Vegetables Where/what do you buy?

[Nicolene]

So, we got our first piggy in May and our second one in July. In June we started shopping , once a week, at an awesome place called Larry's Produce. It's basically a giant farm stand where the fruits and veggies are local and cheap. They are only open Jun-Dec, so I'm mentally preparing myself for going back to the supermarket. Here is our veggie rundown at Larry's, with the Larry's price, then the Safeway (chain grocery store) price.

The regulars:
2 heads of green leaf $1 / $4
2 heads of red leaf $1 / $4
3 bunches of cilantro $1 / $3
2 pounds of carrots 89c / $2
6 cucumbers $2 / $6
Basket of
grape tomatoes $1.50/$3
3 green bell peppers $1 / $3
2 yellow peppers $1 / $2

This are our basic menu, from here we supplement with other things that are available that week and they don't like fruit, so we give them very little. They do for whatever reason think frozen cranberries are the best thing EVER. The 2 lbs of carrots also go towards our dinners.

But anyway, as you can see, our basics come to about $10 at Larry's and almost $30 at Safeway!

Now, my piggers get about 5 cups a day between the 2 of them, we haven't fed them pellets in months (we thought Snickerdoodle had stones so I was cutting the extra calcium) so I'm considering revisiting pellets at least till next June. I KNOW they get a lot more than other pigs, but they eat it all within the first hour and the vet keeps saying they can stand to gain a little weight, which they don't seem to be doing.

So my questions are, where do you buy your veggies? What's your weekly bill (if you live in California)? Do you feed one cup a pig a day? (I just can't imagine what their faces will look like if I presented them with a single cup of veggies in the morning) My Snickerdoodle weighs 2.8lbs, that hardly seems light, how can I get them to gain weight without jeopardizing their health?

 

[Ly&Pigs]

They do for whatever reason think frozen cranberries are the best thing EVER.

Frozen foods should never be given. Have you ever tried fresh cranberries?

 

[babygirlhagen]

from what i have read on here... Fruit should be avoided as it is high in sugar.

 

[Shurrim]

Carrots should also be fed sparingly.
I shop in a veggies/fruits specialized shop.
This week I went and bought
1 red leaf lettuce
1 green leaf lettuce
1 basket of grape tomatoes
2 huge green bell peppers
1 radicchio
1 big bunch of cilantro
1 bag of baby carrots (mainly for me, they get maybe 2 each in the week)
1 cucumber
1 handful of green beans
and lots of fruits for me (4 grapefruits, 4 pears, 4 apples, 6 plums, 6 bananas)
and I paid 15$
When I was buying at my regular grocery place it was costing more and veggies aren't that fresh so I was losing a lot. Now I don't have any waste.
I usually buy more variety but money is very tight right now so I do what I can, giving them at least the daily staples. They have about 1.5 - 2 cups each/day.
I don't live in California though

 

[Nicolene]

Frozen foods should never be given. Have you ever tried fresh cranberries?

I buy them fresh then I freeze them, since they aren't available year round. I put them in their bowl frozen and sometimes they'll wait till they're thawed, but on warm days they'll just eat them.

 

[Nicolene]

from what i have read on here... Fruit should be avoided as it is high in sugar.

Yes, and my piggers don't get any fruit, they don't like it. We still occassionally (maybe monthly) slip a slice of apple, orange or a strawberry in, but they won't eat it.

However, Snickerdoodle suffers from recurring UTIs and cranberries have proven effective in it's prevention (to some degree) in humans so the vet agreed it won't do them any harm to have a cranberry a pig a day.

 

[Lauren326]

I love this post. I live in Southern Nevada & we don't have any local farmers/suppliers. So I just go to whichever supermarket has a sale on veggies. Although right now, no one does. So I just go to Walmart & spend at least $10/week. Red/green leaf lettuce is $1.50/each, green peppers I can usually find for .89/each, cucumbers if I'm lucky, I can find for .50/each, but not usually. (I have 11 piggies though, so it is very expensive!!)

 

[Deb's4Pigs]

There's a Russian produce market next to my work and I try to buy most of my produce there. The difference is $1.69 for lettuce at Albertson's to .69 to .89 at the Russian store. Some things are the same price , like the bell peppers but I get a big bag of spring mix for $2.69.

 

[Nicolene]

I was at Costco yesterday and I've never bought veggies there for me and the husband, as we'd never finish it (he hardly eats anything that grows, hehe), but I think some of it might work for us now that we have 2 more mouths to feed. At least with those boxes of mixed lettuce. I find the most expensive things in stores are bell peppers and cucumbers. Even at Costco the bell peppers are maybe $6 for 8 peppers.

I go to Walmart every 2 weeks for our big shopping (I meal plan 2 weeks in advance) and then the other weeks I go to Safeway. I'll also be buying veggies from Trader Joe's as their organic is the same price as conventional on most things. I TRY to avoid buying too much veggies from Walmart, I find their stuff doesn't taste like veggies.

I feel bad because I always brought a bag of veggies for our local rescue's bunnies and occassional guinea pigs.

Lauren, I can't IMAGINE feeding 11 piggies! Hats off to you!