Where and how do you buy your veggies?
By sritrinity
@sritrinity (629)
India
September 1, 2009 7:03am CST
Hi friends!
Today was my veggie shopping day. I buy mine from a local street market, which comes every Tuesday and Saturday. Just about 200 yards from my main door, lots of farmers bring their fresh produce to sell to the local people.
They display their produce in lovely wicker caskets and on the floor, which is bit if a pain as you have to bend to make your selection, but sweet nonetheless. Normaly my street is very quiet except for this market day, when it bussles with people all haggling and bargaining.
Women turn up in their bright coloured sarees and carry their weekly veggies back home in their heads! Its such a lovely sight!
People also set up carts where they make homely snacks on the spot with gas burners. Such as boiled corn on the cob with lemon and magical spices, samosas and pakora (friend potato delicacies).
Rows of bright coloured glass bangles are displayed, sarees and other cloth is also sold, and fresh ground spices line the pavements giving out magical aromas.
Please share some scenes of your local market.....I'd like to how it compares.
4 people like this
15 responses
@derek_a (10874)
•
1 Sep 09
I buy vegetables in the local supermarket, and when I can I get organic vegetables. They are a little more expensive that non-organic, but I know they have no added chemicals or stuff like that. I never buy frozen vegetables, as the freezing process reduces the amount of the plant's natural vitamins and minerals.
I used to grow a lot of my own organic vegetables, but this proved to be somewhat time consuming because we had an allotment garden, but it was about a mile away from our house. 
- Derek
- Derek
@derek_a (10874)
•
4 Sep 09
Near to the allotment there was a horse center where people use to go to ride. They used to allow people with gardens to go in and bag as much of the manure as they wanted. I used to go every now and again to get some and dig into the plot and allow to rot down before planting. Also all the off-cuts and some of the weeds we used to pull out used to go into a compost bin where it rotted down and was eventually used to replenish the soil. If I had kept growing vegetables without using such methods, all the nutrient would be taken out of the soil and the following year's crop of vegetables would grow so well. Everything needs feeding, the soil and the vegetables. Sometimes then, the land will need to have a complete rest from growing stuff and just left with manure or compost in it. I have found that the garden itself taught me a lot. - Derek
- Derek@sritrinity (629)
• India
4 Sep 09
Oh thank you so much for getting back to me on this.
I use cow manure as it is so readily available here.
So you just use manure BEFORE planting......and never when it has been planted???
Re the compost bin, you just add left overs etc to a bin and let it sit? Do you add anything to it? Should the bin be of any special material?
I tried this in a very large cement pot, but I found the heap just got infected with horrible insects/caterpillar types of things...thousand of them and they stunk!
Any tips?
Not being able to be a bit of gardener makes me feel really inadequate as a human being.....coz like you say there is so much to learn from it....and makes you intune with nature.
1 person likes this
@sritrinity (629)
• India
4 Sep 09
yes organic is the best! Frozen stuff is horrid. Mt green fingers....I only wish I could grow my own, I have abig garden, but don't seem to have the knack! I don't know if it's a soil problem or what.
Did you use fertilizer, if so what type and how often?
1 person likes this
@Iriene88 (5343)
• Malaysia
1 Sep 09
Dear sritrinity,
In Malaysia we have a few options.
Wet morning market (daily except closed on Monday)
7.00am till 11.00am
They sell gresh vegetables, chicken, pork, groceries,
cakes and local delicacies and clothings too! They will
place all this items on the make-shift table. Fruits are
also available. For those without proper license, they will
just display their good in ther open van, on the ground etc.
Night Matket (once a week, my place is on Wednesday Night)
5.00pm til 9:30pm
They sell vegetables, fruits, chicken, local delicacies, clothings,
costume jewelleries, shoes, VCDs, DVDs etc.
They will occupied at the normal parking space of a nearby street.
They place all these items on their make-shift tables too.
Supermarket / hypermarket (Everyday)
10:00 am - 10:00 pm or 11:00pm
This supermarket sells everything and they accept credit card too!
From fresh fruits, vegetables to imported vegetables/fruits and other
branded items!
All the best and do keep in touch!
@Iriene88 (5343)
• Malaysia
1 Sep 09
Dear Angelie,
We called it wet market cause the items sold are
fresh and wet..like fish, prawns, veges etc and
the place will get wet due to the activities...
that's why more new generation or young couples
prefer to go to the supermarket where all the
fruits and vegetables are prepacked and dry.
It is more convenient, no hassle and the place
is cleaner and airconditioned
The daily wet market is 10 minutes drive from my
house, have to passed thru a traffic light.
The night market is just 2 rows of houses away.
Perhaps need about less than 10 minuts walk.
