Pricing nonsense

Ernie Willson · 2009-04-15T13:46:29+00:00

Just back from H. Depot and W-Mart. I wanted to buy some garden fertilizer and a patio tomato. For 10-10-10 fertilizer the price was just $20.00 for a 40 lb bag (or $0.50/lb) in each store. ISTM that the price has taken a huge jump this year. IIRC the last time I bought fertilizer (two years ago) it was about $0.10/lb. Is my memory correct?For a single patio tomato W-Mart wanted $3.48. The clerk was dumbfounded when I told her to take it back. My logic goes like this...If I nurture this plant and it grows well, and sets fruit etc, I can expect to get about three pounds of fruit from it. This will occur at about the same time that the Jersey tomato crop comes in and they sell for about $0.39/lb. So my $3.48 investment and work will return me about $1.00. Does this seem to be good sense to you?Could it be that because people cannot afford food the stores are gouging of gardening stuff? Your thoughts??EJ in NJ

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Charlie 17 years ago

Even if one must pay a higher price for a single four or six incher, the return is well worth the price, given the alternative of industrial food.

Well met, good to have folks like you on-group.

Vive la révolution de jardin Charlie

"While it is true that many people simply can't afford to pay more for food, either in money or time or both, many more of us can. After all, just in the last decade or two we've somehow found the time in the day to spend several hours on the internet and the money in the budget not only to pay for broadband service, but to cover a second phone bill and a new monthly bill for television, formerly free. For the majority of Americans, spending more for better food is less a matter of ability than priority. p.187" ? Michael Pollan (In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto)

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Suzanne D. 17 years ago

Your sig line makes me laugh. It is true, people who are willing to spend extra on services they don't need will turn up their noses at spending more for better food, citing that fresh foods and organic produce are just too expensive. Most people would rather live on macaroni and frozen entrees so that they can afford their second car and their cable TV. Any time I hear people in my community--where the houses are large and the cars impressive--complaining of not having enough money to buy good food, I scratch my head in confusion. To me, food is the FIRST priority. I let my kids run wild in the produce section, and I don't even look at the prices. The cost is irrelevant; eating well is top priority. And if that means I have to see fewer movies or buy fewer CDs, oh well. The health of me and my family comes first. It's insane to ration where food quality is concerned.

--S.

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Charlie 17 years ago

Amen, Sister! I remember our boys choosing anything they wanted in the produce section....some things didn't turn out well for their palates, but hey, they kept at it. Today they eat well and their children are fed healthy food. We take the grandkids to market and the oldest is my official picker and chooser, especially when it comes to sweet corn. He always gets an ear (which I pay for) and tastes it raw. If he is satisfied, we buy.

THe grands love being in the garden and sampling veggies fresh from the vine, ground, etc. We always have pots with cherry tomatoes on the patio and they graze on them all day.

Care Charlie

"Households that have lost the soul of cooking from their routines may not know what they are missing: the song of a stir-fry sizzle, the small talk of clinking measuring spoons, the yeasty scent of rising dough, the painting of flavors onto a pizza before it slides into the oven." ? Barbara Kingsolver

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Suzanne D. 17 years ago

I have four boys, ages 3-12, and they all LOVE vegetables. We have a sizeable garden, and in the summer it is the norm for them to play outside and nibble all day as they go. A cucumber in one hand, tomato in the other, mouth full of beans or baby corn--this is their season! They are fussing because it's been months since they've gotten to pick stuff. Everyone is eyeing the pea vines and newly-flowering pepper plants with greed. Already nibbling parsley because it's the only thing edible right now. I think having your own garden is the best way to get kids interested in eating vegetables.

--S.

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Bill 17 years ago

The best of times.

Enjoying life !

Bill

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Tim 17 years ago

Indeed, I agree! I remember my daughter pulling up my radish plants and munching away..Soil and all. This will be the first summer my GD is going to help her Zeto in the garden, I'm looking forward to it, although I may need to fence in the 'maters. 8-).....Nah, let'r pick.

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Suzanne D. 17 years ago

Yep, my 2-year-old last year never bothered to clean off his carrots. He hasn't died yet, so I guess it was okay.

Absolutely. Now, I admit that when the tomatoes are fairly new and sparse, I sometimes tell the kids to lay off certain plants, knowing that I will need those fruits myself soon. Same with pickling cukes when I need a whole batch of a specific size. But when summer's on and the plants are producing all over the place, the kids get free roam of the garden. Nothing healthier, and it doesn't last, so why not? (We also have numerous apricot, peach, cherry, and other fruit trees that the kids get first pick from, before we gather the rest for jam or wine.)

--S.

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