I asked our local grocery store about this, and they don't do itI was sad because it would be such a great resource. I'm hoping to find somewhere to get pumpkins cheap this fall. I planted 50 vines and not a one grew taller than six inches.
Oh man, that sucks about your pumpkins!
I called the local grocery store, which is now part of a big chain but back when I was a kid I used to sell them blueberries a flat at a time and the produce manager would write me a check, take the flat of blueberries from my arms, and put it right on the shelves with a price flag ... imagine that happening today! Anyway, when I called "my" store I was pretty much scolded about bugging them. They told me they have contracts with big pig farms. They told me not to bother anyone else with my phone call because "everyone" has contracts with pig farmers. I did call a few other grocery stores in the area ... some are locally owned but are still chains ... and was told the same thing in very much the same way, as if they'd all be through the same training seminar.
What I haven't tried is any of the smaller produce stands or ethnic markets. There are a few of those in the area (more ethnic markets than produce stands), some seasonal, some running year-round. Unfortunately now I'm feeling timid about asking people for stuff.
But don't let that put you off!
I got an unexpected donation to my flock from a really odd source ... lots of bags of Shrimp Peels from a Chinese Restaurant. One of our friends had bought a Chinese restaurant where they do all the cooking from scratch (our friend converted it into a pub) but during the change of hands the lovely people selling the place showed our friend the bags of shrimp in the freezer and told her they save them for a chicken farmer, but the chicken farmer didn't pick up the last batch and did our friend want them to toss them out or leave them in the freezer for her. Our friend remembered us, so now we have them.
I've read a bit about feeding shrimp peelings to chickens and supposedly you get eggs with bright red yolks practically within the hour. This does not happen for us -- but I'm happy to report even during our test where we gave the flock the shrimp peels a few days in a row we didn't get fishy eggs, either. What we do now is steam the peelings, then put them through the vitamix with enough water to make a thick soup, then mix in some scratch, then feed it to the flock as a special treat (not every day). The flock goes NUTS for it. But that's not much of a measure as they go nuts for anything you toss out on the ground for them. More impressive is that even the ducks come begging when this stuff walks out the kitchen door.