The nearest supermarket to my house is called
Giant Hypermarket (oops I have two Giants near
my place, one is less than 5 minutes drive, the
other one is less than 10 minutes drive)
Thanks and happy myLotting!
The daily wet market is 10 minutes drive from my
house, have to passed thru a traffic light.
The night market is just 2 rows of houses away.
Perhaps need about less than 10 minuts walk.
The nearest supermarket to my house is called
Giant Hypermarket (oops I have two Giants near
my place, one is less than 5 minutes drive, the
other one is less than 10 minutes drive)
Thanks and happy myLotting!@sritrinity (629)
• India
4 Sep 09
Thank you so much Iriene, I can almost picture your shopping activities now and will be thinking of you.
1 person likes this
@sritrinity (629)
• India
1 Sep 09
wow....that sound so exciting! So many different variables to choose from, bussling with energy.
Why is it called the wet market?
How far are these markets from you?
Are they kept clean, do they have regular cleaners who come and clean the place, or is it down to the vendor to make sure his patch is kept clean?
Angelie
1 person likes this
@dpk262006 (58675)
• Delhi, India
1 Sep 09
Hi Sri!
When we make our weekly visit to the whole-sale vegetable market, we experience more or less the same thing. We just go on Saturday and we buy our weekly stock of vegetables. It is always crowded and vegetable sellers keep shouting about the rates of their products in full volume, trying to outdo the other ones and once you reach at their stall, you come to know that they just wanted to attract you to your stall, the cheaper vegetables appear poorer in quality, for which they keep shouting and the better quality vegetables are expensive. We buy the best available quality, afterall it is we, who have to consume it.
@dpk262006 (58675)
• Delhi, India
5 Sep 09
Hi Sri!
Yes, she is lucky indeed...........LOL! Actually, my better half is a good haggler, I just carry the purchased vegetables and make the payment, rest of the job is done by her. Yes, I agree with you, it is better to buy quality stuff even if it is at premium.
Take care.
Deepak
@sritrinity (629)
• India
4 Sep 09
Oh wonderful! Nice to see that you accompany your wife to the market, lucky woman! So you must be a good haggler too! I have to go tot he market in the morning, because by the afternoon, all the good stuff has been sold, more expensive but worth it. Take care.
@sritrinity (629)
• India
4 Sep 09
Yes organics all the way.....not much available in these rural parts where I live, have to go in to the big city three hours away. But I think that the local farmers don't use to much stuff as they are big fans of cow manure and they never look totally pukka on the outside, so I'm deducing that they don't use very much pesticides either. There is an organic trend starting here, I hope it gets off the ground soon.
@redhotpogo (4401)
• United States
1 Sep 09
i buy them where i work, cause i get a nice discount on them, and i know the people that stock them, so i know they've been handled carefully. i check for size, and condition. i try to get stuff that comes prepackaged. already in bags. open food can be contaminated during shipment, or while sitting in the store. from whatever bugs might be around, or people touching them again and again and again, with the hands they didn't wash after they dropped one heck of a deuce.
@sritrinity (629)
• India
1 Sep 09
You buy them at work.....where do you work? Do you mean you buy them in the work place itself or nearby?
@sritrinity (629)
• India
1 Sep 09
I must admit your local veggies sound scrummy....mmmmm....could eat them raw with no qualms....
Mine are abit muddy, especially in this weather...it's the monsoon, but I give them a good scrub with soapy water and I pray that it does the job!
@redhotpogo (4401)
• United States
1 Sep 09
yeah. i'm not much of a veggie eater myself. i use them to cook with, but i wouldn't eat them on their own. some carrots with ranch dip maybe..
@meapas (2436)
• India
2 Sep 09
Reading your discussions made me to visualise you in that market bargaining and buying vegetables. We also have such types of markets but very far from our place. I too enjoy the rural outlook when I go with my friends. It is real fun seeing the locals in their local attires
@sritrinity (629)
• India
4 Sep 09
Yes it's such a homely intimate feeling, but I'm not much of a haggler Meapas, I usually feel too sorry for them and they get the better of me always...LOL....
@youless (112100)
• Guangzhou, China
2 Sep 09
I prefer to buy the vegetables in the market than the supermarket because the vegetables will be fresher and less expensive. There are three markets nearby my home, so it's very convenient. There are various kinds of meats, seafood, vegetables and fruits in the market. You can also buy the fastfood or milk products.
I love China
@sritrinity (629)
• India
4 Sep 09
Oh I'm glad to hear that you have plenty of markets near you! Some people don't even have one! Your markets sound great! Happy shopping Youless! Thanks for dropping in.
