use don
Speaker 1: dish soap, like which is.
Speaker 3: What I'm gonna clean my produce with. Right.
Speaker 1: Okay, he can't use that because the commercial produce has
Speaker 1: you know, there's a certain number like certain products you
Speaker 1: have to use to sell commercially. But he doesn't use
Speaker 1: any like harmful pesticides, but it's just not worth the
Speaker 1: money for him to become an organic farm. So I
Speaker 1: would say priority, Like ask the person that you're buying
Speaker 1: produce from if they're not or if they're not organic,
Speaker 1: kind of like what their methods are for past control,
Speaker 1: because it may be very natural, it's just not worth
Speaker 1: it for them to put the organic sticker on there.
Speaker 1: And there's I mean a lot of other questions you
Speaker 1: can ask too, But I don't even think that's like
Speaker 1: really one of the things in ERE, but it does,
Speaker 1: like it just says get to know your food, your farmer,
Speaker 1: all that stuff. But yeah, I would, I would definitely
Speaker 1: know before you just opt for the more expensive quote
Speaker 1: unquote organic.
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's so much that can be learned and I
Speaker 3: think deals to be had as a result of making
Speaker 3: friends with your local farmers. Number eleven on here is
Speaker 3: inquire about seconds. This one actually is packed with a
Speaker 3: couple of tips, so I'm excited about this one. A
Speaker 3: lot of times vendors will bring out their most attractive
Speaker 3: produce at a farmer's market, but that doesn't mean that
Speaker 3: they don't have some produce on hand that might have
Speaker 3: a couple of scrapes and scratches, blemishes, odd shapes, bruising,
Speaker 3: but are still totally fine to be consumed. And especially
Speaker 3: if you're planning on making jams or pickles or pies
Speaker 3: with the produce that you buy, it's worth an ask
Speaker 3: they've got some of their seconds out, or they might
Speaker 3: have them still stashed away in the truck bed, or
Speaker 3: they could be able to put you in touch with
Speaker 3: farms or maybe their own farm, but they just don't
Speaker 3: happen to have it with them. Of how you can
Speaker 3: get your hands on some of these seconds that have
Speaker 3: some imperfections but are still fine to eat. They also
Speaker 3: mentioned that some farms have gleaning days, so essentially days
Speaker 3: when you can go to a farm pick up leftover
Speaker 3: produce from the field or kind of help to harvest
Speaker 3: some of the produce that's on its very last leg
Speaker 3: and either pay percentages on the dollar to that harvest
Speaker 3: or just get it for free because it's helpful for
Speaker 3: the farmers. So I don't know that all farms have that,
Speaker 3: but that's an interesting thing to even look into at
Speaker 3: the end of different seasons of your produce, Like at
Speaker 3: the end of strawberry season, at the end of lets.
Speaker 3: This season, it's.
Speaker 1: Not even at the end. It's some of the berries
Speaker 1: might grow quickly, but not all get picked, and you
Speaker 1: need to pick those so that the other berries on
Speaker 1: the bush can get the nutrients that would have otherwise
Speaker 1: been going to that already ripe berry. So it is
Speaker 1: like you don't even have to wait until the end
Speaker 1: of the season to do that.
Speaker 3: So there you go. That's another question to ask the
Speaker 3: vendor themselves. If they're far as local to you, do
Speaker 3: you offer gleaning days? How can I get my hands
Speaker 3: on seconds? If you don't have it here? So plenty
Speaker 3: of questions to ask.
Speaker 1: It might be even more if they're gonna have one
Speaker 1: or two It would be at peak, peak season where
Speaker 1: there's just everything right, it's cool. The people they've hired
Speaker 1: can't pick fast enough, so that might be the best
Speaker 1: time to ask. Yeah, so my last one is a double,
Speaker 1: So it's know the signs of an unscrew rupulous vendor.
