What did you do to save $ today?

[Bettacreek]

I picked up spent grain from the brewery today. About 2 days worth to see if they liked it, which they do. Two days worth of feed, if everyone is fed 100% full, is about $10 worth of feed. Now that I know that they like it, I can pick up more than just a 5g bucket at a time, which will save gas money. I just have to find the best way to store them!

 

[Mickey328]

Ours go crazy for it! We only have 6 and just use the grains as scratch or supplement, so we don't use that much. A neighbor of ours brews her own beer, so we just walk up and fetch it. We dry it on the driveway and then store it in predator proof containers. Free feed they love and is good for 'em? Don't get any better than that!

 

[Bettacreek]

I wish it were that easy for me to dry it! My birds would have it all over the place though. Someone on another site mentioned building a tarp type thing to dry them, but I haven't gotten my mind around that just yet as to how I could get it to dry without birds getting into it, lol.

 

[Mickey328]

It does help to have a very arid, sunny climate and a concrete driveway in the front when the chickens are in the back You could put some boards out and put a temporary fence around it while they dry.

I'm afraid to try to store them if they're not totally dry...worried they'll mold.

 

[me&thegals]

Last night went hiking with DH and kids on the back 40. We found 2 apple trees loaded with fruit! We only had 1 large bag but probably got about 50-60 lb of apples this picking. They'll be eaten fresh and turned into sauce, probably some farmer apple pies also

Also made pickled watermelon rind from melons I bought at market. I love that I can pay $8 for these melons, eat them all,
then make enough watermelon rinds to feed us for a year or sell at market for $100!

 

[Corn Woman]

I went to pick apples as well, a very nice gentleman with over 200 dwarf trees lets people come pick for free. I got aprox 75 lbs of organic apples and he invited me back today for cider. He was pressing several hundred lbs and figured he would have 100 gallons today. Apple pie filling, applesauce, applebutter, apple cider and apples to eat. I love that he was so generous and gave him some boysenberry jam as a thank you.

 

[Mickey328]

Found a posting on CL for free apples and peaches...and the lady even dropped them off! So got a nice bag full of gorgeous big apples and another of tiny little peaches and didn't even have to fire up the car to go get 'em.

 

[sweetproserpina]

I went to pick apples as well, a very nice gentleman with over 200 dwarf trees lets people come pick for free. I got aprox 75 lbs of organic apples and he invited me back today for cider. He was pressing several hundred lbs and figured he would have 100 gallons today. Apple pie filling, applesauce, applebutter, apple cider and apples to eat. I love that he was so generous and gave him some boysenberry jam as a thank you.

Wow! Super lucky! Nothing yummier than fresh pressed cider

 

[Corn Woman]

I do feel lucky and today I was given 3 1/2 gallons of fresh roasted New Mexico chili's so I am going to make verde sauce and bottle it up. There is a back story to some of my luck. I own my own business and I donate the space in my parking lot for the Farmers Market, I sell my excess produce there as well and I will not charge for booth space. At the end of the day most of us barter for items we don't have and alot of the time people gift me produce. I also received 20# of potatos yukon gold and red pontiac, sweet meat, butternut, jardale, acorn, hubbard squash, and pumpkins. It was a great day at market I made a little cash and left with enough produce to donate some to the local food bank. The best part is I spend time with good folk and make new friends. The apples and cider were just pure luck though.

 

[Mickey328]

That's awesome! I would love to get a group together locally who want to barter...it's so much better than putting an arbitrary price on something. Everybody gets what they need...how much better can it get?