Tis the season for Farmer's Markets

Ahhhh summer. I love it. Everything is green and ripe and just.....fresh.

One of the things I love about this season is all the farmers markets in the city.

Nothing but fresh produce grown locally, hopefully organically, and readily available.

The best way to save the most money here is to shop for items in season. You will be getting the freshest items that way. It's great to support local farmers. But also note that like grocery stores, depending on the area that the market is happening, the price will also adjust. Well that's my expirence as it were.

I've also noticed that there are a lot of booths with items that are not necessarily local, they just have someone who will sell the product locally.

When going to the farmers market, talk to the people beind the booth. Take a moment to learn about their farm, where they are located and what their practises are with growing food. Appreciate what these people do to get the food to your table.

http://tfmn.ca/ has a list of the different farmers markets in the city.

I have been to the one by City Hall downtown which I find tends to be a bit pricey, and sometimes less farmers, more artists. I'm not saying that, that is a bad thing...just be prepared to maybe not find what it is you want.

I've also been to the one at Metro Hall. This one has a honey vendor there every year. If you ask him if his honey is organic be prepared for an interesting lesson. He will tell you how no real honey is "organic" and I know some of you might be rolling your eyes, but he has a point. He says that he does not use any pesticides or chemicals on the hives, but he cannot say for sure that his bees have not travelled to a neighbouring farm or home which has used pesticides. Point taken. But that he does not use pesticides won me over, even if I don't know what those bees have been up to.

There is a flower booth there every year, and I would say probably only 4 or 5 farmers, and the prices don't vary too much but some items do so it's good to walk around. There is another booth that carries some of the most yummy and interesting jams, and the best tarts ever. Seriously if you ever want to treat me to something  yummy, I'll take some tarts please...the ones with the chocolate.
Beside that both will be their truck and they sell some fresh cut flowers there. Across are 2 vendors. One selling breads (which I have never bought from before), the other selling meats (again I find them pricey and haven't tred them yet). There is seating and bands playing at lunch.

Be aware of a couple of things though. This market is in the heart of a bunch of commercial buildings, and one whole area is just restaurants selling quick and easy fare for lunch. So long line-ups and very busy during lunch.

If you are there and are hot hot hot, try out the lemonade shack in the back. It's a little booth that sells fresh made lemonades and some curry fare. Very very yummy.

Another farmers market I go to and enjoy a lot is the East Lynns Park market. It happens on Thursdays and they block off one end of Woodmount for the people to walk around and for the trucks of the farmers. I've had great bread there (zuccini bread yummm), awesome veggies and you really get close to the community. It's small, but there are still about 7 or 8 vendors.

Now if you have a car, I would suggest making a day trip outside of Toronto.Visit farms that allow the public to come to directly to buy products. Walk around, check it out. A lot of blood, sweat and tears goes into having a farm and show the farmer that you really appreciate it. It's a great outing for children as well.

So happy shopping. If you have a favourite market that you like to go to in Toronto, tell me I always like to check out new places.

I'm still here!!!

I've been away for awhile. Been doing some medical stuff behind the scenes and it's had me feelin' icky.

But I haven't forgotten!

We spent all of $22 last week on groceries. How...I'm not sure. I know we've worked hard on building up a stock pile of stuff when it's on sale, so that's helped.

But we have ordered which we've spent out of our allowances which doesn't get counted in the grocery bill...cheating? Not sure.

I hope to have a longer post with some more tips soon...I have a few other things up my sleeve, and I might actually make my first Costco trip....scary.

Take care people!

DRUM ROLL PLEASE!

So my first month of saving is complete.

My Husband ran all the numbers and checked and re-checked.

At the end of our first month on this journey, including cab rides from the grocery store, take out and pharmacy items...we saved.....

30% of what we would have spent on our monthly grocery bill!

Now there is still much saving to do. This is just the beginning.

I went to my first coupon swap meet. It was a lot of fun. There was a half dozen of us, and if you had posted the coupons you were looking for, people passed envelopes with goodies already picked out. Otherwise we just sat chatting, passing around all our extra coupons for everyone else to pick from, and picking from others stashes. I came out with a $25 card for Sears which I used for pillows...that was awesome.

I have a TON of coupons for different eczema lotions and skin care...which is great...I just hope they come on sale between now and when the coupon expires so I can save more. It's expensive stuff.

I did my weekend check of all the fliers this morning. I did a late grocery shopping and was armed with coupons and fliers. I think I mentioned this before, but if I haven't, No Frills price matches. So they are cheaper on a lot of things, but it's always good to check fliers for other places that have items you want on sale.

For instance, my Husband and I were saying that to cut down on any take-out we do, we should stock some frozen pizza's in the new freezer. Well wouldn't you know, Fresh Co. had McCain's premium pizza on sale for $2.99! It's like anywhere from $4+ savings.

I went to grab some and the guy that worked at the No Frills pointed out that their pizza that was on sale for $4 was in the freezer. I was like...thanks..and kept getting the premium pizzas. When I got to the cashier I gave her the flier and she called the floor manager to confirm it was good...and less than 5 minutes later, I walked out with 5 pizza for only $2.99 a piece. Pretty sweet. Great if you are a student.

This weekend I am thinking of making another trip to Kensington. I'm not 100% sold as yet.

Next up: I'm going to start doing some (not a lot) stock piling. Just buying things (we need and will use) in bulk when they are cheaper. The cost is large at first, but pays off in the long run. We'll see how that goes. But first: I go in for minor dental surgery tomorrow...so I might have to be drinking nothing but liquids for the week.