Speaker 1: But also number two, research your vendors and so I
Speaker 1: don't necessarily agree with everybody's like So at farmers markets
Speaker 1: you will find produce that is significantly cheaper than the organic,
Speaker 1: locally grown stuff, and it is typically mass produced commercial
Speaker 1: sale farms getting rid of their extra their surplus at
Speaker 1: farmers markets. Some people do not like this. I hate
Speaker 1: to see food waste, and so I love to see
Speaker 1: this happening, especially because it makes I mean, if you
Speaker 1: can't find what you want at the local small time
Speaker 1: farm at your farmer's market, then you can walk over
Speaker 1: to this other section that yes, no it's not going
Speaker 1: to be organic. Probably it might be local, but it
Speaker 1: might not be local, and you're gonna be able usually
Speaker 1: to find what you're looking for and usually not that expensive,
Speaker 1: maybe a little bit more expensive than the grocery store.
Speaker 1: That would be a test that I'm probably not gonna do,
Speaker 1: but you can do if you want. But research your vendors.
Speaker 1: And there's this good article that came from the same
Speaker 1: first article fed by the Farm and she says five
Speaker 1: ways to spot fake farmers and sellers at the farmers market,
Speaker 1: And I don't love that they say it's fake farmers.
Speaker 1: Farms are farms. Farmers farm whether they sell commercially at
Speaker 1: a grocery store or have a you pick farms or farms,
Speaker 1: and farms are important, so sure.
Speaker 3: But I think that the way that I'm reading this
Speaker 3: is how to not be hoodwinked by some of these
Speaker 3: people who might be trying to market themselves as if
Speaker 3: they are local, and might be trying to get you
Speaker 3: to believe that this is locally grown, it's organic, it's
Speaker 3: all of these things when maybe it might not be.
Speaker 3: And maybe you're okay with that, But if you're going
Speaker 3: to the farmer's market and you're looking for in season,
Speaker 3: locally grown organic, to not be duped by oh, this
Speaker 3: this actually isn't yeah, or that it is actually maybe
Speaker 3: from a wholesaler being sold to you at a higher
Speaker 3: price than what you could get at the grocery store,
Speaker 3: but it is the exact same thing as what you're
Speaker 3: getting at the grocery.
Speaker 1: So people are blatantly lying. Yes, that's bad, but most
Speaker 1: of the time they're not lying. And these are the
Speaker 1: ways that you can tell, so, yeah, that you're not hoodwinked.
Speaker 1: A lot of time, they're not lying to you intentionally.
Speaker 1: You just need to know what you're going into. So
Speaker 1: one thing to look for is stacks of branded packaging
Speaker 1: like you would see at ald or in your grocery store.
Speaker 1: If those are under the table, then those are commercial growers.
Speaker 1: If you're seeing barcode stickers on a product or produce
Speaker 1: that is not in season, those are going to be
Speaker 1: commercial and obviously not local produce in your region. Yeah,
Speaker 1: produce that looks perfect, it looks like you'd find it
Speaker 1: in a grocery store. And then you can always talk
Speaker 1: to the market manager. There's usually going to be a
Speaker 1: table where they're looking to get more vendors for the
Speaker 1: farmer's market. You can go there and kind of ask
Speaker 1: like which of the which of the vendors are mass market, commercial,
Speaker 1: which are local, which are local? Organic? And so then
Speaker 1: you know, and you're not offending any but nobody's gonna
Speaker 1: lie to you. You know that's in the booth. They're
Speaker 1: not going to lie to you if they're the organizer,
Speaker 1: because they have no no reason to.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's one of the reasons to go
Speaker 3: in prepared, not only with a list, but also what
Speaker 3: your priorities are out of the produce that you're purchasing.
Speaker 3: Is it just to kind of collect everything that you
Speaker 3: need for a reasonable price. Is it to get the local,
Speaker 3: in season organic? What are you willing to compromise on
Speaker 3: then kind of having all of these answers ahead of
Speaker 3: time will really help you be able to get what
Speaker 3: it is that you're going to the farmer's market to get.
Speaker 3: And you know what else I love to get.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'll pay any price for it because I know
Speaker 1: that it's local and it may not be organic, but
Speaker 1: it's fun.
Speaker 3: The bill of.
Speaker 5: The week, that's right, it's time for the best minute
Speaker 5: of your entire week. Maybe a baby was born and
Speaker 5: his name is Williams. Maybe you've paid off your mortgage, maybe.
