There's no such thing as a free lunch so the saying goes. But the above photo says otherwise! Since poor Emma is getting too old and arthritic to do more than shuffle round the block, I've resolved to try and walk a lot more by myself. I walked into town this morning to checkout my local community food shop. Local supermarkets donate their leftover food at the end of the day and this shop GIVES IT AWAY FREE in order to help reduce food waste. How brilliant is that?! All they ask is that you only take what you will use.
Today I was looking for some soup ingredients. I got parsnips, celery, broccoli, gluten free rolls and a wee loaf of GF sliced bread and a lettuce for the chickens. All a mix of Tesco, Marks & Spencer and Aldi products. Today they had milk, loads of bread and cakes from supermarket bakeries, flowers, tins of chopped tomatoes and chickpeas, potatoes, oranges, mushrooms and persimmons. I'm sure there was a lot more but I really only focused on the veg.
I've already got a pan of spiced parsnip soup on the go. And I'll make some broccoli soup later today. With the rolls and the bread, that's my free lunches sorted for at least a week!! 😋
Meanwhile down on the plot, I whacked back my raspberry patch. I cut out about 2/3 of it, mostly old canes and discoloured leaves. It looked like it hadn't been done for a while. Probably not the best time to do it but it was so unruly I couldn't actually harvest any berries! There's clearly a mix of varieties in there as some are just flowering now. I tied some string round the patch to hold them in for now. Not pretty but practical!
The strawberry patch hasn't yielded as much as I'd hoped (probably old plants). I've put a lot of time into weeding it and covering it to stop the birds eating them all. But I'm thinking of removing them and just making it a pumpkin patch next year. Lots of ideas are floating round my head. It's still my favourite place to just escape from everything 😎
That was a brilliant find! I've not heard of community food shops. I am taking my strawberries out too. I had a bit more success with them this year than in the past, hubby made me a net frame to cover them so the birds didn't get to them but they are not very sweet. I could eat strawberries for all three meals a day, sometimes I do! So I was very disappointed in them. I really feel me and strawberries don't get on well together in the garden and at this time of year when they are so sweet and grow abundantly in nearby Fife, I'm giving up trying. They are cheap to buy just now so its time to admit defeat! x
ReplyDeleteDuring lockdown a group of furloughed people who worked in cafes persuaded all the local supermarkets to donate the food they would normally throw away. They designed a free food delivery service to those locally who needed it. Every day old folk and vulnerable families got home made soup, sandwiches, tray bakes and a hot meal for evening to heat up in the microwave. It was a fantastic resource that has become a full blown charity. The community food shop is just a wee side shoot but I'm hearing about more popping up in other places. They accept donations and are run by volunteers.
DeleteI agree about growing strawberries not being worth the hassle considering we can get them locally and cheaply!! xxx
That is a brilliant initiative. I will investigate if there is one in my area. I hate wasting food. Thanks for the info. x
DeleteThat's a wonderful thing to do.
ReplyDeleteMy strawberries didn't do well either. Again, old plants. I've had most of them out and will be getting some new ones soon.
xx
It really appeals to my ethos of not wasting food and reducing my impact on the environment xxx
DeleteThats good of the supermarket to do that. Better to give it away than throw it out and if its open to anyone then might as well make use of it. I'm enjoying your blog, I work in education & am hoping to retire in 2022 so a similar goal.
ReplyDeleteI think it was also part of an effort to prevent skip diving. I'm reading about more and more of these initiatives springing up. I think it's great idea as long as folk genuinely only take what they need :-)
DeleteEveryone deserves a free lunch occasionally, especially if the food is just going to be thrown out.
ReplyDeleteYep, good food going to waste is a pet hate of mine. Ok I had to cut off a few spoiled bits but when it's going into soup it doesn't matter :-)
DeleteAll the supermarkets here give their 'on the edge' foodstuffs to the food banks. There's also a group that goes to restaurants at closing time every night and take all their leftovers to drop in centers and homeless shelters. We don't have anything like yours that the general public can go to. You have to have a referral from social services.
ReplyDeleteI need to get in my raspberry patch and do some thinning and weeding. I think I'll have a bumper crop this year, must be because of all the rain we've had.
I love how supermarkets/restaurants are changing the way they deal with their out of date surplus food. So much better than landfill! :-)
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