@tamarafireheart (15384)
•
1 Sep 09
Hi sritrunity,
Do you know I can atcually smell the aroma for all these fruits and veg and all the spicey food in themarket where you are, it sounds heaven and would love to come over sample allo the goodies, you have a wonderful place, I am a romantice person and wpuld just love to walk do your street and watch all the hustle and bustle of it all, but in our dreary old England, we don't have that, yes, we have markets every week, thursdays and Saturday but not as extciting as your, we have bargin stalls fruit and veg stalls clothes, there are cafes all around, but the only stalls for good we have is hotdog and burgers stall, not very nice. I love to wrapped your market day up and imagine I am there, thanks.
Tamara
@sritrinity (629)
• India
4 Sep 09
Oh I am so glad you were able to touch it, feel it smell it! That was truly the whole point to bring a piece of India out to everyone, to cheer up their day! There are so many other 'Indian' things I would like to talk about which are so endearing. I will be doing so bit by bit very soon....look out for them Tamara....hope you'll enjoy it.
@Opal26 (17679)
• United States
1 Sep 09
Hi sritrinity! Your local street market sounds wonderful! I
wish I could be there to participate in it as well! We don't
have anything like that here where I live at all! I have to
buy my produce in my grocery store and that is very boring
and expensive and the produce isn't even that good or tasty!
We do have an open market in the city one up from where I
live that is held on Wednesday of every week until the end
of this month! But, again the produce is still very expensive!
The do have some lovely homemade pies, and some other items
like spices and fruits and vegetables that aren't sold in
the local grocery stores, but unless I happen to be in that
area I don't get a chance to visit it. I haven't been up there
on a Wednesday at all this year and it will be closing very
soon!
@sritrinity (629)
• India
4 Sep 09
Everytime I go now, I shall be taking some of mylot friends with me mentally, so we will can share this little scene together Opal. There are so many more cherished things that I want to share with you all....that I'm inundated!...I only hope I can do them justice when I get to write them up on mylot.
Throwing you some coloured spices......catch!
@mods196621 (3652)
• Philippines
2 Sep 09
I buy my veggies in the market if there is vendor selling their products along the way. First I save my effort to go to the market and second it is much cheaper than veggies in the market. Pretty much fresher and I like to help them to emptied their basket of veggies and fruits.
@sritrinity (629)
• India
4 Sep 09
Ah thats so sweet....that you actually like to help them empty their baskets....I bet they love you! Yes markets are great!
@seanbryan (349)
• United Arab Emirates
2 Sep 09
Hi there!
Your lucky to be near a street market for veggies how i wish i could go back home just to buy fresh veggies whenever we need. We are residing abroad and most veggies here are being imported or coming from a very far place where after several hours on display freshness is gone. Here if you buy a green leafy vegetable you have to cook it at once otherwise you will eat it unfresh the next day. Good Day!
@sritrinity (629)
• India
4 Sep 09
Ah United Arab Emirates...dessert land.....yes so alot of importing is going on. yes can be tough if your a real veggie lover, would be tough on me because I am a vegetarian! Don't know if I could survive UAE. Well I hope there are other things you can get there which are fresh Sean?....But I hear it is a lovely place in many other ways.....thanks for dropping in.
@realan (518)
• United States
2 Sep 09
I get my veggies at a local farmer's market. They are better priced than the supermarkets around here. I miss the big open markets where different vendors bring their fresh fruits, vegetables, fish and baked goods. We have those in Portugal. Where I live in the US I go to supermarkets, farmer's markets, or to the actual farm, when in season.
@sritrinity (629)
• India
4 Sep 09
Way to go! Can't beat the real fresh produce. Its nice that you make time to even go to the actual farms in the US...ahh Portugal sounds a dream, I bet the markets there are fabulous!Thanks for dropping in.
@marctiu (829)
• Philippines
2 Sep 09
I buy my veggies in any supermarket. This way I can stay safe and I can really say that this veggies are fresh from the market. I usually buy bundle of veggies and store it in a refrigerator and when I need them I can easily take them out slowly one by one.
@sritrinity (629)
• India
4 Sep 09
Thats what I do too, I buy bundles and then store them in the fridge. Thanks for dropping in.
@misisbau (317)
• Philippines
2 Sep 09
There's an organic every weekend here but it's quite far from where we live. Vegetables, fruits and specialty foods are displayed in tables.
A parking lot in a nesrby condo serves a a market area every Saturday, People come from all over the city to participate and shop in the market. It's also a meeting place for friends because of the lovely food and the delicacies that you can only otherwise buy out of town.
@sritrinity (629)
• India
4 Sep 09
Organic markets are great..pity it's so far though!
Your parking lot market sounds great for shopping and a great meeting point! Yummy all those delicacies! Thanks for dropping in.