Speaker 2: Your car died and you're happy to not have to
Speaker 2: pay that bill anymore.
Speaker 5: That's bills, butffalo bills, bill clan, this is Bill of
Speaker 5: the week.
Speaker 4: Hi Jen and Jill. My name is Annie. I'm calling
Speaker 4: from Minnesota and my bill of the week comes in
Speaker 4: the form of dollar bills. I listened to episode two
Speaker 4: fifty three at the end of last October and I
Speaker 4: learned what sinking funds are, and I thought to myself, well,
Speaker 4: maybe that's the answer. I had had a bunch of
Speaker 4: money just sitting in my savings account, not really doing anything,
Speaker 4: and so I finally opened up a ciit account put
Speaker 4: my money in it, and now finally, after thirteen months,
Speaker 4: I've earned one thousand dollars of interest, and I've been
Speaker 4: waiting for this day to call in my bill of
Speaker 4: the week to tell you that I know how a
Speaker 4: thousand dollar bills that I didn't have before. So thank you, bye.
Speaker 5: Girl.
Speaker 1: You can feel free to send that thousand dollars in
Speaker 1: check or thim out. So good Annie, thank you so much.
Speaker 1: I'm so proud of you. I'm so happy for you.
Speaker 1: I hope you do really bad things with that thousand dollars.
Speaker 3: I love hearing when people are taking the actual tangible
Speaker 3: tips and implementing that probably took you, hopefully less than
Speaker 3: ten minutes to do it, and now you're one thousand
Speaker 3: dollars richer because of a high yield savings account learning
Speaker 3: what sinking funds are. This is it's heartwarming, it's lovely.
Speaker 1: I'm so pleased when people are making money on their
Speaker 1: money because money is taxed at a lower rate than
Speaker 1: humans for its work. And so if your money ain't
Speaker 1: making money, I mean, it's really you're working too hard.
Speaker 1: That's the truth. That's the truth. And Annie is not
Speaker 1: working hard because she's just letting her money make her Moneably.
Speaker 3: Is working hard. I think I heard a little dog,
Speaker 3: a little doggy in the backle doge. Maybe you'll spend
Speaker 3: some money on that little well dog, little doche a
Speaker 3: little coin for maybe travel or maybe so you can
Speaker 3: go to the Farmer's market and shopped Heart's content. If
Speaker 3: you're listening and you want to submit a bill about
Speaker 3: an episode that you listen to and a tip you
Speaker 3: implemented and how you're making your money grow. Or your
Speaker 3: name is Bill. Your name is Bill and you're a
Speaker 3: farmer and you go to the farmer's market. You got
Speaker 3: more tips about farmer's market.
Speaker 1: My father in law's name was Bill.
Speaker 3: You could change it. It's not too late. Easy to
Speaker 3: change your name. Easy, easy, Actually one of us might
Speaker 3: do it before this whole Frugal Friends podcast then crumbles.
Speaker 3: One of us will do Yes. Visit Frugal friendspodcast dot com,
Speaker 3: slash Bill, leave us your bill and now it's time
Speaker 3: for all.
Speaker 1: Right in today's vulnerability around what is something you cannot
Speaker 1: pass up at a farmer's market?
Speaker 3: Jill samples same thing as Costco. Love it Costco and
Speaker 3: Farmer's Market. They got samples there from and not just
Speaker 3: food samples. Some of your other samples like hand creams, salts,
Speaker 3: exfoliating salts, and then and then mostly from there food food,
Speaker 3: hot sauce, cheese, sauce, guacamole, sometimes little little bits of
Speaker 3: alcohol sometimes sometimes what is Do you have a particular
Speaker 3: favorite from the Saint Petersburg Farmer's Market. I don't remember
Speaker 3: the specific names of them, but like hot sauce and
Speaker 3: salsa stands are usually my saves.
Speaker 1: Those are those are really good. I love the old
Speaker 1: classic the pineapple guy, the pineapple guy, yeah with his shamples. Yeah,
Speaker 1: oh yeah.
