Well at least in our part of the country...squash used to be 25 cents each. Hence, I remember we bought tons of butternut squash and stored them in the cool basement. Fed a poor big family like ours very well.

And only 13 years ago, they were still 1 dollar each out in the rural areas. But now the darling squash has become a foodie veggie sensation for lovely soups (which we do make), etc. I miss those days of certain cheap veggies that no one cared about.

Gosh, they should be cheap; they grow like weeds.

I remember the days when neighbours had so many they would distribute them at other people's front doors...who had enough themselves. It was a joke here. We called ourselves the recycling squash squad.

I have a dozen recipes I bet, using Squash. It really compliments a good dish, plain or fancy.

Squash is so easy to grow. In fact, when you think you've had enough, plants produce even more. You end up giving them away. Walnuts are another story. I eat walnuts and/or almonds daily. Nuts with a 1/2 banana constitutes a meal for me when DH is out of town. They use to cost me around $3 for a 12oz bag. It's up to $5.99 for the same size bag (and that's at Walmart). They are $7.99 at Krogers. I've gone to buying cashew pieces instead of cashew wholes, because the price has risen so much.
Navel oranges - $1.00 each

HEY! Someone here said they were sending me some freshly grown walnuts, Dee was that you? I never got any...

ummm... what do you suppose fresh walnuts taste like. I grew up next to my granddad's pecan orchard... the taste of his papershells were much more intense than the store bought we get today.

Interesting, at our local farmer's market they sell squash for a quarter, and you can get some huge ones. Not that's at the market. It's much more expensive to buy at the food stores. ANd even more expensive off season.


gims, I agree on the prices of nuts. I buy mine at either WalMart or Trader Joe's. Walmart has these delicious canned, smoked, salted almonds that are to die for, but they are 5.99 a can. I use to buy the huge container of plain almonds at Sam's Club, but rarely go there now that the kids are no longer living at home.

I'm in NY for the More Reinvention Convention. Hubby and I walked through a food store here and the OJ was 5.99 and 6.29 a half gallon. We met our son and hung out with him for a bit today. When we mentioned the price of OJ, he said he no longer drinks it. It was his absolute favorite juice while growing up. The prices here are out of control.

A plus - the acid in OJ damages the enamel on our teeth.
Does he like Tang? You could take him a care package.
Have fun in NY...

Gims, we used to have a Walnut tree. It grew so fast that we had to cut it down because it blocked our entrance. You live near the forest right? Do you have any spare land for a new tree? I really missed our own walnuts. They were a little smaller than the store bought ones, but just as tasty.

Do they grow fast, really? I did NOT know that. We have a black walnut tree on our property, but I've never been able to get the outer shelling off to get to the nutshell. They make great ammo, though. I'd love to try one fresh... makes me think of the years growing up when the kids in my family could go out in the autumn and eat pecan after pecan from underneath the trees... same with summer pears... our granddad had the pecan orchard on one strip of acreage up one side of the property, and the pear orchard up the other side. We use to bushel the pears up and stand by the highway, trying to sell them... didn't get many takers - we lived in the country, even though our parent's property butted up to a major (although only two lanes) state highway.
I don't live near the forest, per se, but we have acreage with trees - all acres have sandy loam and clay, mostly. Do you know what variety is the best? If I'd known they grow fast (unlike pecans that take years to produce), I'd already have invested in one, or some. But, my lemon and orange trees took on new lives.
My asparagus got destroyed by Ike, as did the apple tree and 1/2 of the seed pear tree. I was hoping the asparagus would give me something next year... if possible, I will be hunting down asp. crowns soon, so I don't have to start from seed again.