Can I Live On This Amount

[i am bob]

 

If I find a great source of cheap vegetables, my food budget can shrink a little.

 

Big John, You have really put your finger on the entire "can I live on my budget?" topic. Yes you can, but at the level that you are used to? Yes you can find "beef steak" tomatoes here, but boy your gonna pay for them. Most of the things we are used to are available but at a price.

 

 

Hehe!  I"m bringing seeds!

[sonjack2847]

On a Friday here in Dalaguete they have a weekly outside market. This is where I but a lot of my veg as it is always fresher than the permanent market. The veg down here comes from Mantalongon which is 13 KL away. You would think it would be nice and fresh all the time here but before they sell it here it goes to Carbon market in Cebu city and then back here. 

[Jake]

 

 

If I find a great source of cheap vegetables, my food budget can shrink a little.

 

Big John, You have really put your finger on the entire "can I live on my budget?" topic. Yes you can, but at the level that you are used to? Yes you can find "beef steak" tomatoes here, but boy your gonna pay for them. Most of the things we are used to are available but at a price.

 

 

Hehe!  I"m bringing seeds!

 

Hey Bob,

 

Yeah, that's an interesting idea!  Can we bring a few packets of seeds with us?  I ain't talkin' about the chronic seeds

from Nova Scotia but the normal garden variety of healthy vegetables (yuck)......he, he.  

 

Food trip anyone?  

[cebu rocks]

make sure you bring the right climate seeds any seeds from Canada will fail . Tomatos are the hardest to grow which is the reason you can only find roma tomatos in the market.

I have a friend who tried all kinds of seeds from the states thinking they should work but they all failed badly  but once he bought local seeds he had better luck

[i am bob]

If I find a great source of cheap vegetables, my food budget can shrink a little.

Big John, You have really put your finger on the entire "can I live on my budget?" topic. Yes you can, but at the level that you are used to? Yes you can find "beef steak" tomatoes here, but boy your gonna pay for them. Most of the things we are used to are available but at a price.

Hehe! I"m bringing seeds!

Hey Bob,

Yeah, that's an interesting idea! Can we bring a few packets of seeds with us? I ain't talkin' about the chronic seeds

from Nova Scotia but the normal garden variety of healthy vegetables (yuck)......he, he.

Food trip anyone?

What? You got something against our good old Nova Scotian pumpkins? They only weigh in at 600 lbs plus! Hehe! :) Thank you Howard Dill!

[earthdome]

How are the vegetables in the Luzon area? I don't expect them to be like U.S. vegetables by any means, but I was disappointed in the vegetables available in Cebu. Of course, I didn't search out a good source. I bought either market or SM vegetables. The market vegetables were usually very tough and small and the SM vegetables were a bit expensive, if I remember correctly. If I find a great source of cheap vegetables, my food budget can shrink a little.

 

It depends on where you are on Luzon. Manila gets all its vegetables trucked in from the highlands so they are not as fresh and cost more.

 

In Baguio City, which is known as the salad bowl of the Philippines, vegetables are very fresh and plentiful at the wet market since they are grown locally in the mountain climate. I even see some vegetables that claim to be organic labeled with the name of the farm that produced them.

 

The Philippines recently ratified an agricultural ASEAN treaty which allows free trade in farm products so vegetables imported from other ASEAN countries should become more widely available and less expensive.

 

Here in Baguio I prefer the vegetables from the wet market. Better selection and better quality than SM supermarket.

[Curley]

My first reaction was that you could do it. Reading your posts over the years you seem level headed and careful. Then I read that you want to travel the Phils and the world, THAT throws your budget out of the window unless you have enough friends and relations who would love you to visit.

[John Mogusar]

If I find a great source of cheap vegetables, my food budget can shrink a little.

 

Big John, You have really put your finger on the entire "can I live on my budget?" topic. Yes you can, but at the level that you are used to? Yes you can find "beef steak" tomatoes here, but boy your gonna pay for them. Most of the things we are used to are available but at a price.

I understand vegetables in the U.S. are larger and tastier than what you can find in the Philippines. Mainly, I want vegetables without tough skin and/or not "poor" quality. Green peppers I had were generally very stringy. Lettuce was quite small for the price. Very hard to talk about vegetable quality meaningful over the Internet. I don't expect "awesome" tasting vegetables, but everything has a give and take on price versus quality. Past a certain quality point, the price starts going way up and the better quality has diminishing returns.

That said, I was happy enough with most of the supermarket vegetables I found. If I could find that same quality just a liiiittle cheaper... :)

[Gator]

make sure you bring the right climate seeds any seeds from Canada will fail . Tomatos are the hardest to grow which is the reason you can only find roma tomatos in the market.

I have a friend who tried all kinds of seeds from the states thinking they should work but they all failed badly  but once he bought local seeds he had better luck

 

Quite true, the right seeds make all the difference.  I grow beefsteaks and heirlooms in FL without much of  a problem. To help avoid them from being eaten by critters before I can harvest them as well as to generally make them easier to care for I grow them upside down in 5 gal buckets; the only thing you have take care about is watering as they tend to dry out faster (I use white or orange buckets).

 

http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Grow_Tomatoes_Upside_Down

 

I plan to bring to some seeds and give it a go.

 

And I know, a bit off topic here too :)

[i am bob]

make sure you bring the right climate seeds any seeds from Canada will fail . Tomatos are the hardest to grow which is the reason you can only find roma tomatos in the market.

I have a friend who tried all kinds of seeds from the states thinking they should work but they all failed badly  but once he bought local seeds he had better luck

 

Quite true, the right seeds make all the difference.  I grow beefsteaks and heirlooms in FL without much of  a problem. To help avoid them from being eaten by critters before I can harvest them as well as to generally make them easier to care for I grow them upside down in 5 gal buckets; the only thing you have take care about is watering as they tend to dry out faster (I use white or orange buckets).

 

http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Grow_Tomatoes_Upside_Down

 

I plan to bring to some seeds and give it a go.

 

And I know, a bit off topic here too :)

If in a warm area (most of the Philippines), seeds from a warm location are best. If in a cooler mountainous area (such as Baguio), seeds from Canada or even New England will do better. It's a matter of matching climates.

I have never tried using buckets though I did have good luck with plastic bags. When cool out, the roots were kept warm. When overly hot out, I could open the bag to cool the roots. The only problem with growing tomatoes upside down is forgetting to duck... :)