Shopping List for June 20, 2009

$45 worth of produce from two local farmers’ markets:

• 1 quart of strawberries
• 1 quart of cherries
• 1 pint of raspberries
• 1 bunch of bokchoy cabbage
• 1 quart bag of baby kale
• 1 quart bag of baby collard greens
• 2 bunches green onions
• 1 bunch fresh garlic
• a few stems of fresh basil
• 1 large bunch of Swiss chard
• 1/2 quart bag of mesclun
• four large tomatoes

About $15 of the total is the fruit. I eat only what is in season and supplement a little in the winter with canned or frozen vegetables. At the peak of summer I will spend up to $50 on fresh produce, and in the winter, the weekly expense drops to $10-15 as winter greens like cabbage, kale, and collard are less than $3 a pound at the local market.

$16 worth of groceries from two local supermarkets:

• one package of broccoli sprouts
• one bunch of flat-leaf parsley
• one bunch of curly parsley
• one whole chicken (marked down to $3)
• four avocadoes
• one large bottle of raw apple cider vinegar

I baked the chicken, removed the meat, and simmered the carcass for twelve hours in water seasoned with salt, pepper, and a little vinegar to draw the minerals out of the bones.