Speaker 3: At the Saint Pete Farmer's Market, you can get coconuts
Speaker 3: slashed open and drink. That is one of my faves.
Speaker 3: That's a little bit of a splurge, but that is
Speaker 3: just a fun vibe to be walking around the Saint
Speaker 3: Petersburg Farmer's Market along the water with a coke andut,
Speaker 3: just sipping straight out of it. That's living. You want
Speaker 3: to talk staycation there.
Speaker 1: You go go.
Speaker 3: To your local farmer's market and do the thing.
Speaker 1: I personally love getting a coffee and walking around. But
Speaker 1: that's another thing you have to watch out for at
Speaker 1: farmers markets because they are much more than produce. Now
Speaker 1: they have food trucks and jewelry and clothing and coffee.
Speaker 1: It is an event, and not only are you paying
Speaker 1: a little extra to support your local you know, farmer,
Speaker 1: but there's a lot of other small businesses that it
Speaker 1: may be questionable whether you need another hand blown glass dish.
Speaker 3: Hand below, you had an extra syllable, so I did one. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I think that the farmer's market would probably be one
Speaker 3: of the places. I don't typically do this in practice,
Speaker 3: but it would be helpful to probably just go with cash.
Speaker 3: Most of these vendors will most likely take cash, and
Speaker 3: that way, if you are a person who might impulsively
Speaker 3: buy all these other hand blown things, then just having
Speaker 3: cash on hand to help limit yourself could be a
Speaker 3: good thing to consider.
Speaker 1: And some of the gen Z vendors don't take cash
Speaker 1: for their wares. They only take square so if you
Speaker 1: just leave your card at home, that I can't get
Speaker 1: any of their wearers.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I will say too. You didn't ask me this question,
Speaker 3: but I'm going to say it. I am becoming more
Speaker 3: and more interested in being I still am a meat eater,
Speaker 3: I'm not off of that, but I have come upon
Speaker 3: too much knowledge for my own good about the ways
Speaker 3: in which we acquire meat, especially in the United States,
Speaker 3: and yet I'm not at a place where I am
Speaker 3: entirely able to go plant based, but being curious and
Speaker 3: desirous of more humanely treated animals, more humanely killed, and
Speaker 3: I think that going to your local farmer's market is
Speaker 3: going to be the place where you can find that. So, yes,
Speaker 3: it might be more expensive, but I'm also being inspired
Speaker 3: to cook more vegetarian meals and treating meat like supplementary.
Speaker 3: And I think researcher is also showing we don't need
Speaker 3: that much meat. It doesn't need to be the main course,
Speaker 3: and so in that way it can kind of offset
Speaker 3: cost for me. But I think I would rather go
Speaker 3: to my more local farms be able to speaking of
Speaker 3: ask vendors about about their products, like tell me about
Speaker 3: what are your practices and get no, actually where you're
Speaker 3: meat is coming from and how the animals are treated.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a good We didn't talk about meat, but
Speaker 1: a lot of these farmers' markets, meat vendors will come
Speaker 1: in and have their own pasture raised chickens and livestock,
Speaker 1: and you can get some very good quality meat there.
Speaker 1: And if you're cooking a whole chicken and you're buying
Speaker 1: a whole chicken from the farmer's market, you're not paying
Speaker 1: that much more than if you're getting you know, the
Speaker 1: the chicken breasts and the chicken thighs from the from
Speaker 1: the grocery store. We already know buying a whole chicken
Speaker 1: at the grocery store is much more economical than buying
Speaker 1: them pre cut. So if buying local meat is important
Speaker 1: to you, getting a whole chicken at the farmer's market
Speaker 1: can be a really good option.
Speaker 3: Yeah, agreed. So that's that's becoming one of my main
Speaker 3: motivators to be checking out the farmer's market, because, yes,
Speaker 3: while the farmer's Market only runs for a certain season,
Speaker 3: you're still going to be able to make relationships and
Speaker 3: have a knowledge of these farms that most likely you
Speaker 3: can buy something from year round, even if the farmers
Speaker 3: Market on Saturday morning isn't currently running.
