24-hour supermarkets - please?

[Iceni]

<quote from SB> It all comes down to what suits your lifestyle.  Round here, almost everyone works, so there's not a lot of spare time to get food in, so they want to get it over as quickly as possible.  Veggie-growing is for retired people, anyone of working age just doesn't have the time.   C'est la vie. </quote>

Hi SB

I work, and with my business and feeding the workers when we are full time in renovation (that starts again in ernest from the New Year) I think you can say that is full time+. John works full time on the renovation and does all the donkey work so he is knackered at the end of the day BUT we still grow almost enough veggies apart from potatoes to feed us and keep a few hens. It is not a matter of time (in the summer I stop working in the garden at about 9:00pm and start supper) it is a mind set. We don't like ready made food except for the odd sausage and we have probably had less than 5 ready-meals including pizzas in the past year. We also go out for a meal about once a month - the reason, most of the time I can cook a better meal than we get out and I hate wasting money.

To me, looking out in the garden even at this time of the year and choosing what really fresh veg we are going to have with our evening meal is a delight. The work is well worth it. We have just planted out another three rows of strawberries, in June we will be enjoying them and giving them to friends.

I do not think that those who do not want to grow veggies are mad, in the same way that I hope that people do not think we are mad for our lifestyle - each to their own. Just don't assume that us tree huggers are all retired old fogies. As an aside, I know a couple who have a very lovely house in Kew who have their name down for an allotment, their garden is bursting at the seams with vegetables and they need more room for their children to play so want to move the veggies out. It is not a matter of money or time but of taste (of food).

With regard to supermarkets, I understand that our local supermarkets buy veggies from very very small local growers during the season,trouble is, we still do not know how fresh they are. Been to Carfour today, also went to Four Fourille (?sp) which was far more fun.

[SaligoBay]

Dunno how you do it!

I do know that TOH leaves the house to go to work at 7.30am, and gets back 7.30pm at the earliest.   The only time he's here is in the dark!   If I was working too....

As it is, I'm capable of killing cactuses, which I'm assured are not killable, so I'd have no chance with carrots!

[Teamedup]

Thanks SB, we are obviously from the same clan. My husband can manage to grow things, but I must stay away as they have coup de malaise if I approach. Sometimes with deadly results, sometimes a little nurturing can coax some life back into the poor things.

Our son can grow things though.

 

So I am dependant on other folks growing skills.

 

When I first arrived here there were  hyper marchés, far bigger stores than I had ever seen in the UK,  but there were not that many supermarkets at all. When we moved out into the country I considered my self really lucky to have a supermarket that had just opened about 4 miles away. I also made sure that I used all the shops in our village too, it would have been too inconvenient if they had all shut down. We still have three boulangeries in the village, a butcher's shop, Casino, and three hairdressers.

 

[SaligoBay]

I know very few people round here who grow their own. 

One couple have a reasonably big plot of land, maybe about 900m²,  but the earth is so poor (and only a few inches deep in some places) that it would cost a prohibitive amount to bring it up to growing standard, and it wouldn't be worth it for the time they could devote to it.  

Our old next-door neighbour grew things for a couple of years after he first retired, but they go off to Italy every year for July and August, and could never benefit from it - it was the rest of us that got the tomatoes and beans!   Can't think why he stopped.

If I ever get round to digging up those yucky yuccas round the side of the house, I might stick in a potato one day and see what happens.  OTOH, that bit never gets the sun, so the potatoes might get depressed and suicidal.

 

[Mpprh]

Hi SB

We've got a small veg patch.

And I've got a working strategy to make it work for us.

Mrs MPPRH is the garden boy ! In fact, I'm not allowed to do the tricky stuff ......... just digging, mowing the lawn etc.

And I agree that digging potatos before dinner produces a taste you can't get from Intermarche.

Peter

[Jill<br><br>Jill (99)]

This is going to sound really stupid now - I mean, I'm replying to earlier postings not the later ones. This is what happens when you can't get to the forum daily with this system.

Anyway, regarding 24 hour supermarket shopping. My husband is a shift worker and towards Christmas it is very convenient that he can go in the middle of the night and do our food shopping. Admitedly he can't buy booze in the middle of the night, but that can be bought earler.

With regard to Sunday opening - the advantage is that you can get fresh bread in England on a Sunday, and we do like a fresh baguette or other crusty bread for Sunday lunch with good cheese, pate etc. Also, again, it is useful with shift working.

At least the French do have the advantage that many places have Sunday markets and of course the Boulangeries are also open on Sundays. Smaller French shops such as Petit Casino are also open on Sundays which can be useful. Smaller French shops do carry a wider range of goods than small English shops and you can at least buy ingredients for a meal in most Petit Casinos and similar shops whereas you can't in corner shops in England. It is a pity that supermarkets have the power, but local butchers and suchlike don't display their prices (surely they should legally) so you don't know how much you are going to be spending. Also, meat in butchers in England has deteriorated because they are buying things loaded with water just the same as the supermarket do.

Our village now has a Tesco Express, and I must admit that I am pleased it is there as it often saves us going to the nearest town. Previously, we couldn't get much in the local shop, even though it is exactly the same shop - just badly run, previously.

I would love to live in a village that had a bakery, butchers, petit casino type shop for the veg etc. Then there would be no need to travel. Yes people are more mobile, but isn't it more the lack of time to go from shop to shop which is the problem. Also, the fact that small shops were expensive because they couldn't buy things at low enough prices. My mother-in-law had an off licence and she couldn't buy things in cash and carry as cheap as she could get them in supermarkets. No one wants to pay more for what they can get cheaper in a supermarket, especially if they can just call in when they are on their way home from work. It was a different matter when there were housewives who stayed in their villages and were able to buy everything where they were because they had the time.

Vive la boulangerie!