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