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Monday Q&A | Reusable Produce Bags, Mending, and Finding Local Meat

Every Monday, I answer a few of the questions that my readers send me. If you have a question you’d like me to answer in a future Q&A post, just leave me a comment here or email me (thefrugalgirl [at] gmail [dot] com) and put Q&A in the subject line. I look forward to hearing from you!

How do you find your local meat sources? I live near an agricultural area. I have checked our local paper classifieds, but have not found anything. Do you go to the farmer or do you use a meat store? Does it make a difference in taste compared to the grocery store? Have you ever bought a 1/2 or 1/4 beef or pork?

-Jill

Check out Local Harvest, a site that helps you to find local food producers in your area. Also, if you have farmer’s markets in your area, visit them. Farmer’s markets aren’t just for fruits and vegetables…local meat producers might have a stand there as well.

You might also poke around to see if there are any local eating groups in your area. If you can find like-minded people, you’ll probably be on to some good resources.

I’ve bought 1/4 of beef several times, but not pork. I pay around $3.50/pound hung weight (the weight before the beef is butchered), and the beef IS really good. It definitely tastes better than grocery store beef, and the difference in ground beef is especially noticeable.

What type of reusable produce bags do you use? I purchased a set of 12 from Amazon a while ago and they were not well made and smelled bad so I returned them. I have yet to try again with another purchase.

How do you patch a hole in (for example) shorts? Do you go out and buy similar fabric to the article of clothing to use for the patch?

-Amanda

Produce Bags
I bought some mesh laundry bags from Dollar Tree. I wouldn’t recommend the zippered ones, as the zipper is pretty poor quality. The drawstring ones are better, although one of mine is coming apart on the bottom seam and needs to be repaired.

Often, I put my produce into the cart as-is. Cucumbers, bananas, peppers, apples, and the like are usually fine. But for items like green beans, a bag is really handy.

Clothes Mending

When possible, I dig through my scrap pile to find material of a similar color. Most of the time, I tend to put the patch inside the garment and then sew along the edges of the hole.

That sounds more confusing than it is, so go check out this post for an example (scroll down to see how I fixed a pair of shorts).

I’ve often been able to put in a patch like this while keeping my stitches very inconspicuous. See if there’s existing top-stitching on the garment where you can hide your sewing.
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Readers, please feel free to add your answers to mine!

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Today’s 365 post: A proper burial for the flowers.

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Thompson

Sunday 14th of October 2012

I always use my Re-Sack reusable produce bags on the local market. It's a strong bag made of organic cotton. Looks kinda cool also!

CNM

Wednesday 22nd of August 2012

About meats, your local farmer's market, butcher, or independent grocery store might have some leads for you.

Amanda

Wednesday 22nd of August 2012

Thanks Kristen for answering my questions! =)

Jill

Wednesday 22nd of August 2012

I know it's probably not the best way (though still better than nothing!) but I re-use the plastic produce bags. I got sick of how many were building up in our cupboard, that after I empty one, I throw it into my reuseable grocery bag, so that I have it the next weekend that I go to the market. I will toss them when they seem to get too disgusting (unfortunately, here in Perth Australia they aren't recyclable, at least not in my area :S) However, since all the produce is either washed or peeled, I don't worry too much about how dirty they are! Doing it this way though, I very rarely have to grab new bags :)

However, I am wary of how dirty these bags get, that when I buy other stuff in bulk, I usually will get a new bag :-/ I should really ask at the store I shop at if I can bring containers to get weighed, before I fill them!

Maribelle

Tuesday 21st of August 2012

Hello,

I've been thinking a lot about using less plastic in our lives and ways I can make that possible. I am planning on buying a reusable grocery bag, but the benefits of buying the plastics is that I can use them as garbage bags for bathrooms, cat litter, etc. Do you have any recommendations for how I can use less plastics for that?

Maribelle

EcoCatLady

Wednesday 22nd of August 2012

This probably puts me in the category of the utterly psychotic, but I actually compost the kitty litter. You have to used plant based kitty litter for it to work (I use SWheat scoop) because otherwise you just end up with foul smelling cement. Plus, I don't use the compost on food crops, only ornamental stuff, because cats who have ever eaten raw prey can be carriers of toxoplasmosis, so you want to use care with kitty do-do and food. I know it's crazy, but it cut down my garbage to almost nothing, I save money buying fertilizer for the flowers, and I actually think it's less hassle than the bags. But do I acknowledge that it is totally nuts, and most people wouldn't want to "go there!" But hey, I never said I wasn't crazy!

Maddie

Tuesday 21st of August 2012

I have a suggestion for the kitty litter. I place 2-3 sheets of newspaper down oriented in kind of a diamond shape. I place the sifted kitty waste on the paper then fold the corner of the paper closest to me over the waste and roll once. I then fold the left corner of the paper over the "package" and roll once. I repeat with the right corner and roll the remaining package up. It is very neat and tidy and in my view much less gross. When I swap the whole box of litter out, I just use the empty kitty litter bag that I had previously used. I hope my explanation is clear enough.

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