Corn is already $.20 an ear in my 'hood. Credit: Bitman/Flickr
Coupons for produce is almost unheard of, so one way I keep my grocery bill down is buying in season fruit and vegetables. Look for prices on the below produce to start falling. Produce grown close to home is also a good bargain bet.
This list comes from FruitsandVeggiesMoreMatters.org, which has more info and recipes when you click on the links below. My favorite summer produce includes beets, green beans, corn, peaches, strawberries with mint for dessert, and tomatoes for fresh salsa. What about you?
Apricots
Asian Pear
Beets
Black Currants
Bell Peppers
Blackberries
Blueberries
Boysenberries
Breadfruit
Butter Lettuce
Cantaloupe
Casaba Melon
Champagne Grapes
Chayote Squash
Cherries
Cherries, Sour
Corn
Crenshaw Melon
Crookneck Squash
Cucumbers
Durian
Eggplant
Elderberries
Endive
Figs
Garlic
Grapefruit
Grapes
Green Beans
Green Soybeans (Edamame)
Honeydew Melons
Jackfruit
Jalapeno Peppers
Key Limes
Lima Beans
Limes
Loganberries
Longan
Lychee
Manoa Lettuce
Mulberries
Nectarines
Olallieberries
Okra
Passion Fruit
Peaches
Peas
Persian Melon
Plums
Radishes
Raspberries
Strawberries
Sugar Apple
Sugar Snap Peas
Summer Squash
Tomatillo
Tomatoes
Watermelon
Yukon Gold Potatoes
Zucchini
Welcome to Bargain Babe! I’m Mara, and I’m so glad you’re here. I am an obsessive bargain hunter and penny pincher, and I am determined to live a full life without EVER paying full price.
I’ve been enjoying the strawberries from my favorite produce stand, Tapia Bros. They’ve also had greens (Swiss chard, etc.) from their gardens, squash and white corn. I’m waiting for the yellow, as that’s my fave (more flavorful). Tomatoes are still coming from Oxnard, but Tapia’s should be ready before too long. I do love the wonderful variety of fruits and veggies in the summertime!
Here in WI, our growing season is just getting started. however, the thing that’s hot here now is asparagus! i scored 3 1/2 lbs of pick your own at a local farm for $1.35/lb! It’ll be a couple of weeks yet for strawberries for us. I love it all! lol
@SRD That is a great price for asparagus. I think the lowest I’ve seen locally is $1.99/lb. Our CSA is picking up so soon I won’t have to buy any veggies (we pre-pay for the CSA) and grocery trips will be easier.
@bargainbabe ~ Did I read too fast? OK, I’m prepared to embarrass myself, but what’s “CSA”? I’m thinking “cheap summer asparagus” because you responded to SRD’s comment about asparagus. On the other hand, you wrote “Our [your?] CSA is picking up . . .” so that you “won’t have to buy any veggies . . .” But the clincher is that you “prepay for the CSA.” So now I’m feeling a little bolder about my original question.
@Diane CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Our CSA is a local family that has a farm about 10 miles from where we live. We pay them twice a year for produce, meat, eggs, and cheese then pick up a share each week.
I wrote about whether my CSA was a good deal or not here: http://bargainbabe.com/2010/08/24/csa-farm-veggies-deal-or-no-deal/