Speaker 1: Yeah, or they will know again just because it's not
Speaker 1: from that farm. They'll also know kind of where to
Speaker 1: support other local farmers who may ship some things down
Speaker 1: when it's not in season. Here in Florida, it's very
Speaker 1: hot in the summer. Things do not grow in this heat.
Speaker 1: A lot of things do not grow, and so grass
Speaker 1: grows right, but it is blentiful everywhere else. All these
Speaker 1: small farmers are loaded, and so they will drive some
Speaker 1: stuff down and your local farmer may be able to
Speaker 1: tell you, and then vice versa when it's cold a
Speaker 1: little bit north. And we have even in Florida, the
Speaker 1: top half of the state has a different growing climate
Speaker 1: than the bottom half. So it may even still be
Speaker 1: in your state even if it's not, you know, within
Speaker 1: one hundred and twenty miles. I think people are saying
Speaker 1: is considered local, but there are options, and just you
Speaker 1: can't you don't try to be perfect, because then you're
Speaker 1: you're in that all or nothing mindset, like it's too
Speaker 1: expensive for me to buy local and organic and YadA YadA.
Speaker 1: But you can still get good quality, natural local, support
Speaker 1: small farmers in different ways and this maybe you pay
Speaker 1: a little bit extra then you know, the apples from Walmart,
Speaker 1: but it's still better, you know, all around, to do it,
Speaker 1: to do what you can when you can.
Speaker 3: Yeah, what about you at the farmer's market, You said
Speaker 3: pine apples? What else?
Speaker 1: Well, the definitely the just walking around with a coffee.
Speaker 1: For me, the farmer's market is a vibe and I
Speaker 1: go there for the vibe and that's that's what I
Speaker 1: go there for. So like I'll only go once once
Speaker 1: or twice a year, I might try to go, like
Speaker 1: you know, at least twice in the season. I'll make it.
Speaker 1: I'll make it a point to try to go more.
Speaker 3: And we should go together, yeah, and get some be roll,
Speaker 3: get some get some social media be roll.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I I do love the just getting a
Speaker 1: coffee and walking around. It's reund the water, it's a
Speaker 1: really it's a really good vibe. But I used to
Speaker 1: buy some produce there and I just kind of got
Speaker 1: out of the habit because with kids, it's really I
Speaker 1: need a one stop shop. And I don't prioritize the
Speaker 1: like organic and local. You would think I do because
Speaker 1: I have a farming's in my family, but it's my
Speaker 1: in laws, so it's not in my blood farm in
Speaker 1: my family. But I love and I do get a
Speaker 1: lot of stuff. We only go up every like six
Speaker 1: weeks or so, and I'll always get something from my
Speaker 1: in laws, and yeah, they just they work so hard.
Speaker 1: So that's why I'm so passionate about Like if you
Speaker 1: have a farm near you go just go and make sure,
Speaker 1: they allow people to.
Speaker 3: Go, but here I've showed up.
Speaker 4: Not what.
Speaker 1: But yeah, man, support your local farmer. That's it.
Speaker 3: Get the samples and get samples.
Speaker 1: They account. Hey, they build that into the price of
Speaker 1: the you pick. They do, so you can sample while
Speaker 1: you pick. Thanks so much for listening. Many of you
Speaker 1: know we have a newsletter called the Friend Letter. It
Speaker 1: goes out three times a week. We send freebies, saving tips,
Speaker 1: life hacks for you to spend better, so you save
Speaker 1: money so that you can spend on things you truly
Speaker 1: care about, like supporting small businesses, supporting local farmers, buying
Speaker 1: really the ultimate peak healthy food for your family. People
Speaker 1: ask us all the time, how do I save on
Speaker 1: healthy food? And usually the answer is you save on
Speaker 1: things you care less about so you can afford more
Speaker 1: healthy food. But there are definitely ways to be smart
Speaker 1: about how you're spending on those things. And that's the
Speaker 1: stuff we say. We send out three times a week
Speaker 1: in the Front Letter. And if you love the Front Letter,
Speaker 1: please a leave us a review on Apple and Spotify
Speaker 1: telling people that hey, this podcast is great and they
Speaker 1: also have a great newsletter, and send us an email
Speaker 1: if you want. Kind of like Trisia did Jen and Jill.
