Hasbeen,
Surely your local Green Member will be able to point you to a reliable alternative energy gadget that'll pump your water up from the measly 50 meters ?

Hi Hassy,

With fruit and veg. Why are you shopping at the supermarket? Woolies and Coles are generally outrageous with their fresh food prices, meat F&V the lot. We shop in much cheaper places, I'm not exaggerating, just today the wife wanted 'komera' (sweet potato) we were in Woolworths getting milk, said get a komera for dinner tonight, $5.99/kg, no way, 1/2 a rock melon $5. No I'll stop on the way home at our regular bloke, komera $1.29/kg up from 99c last week, 2 beautiful 'rockies' 2 for $5. The other day at the Asian shop 'Bok Choy' very fresh 5 in a bag $2, Woolies 1 limp item for $2.49! With tomatoes I get a bag of "those on the turn", getting too ripe, quick sale, about 4kgs/$2.49, keep a few in the fridge for eating in salads over the next week, rest into boiling water, skinned and into the freezer in 2l ice cream container, use in cooking, good for about 6 months, We pickle some things, wife makes the best mustard pickles,and tomato chutney. For the spices we buy the larger bags from the 'Fijian Indian Shop' for $3, at the supermarket $3 a tiny jar name brand.

One for AC, have you been to the 'Golden Circle' outlet at Capalaba, not far from you, some stuff is cheap as chips, 2L/Juices $1 or 12 box for $10, lots more items, big shop and not just 'Golden Circle' brand products. 'Arnotts' biscuits 3 for $5, some $1 each.

Hi Paul,
Yes I have been to Golden Circle, but not for a long time.
Maybe the last time I went was just as the pandemic was starting to take hold.
I bought up a big heap of tinned stuff and other bits and pieces, and then went into that butchers a few doors up and bought a whole freezers worth of various meat.
Roasts and rib fillets to slice up at home etc.
I remember when Golden Circle first opened and it was called Co-Co's I think.
I think they even have a cheap day once a month for seniors and pensioners - extra 10% off everything if I remember correctly.

I was reading along your comment and thinking to myself 'Yeah Woolies really is a rip-off these days, he's not wrong - where's he getting all this cheap stuff'.
- Now you've made me want to go and check it all out again.
Where are you getting all the cheap fruit and veg?

The big stores Coles and Woolies, they really aren't at all good value for money anymore, you go in there walk out with one bag of groceries and it costs you $50.
They pretend to care about value for money, but there seems to be little truth to it, all about profits.

Hi AC,

I to go to that butcher, sometimes, but not much value in our area for meat. There's a bloke on Logan Rd whose good value on some meat, wife likes a load of pork bones for 'boil up' from him, he was $3.99/kg with a bit of meat on. and I turn some of them into bacon bones in the smoker, takes a week of prep with salt, brown sugar etc, but I'm told they're the best bacon bones in town. Get meat from the step-son in Toowoomba, good quality bulk, he's got 4kids, so not a problem, that butcher was doing his shop made snags at 10kg for $80, I think if you spend $200 with him, they're not bad snags.. When there are down they stop at Costco's, they are cheaper, but you got to buy a bit. Fruit and Veg, the bloke on Old Cleveland Rd is not bad, but the bloke on Tingal Rd at Wynnum is good, got the Bok Choy at Sunnybank. I only go to the Fijian shop about once a year, its on the north side, so a bit of a hike. The wife likes his tinned mutton....a bit fatty! but a change from that shocking fatty tinned corn beef (older) Maori like. Our young Maori kids, wont touch half the stuff the oldies enjoy, like turoturo, (pigs small intestine). The wife had the niece get her 6kg from an Asian butcher in Sydney, frozen, brought it up on the plane last time. Young niece said to me that stuff is disgusting, but I would only do it for Aunty.

I'm not sure what supermarket Hassy shops at, but Aldi is the best on price, IGA is poison on price, W and C are just a bit better than IGA. You pay for name brands.

That Fish House in Capalaba is good for green mussels @ $7/kg and whole mullet in winter for $2.50/kg but not much else. The new "wholesale" butcher opposite is a shocker for price, had a look, plenty of meat, but nothing worth buying, too expensive.

Hi Paul,
"Get meat from the step-son in Toowoomba"

Ah yep, you get some great deals out that way, I had a housemate that used to bring home steaks the size of dinner plates.
He used to do an awesome marinade as well, letting them soak in the fridge for a few days, sometimes longer.
- Tasted so good and just fell apart on your fork.
I have another mate who told me he just puts all his meat in olive oil in the fridge, but I haven't tried it.
You sound like a bit of a skilled food connoisseur, it always makes me feel hungry.
- Thanks for all the tips, I saved them on the PC for later.
I'm going to have to go and check Golden Circle out again now, and I might check out some of those other places as well.

Suddenly I feel like going to that fish shop in Capalaba you mentioned for some green prawns to make some prawn cutlets.

Hi again AC,

The 'Old Man' would tell me stories about the Chinese market gardens in Sydney, they grew everything, very intensive, all without power, no pumps, no running water. Their water came from a well they dug themselves in the centre of the garden, it was a big rectangular pit about 20 to 30 ft deep, sloping from the deep end back to the surface, covered with boards to run on. To water the garden a man, several men actually, would have a wooden yoke across his shoulders with two big heavy metal watering cans attached. Run down into the well pit, fill the cans, run back up and around the garden watering the plants, time and time again. Little blokes some of them, the Old Man said he didn't know how they did it, working from sun up to sun down. He also said, we never want to go to war with the 'Chinamen', they'll win, because they'll never give up.