lemons .99 ea. in Hunterdon County NJ...

[pfarrell]

Yesterday I was in my local supermarket (Flemington Shop Rite) and saw lemons were priced at .99 each. Wondering how much you are paying (or not) for lemons in your neck of the woods...'
And if you are still buying lemons, what's the tipping point for you? I won't pay any more than this and if the price goes up any more, I will have to figure out another way to flavor my home brewed ice tea, among other things.

What say you?

[pitterpatter]

This is my grocery store, too. When I need to buy a lot of fruit and vegetables, I trek out to the produce store in Hillsboro, on the corner of Amwell Road and 206. There, lemons are 4/$1. Everything is 1/2 to 1/4 the price of ShopRite. It's a 15 minute drive from Flemington.

[flourgirl]

I didn't know there was such a place in Hillsboro...coming down Amwell Rd, is it on the near side of 206 or do you have to cross the highway? And thanks for the tip, I appreciate it.

[jlbwendt]

Saw them for $1.29 each at a Seattle Safeway yesterday!

[Billow Fair]

Lemons have really gotten much more expensive in the last few years (just as avocados have) for no apparent reason. Lemon trees are prolific, year-round producers, so I just don't understand why they are far more per pound than oranges and limes. Anyone know about lemon growing?

[HillJ]

Aldi Foods in NJ is selling a bag of 10 lemons for 1.99.

[Axalady]

BelAir MD Safeway yesterday - lemons $0.99 each, oranges $0.79 each. We don't drink a lot of iced tea, but I think I'd start flavoring mine with mint. Super easy to grow in your own garden and you'll have so much you won't know what to do with it.

[KevinB]

$1 each in Toronto these days, but they are quite large. We were getting them for 3/$1,
but those ones were quite small.

[morwen]

Single lemons in southern tier NY are .89/@ but can buy them in a net bag of 8/3.99. I think the bagged ones are slightly smaller but I find I actually have less waste with them.

[alanbarnes]

They're .59 each at Raley's in Sacramento, CA. Which seems a bit high. Fortunately I still have a few Meyers left on the tree and the Ponderosas are starting to come in.

(Ponderosa: now THAT'S a lemon I'd pay a buck for.)

[NYChristopher]

Manhattan prices have been .75 cents each and they have been fairly puny. By comparison, I recently saw five limes for a buck.

[LNG212]

The ones I got this week at Fairway were also 75 cents each (actually 2 for $1.50) but they were very large (sometimes lately they are 3 for $2). I prefer the smaller ones with thinner skin than these very large ones with the thick skin.

[bob192]

It was 8 limes for $1.00 at the Morton Williams/Associated supermarket on Bleecker a couple of days ago. I'm switching to lime juice on my broccoli, it tastes fine.

[NYChristopher]

UPDATE: Trader Joe's 14th Street had a bag of (5?) organics for $2 (not huge); and some guy with a pushcart outside had $3 for a buck. I was in a bind an bought one from the guy at the pushcart.

[Ruth Lafler]

I pick them off my tree. But prices of lemons do vary seasonally, and they are higher in the summer.

[flourgirl]

I shop at the same store as the OP and the high prices for lemons, in my experience, has had very little to do with seasonality. The price of lemons sky-rocketed here about 1 1/2 -2 years ago - very suddenly. They were pretty consistently in the "4 for a $1" or so price range for just about forever (other than a few blips here and there due to things like crop damage shortages etc.) and then BAM- all the sudden they're $.75 each and rising. I even vaguely remember that there was an initial event like large scale frost damage or something like that that resulted in the initial price hike - because the same thing happened to lime prices at the time. But whereas lime prices eventually came back down to earth the lemon prices never did and I don't understand why...

[ziggylu]

They were $.79/each at the market this morning. We're in the Phoenix area. I still had a couple so I passed....I'll have to swing buy the market that targets the Hispanic population later this week and see if they're cheaper there...otherwise I guess I'll pick some up at Costco.

I have a lisbon lemon and a meyer lemon in the yard but because we don't get fruit this time of year on ours I've been having to buy a lot of lemons,. I do have lots of fruit set this year though so I'm glad I will have a nice harvest when it's time...this past year we had hardly any fruit at all due to a bad frost the winter before.

[JackieChiles]

I'm used to getting them for 3 for $0.99, or 4 for $1.00, at most $0.50 ea., at this cool little Mexican produce place next to my house.

I too have seen them at Vons and such for $0.99, or even $1.19 ea.! At that point my they are way beyond my personal tipping point. Luckily I have the other option, but I stopped buying a long time ago at that price.

I'm another iced tea lover and I must have lemon for my iced tea. Lime is a decent option, but it's just not the same. Search the ethnic markets. A lot of people here in CA have trees and practically give them away so that's nice. So far I haven't hurt for lemons. I feel for you though.

[pfarrell]

thanks for the sympathy :) I think I may just scout around the handful of markets that cater to the Latino/Hispanic communities. Great idea. My other idea is Costco, but I'm not a member--I do know some folks who are...

[mrbozo]

Buy limes.