Speaker 1: I'm a longtime listener. You girls are the best. I've
Speaker 1: learned so much from the podcast. It's important for you
Speaker 1: to know. I'm sixty four years old, so your net
Speaker 1: is casting wide. Please continue to do what you do best.
Speaker 1: I think a tour sounds fabulous. Jen and Jill on
Speaker 1: tour I'm in Pittsburgh would definitely be there, and I
Speaker 1: loved the Netflix series Love in the Wild. Lastly, we
Speaker 1: listeners would love to see from before and afters of
Speaker 1: your home renovations. Take care, great day, Tricia.
Speaker 3: Oh, Trisha, this is beautiful. Do you know what she's
Speaker 3: talking about?
Speaker 2: You know?
Speaker 3: What?
Speaker 1: Do you know?
Speaker 3: Do you know about Love in the Wild? Jen? I
Speaker 3: do you read the.
Speaker 1: Do I read the Friend Letter?
Speaker 3: Girl?
Speaker 1: So I don't even listen to this podcast.
Speaker 3: Up until mid February, I have I Jill have been
Speaker 3: writing the friend Letter and sometimes I'm unhinged, always really
Speaker 3: so sometimes I show it and there's a section I
Speaker 3: believe it's in the Friday email where we do like
Speaker 3: a weekend checklist, or we give something that you can
Speaker 3: meal plan for that weekend that is usually easy. Usually
Speaker 3: in read listen to Yeah, well, it's changed a little bit. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I know, what do you guys turn my news story
Speaker 3: into it's our news level gen. Anyways, there's a I
Speaker 3: think I replaced read with watch, but there's still listened,
Speaker 3: so you can get your books by listening. That's what
Speaker 3: Jen likes to do. In the watch section. I recommended
Speaker 3: if you had a Netflix subscription to watch Love in
Speaker 3: the Wild. It's an old I want to say, like
Speaker 3: CPS series or something. I'm probably getting that wrong, but
Speaker 3: it's an old series from like eleven years ago they had.
Speaker 3: It's a long long time but it holds up. But
Speaker 3: it hasn't been on any streaming services or platforms. So
Speaker 3: I have just recently learned there's like a content shortage
Speaker 3: that's happening. So a lot of these streaming services are
Speaker 3: trying to dig up old series that people still might
Speaker 3: like and trickle it out. So there's actually two recorded
Speaker 3: seasons of Love in the Wild, but they've only so
Speaker 3: far released one of the seasons, and they're making us
Speaker 3: wait for the second season that was recorded eleven years ago.
Speaker 1: Okay, I think I feel like you're burying the lead.
Speaker 1: What is okay? It sounds like Naked and Afraid not quite.
Speaker 3: It's it's like Survivor meets a dating reality show. So
Speaker 3: it's essentially these singles who all show up and they
Speaker 3: do these challenges with partnerships, so they get to kind
Speaker 3: of choose at different ceremonies who they want to be
Speaker 3: partnered up with. But then they do these like pretty
Speaker 3: extreme challenges where they're they're running, they're hiking, they're following clues,
Speaker 3: they're doing all these things, so you kind of get
Speaker 3: to see relationships start to form in the midst of
Speaker 3: kind of high stake situations, which I loved so much
Speaker 3: more than your typical reality dating show where they're just
Speaker 3: kind of like talking with a glass of wine and
Speaker 3: like trying to figure out if they like each other.
Speaker 3: This is actually I get to see you, how you operate,
Speaker 3: how you think, whether we can problem solve well together.
Speaker 1: I think it's brilliant. That's kind of how Travis and
Speaker 1: I got together.
Speaker 3: Same with Eric and I. It's one of the reasons
Speaker 3: that I say that because we made the decision to
Speaker 3: marry so quickly. But part of what I even said
Speaker 3: then and I still stand to now, is we went
Speaker 3: through so much in a short amount of time that
Speaker 3: I was able to know how he experiences grief, how
Speaker 3: he problem solves, how he operates under stress. That I
Speaker 3: was just like, what else do I need to see
Speaker 3: and know? And it's kind of like that. Wow. And
Speaker 3: then and then just google if you do, watch it,
Speaker 3: google the couples. Now, just you're welcome google them, watch
Speaker 3: it google them anyhow. That's wow.
