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Georgia Home Garden.
Most of the time, I will do everything in my power not to buy vegetables from a grocery store. I am sure this is just something inherent to gardeners. Well today I kind of had a break down and then an enlightenment.
My butter beans were a complete bust this year and I have been really craving them. So today after work I decided to drop by a local farmer's market and pick up a bushel, but of course they were all out. The lady told me that a bushel of shelled butter beans goes for about $30 bucks.
Discouraged, but not beaten I decided as a last resort to go to the grocery store and buy a few cans of butter beans. I was at Publix and for some reason (divine intervention maybe), I decided to check the frozen food section instead of the canned goods. Much to my surprise, they had all Bird's Eye brand frozen vegetables on sale for 50% off. Not only did I load up on butter beans, but I also picked up some broccoli and green beans.
The crazy thing is I weighed my butter beans and I got the equivalent of 2.25 bushels for only $20 dollars. That would have cost almost $70 at the farmer's market. My total haul was only $32 bucks. We had some of the butter beans for dinner tonight and they were excellent, even better because of the awesome deal.
It got me thinking about all the time, effort, and money I spent trying to grow and shell my butter beans. Maybe for certain items I won't waste valuable garden space and resources on high maintenance veggies and just buy them in the store. I know this is crazy talk to all your gardeners, but time is money and the reality is I have a career and a family. My time is so precious right now and I am trying to balance my garden passion with my family life. Makes me question whether I should grow any peas, beans, or things that are high maintenance and focus on just plants that are easier like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, etc. Any thoughts?
