Thursday, September 6, 2007

Gleaning

Starting about this time of the year, if you live around farm country of any kind, you can sometimes gain a frugal coup by gleaning harvested fields.

We have gleaned potatoes, corn (which we fed to three huge turkeys - great Thanksgiving dinner that year!), onions, carrots and more. If you decide you want to glean, be sure and ask the farmer first. Some will let you, but some will not. Don't trespass without asking.

Also, if you live in farming country, keep your eyes open for produce spilled on the roads - especially side roads at corners where spills more frequently occur. I love to hop out and grab an onion or two when I see them, but it takes two people to do it right. The driver will pull up and stop, the passenger will jump out, grab the goodies and jump back in and the driver makes a getaway. Or something like that. :)

Spills will get you split or broken produce a lot of the time, but as long as it's fresh and you use it right away (dehydrate, can or freeze it), it's good food and it's free.

Is that extremely frugal, or just good sense?

4 comments:

  1. Sounds like good sense to me!

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  2. Thank you! I think so, too. :)

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  3. You would (not) be surprised at all of the stuff that falls off people's cars. My husband is very good at spotting things along the roads. We have gotten a custom knife, a couple of bales of hay, sunglasses, antique bedposts, horse bucket, a rocking chair, and firewood. We don't really see much in produce. If you are brave, you could get a permit for road kill deer, but the freshest kill is the one that your car hits, and it is no consolation! I never see anything along the road. I even passed my kids who were stuck on the side of the road and tried to flag me down!

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  4. You even passed your own kids?? Gigi, you made me laugh out loud! I used to watch the side of the road when my husband was driving and we found a lot of things, too, but the best way to scrounge is to walk. It's amazing what people lose or forget. I've said that one could make a living doing that. I remember finding a screwdriver, caps, a coat, coal, firewood, a package of plastic bags and a blanket, among other things.

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