Speaker 1: Well, thank you, thank you. Listen saying if you want
Speaker 1: more content, riveting content like Love in the Wild, if
Speaker 1: you've run out, if you've already run through season one,
Speaker 1: then head to Frugal Friends podcast dot com sign up
Speaker 1: for the friend letter. We are fully clothed and in love.
Speaker 1: Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni. Okay, so how
Speaker 1: was it? How is your an Eric's what was your
Speaker 1: Love in the Wild situation?
Speaker 3: So let's see. I mean some really rough stuff like
Speaker 3: death happened very quickly into our relationship. Eric lost his nephew,
Speaker 3: a good friend took his own life. We did projects together,
Speaker 3: like renovations, projects together. We dug a pond in my parents'
Speaker 3: backyard in the rain. We led like teens on a
Speaker 3: trip together to do some like humanitarian work, just a
Speaker 3: lot of stuff and like, well, We got engaged after
Speaker 3: about nine months, so within those nine months kind of
Speaker 3: all of those things had happened where we had traveled together,
Speaker 3: walked through intense grief together, worked on manual labor projects together,
Speaker 3: and that has carried on. We apparently can't stop ourselves
Speaker 3: from working with our hands and breaking our backs. But
Speaker 3: I felt like I got to see him in a
Speaker 3: lot of different scenarios and was pretty convinced that I'm
Speaker 3: not going to find another better human, much less a
Speaker 3: better human who's going to be willing to spend life
Speaker 3: with me. So there we have it. What about you?
Speaker 1: So not as intense, but we only dated for I
Speaker 1: think six months before we got engaged. And early on
Speaker 1: while we were dating, we went for a bike ride
Speaker 1: and it was supposed to be a seven mile ride,
Speaker 1: which is already like you know, nothing to shake a
Speaker 1: stick out, no, right, And so we had planned for
Speaker 1: seven miles and I had worked that morning, so you know,
Speaker 1: I had done a day's work. And so we get
Speaker 1: out there and we get lost and by the like,
Speaker 1: we don't know where we're at. We're off of this path.
Speaker 1: It's mountain biking, so like, what is a path? Right?
Speaker 1: I hate mountain biking. I didn't know that then, but
Speaker 1: I do now. And we come to this big almost
Speaker 1: like lake sized puddle that we have to go through,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, and we have to walk through it.
Speaker 1: So we take off her shoes and socks, and by
Speaker 1: the end of it, like, I am so tired. I
Speaker 1: was like, I can't bike anymore. It's getting dark.
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1: So he this man is biking and then he holds
Speaker 1: onto my bars and he is also carrying me along,
Speaker 1: because why pulling.
Speaker 3: You like you're sitting on the bike.
Speaker 1: I'm sitting on the bike, I'm holding I'm balancing myself.
Speaker 1: But I'm like, so tired. I've worked, like and my
Speaker 1: my job at that time, I was an acupuncturist, so
Speaker 1: I was running. I had seen like twenty patients that morning,
Speaker 1: and it's getting dark. And by the time we get
Speaker 1: back to the car, we realized we did twenty miles.
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh. And he did like even more pulling
Speaker 3: you on the bike. Yeah, amazing, And so that.
Speaker 1: Was that was one of the first times where I
Speaker 1: was like, this man's going.
Speaker 3: To take care of me, Yes he will. Wow. Some
Speaker 3: of that happens on love in the wild, where the
Speaker 3: dudes will carry the packs for the females spoiler alert,
Speaker 3: so chivalrous.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was just I was dead. I was not
Speaker 1: prepared for a twenty mile bike ride after World And yeah.
Speaker 3: And it's still love in the wild because we because
Speaker 3: we make in our own lives wild. We're ripping apart
Speaker 3: our houses, you're giving birth to children, which is wild.
Speaker 1: Yep. And he's still pulling my handlebars.
Speaker 3: Okay,