# Bushel / Lug??? huh??



## TxCloverAngel

my mother in law is an old time southern gardener. I grew up in the North.. 

We bought everything by the bushel or Peck.. She keeps referring to buying tomatoes in a lug.. lug?? what in the heck is a lug?? 
She doesnt know how much a bushel is compaired to a lug... 

and as far as she in concerned I am clueless about everything anyway.. I would really rather not ask her more about it and confirm this lol 

Anybody know??


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## culpeper

I've found several different meanings for 'lug', but none which relate to measurements!

However, the following site gives measurements for pecks and bushels etc.

http://www.goodcooking.com/conversions/liq_dry.htm

Why not ask your MIL to measure out a 'lug' of something, and then you physically measure it in pints or pounds of whatever?


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## via media

I got curious and had to investigate. It turns out that a lug is a method of packing, such as a crate or carton.

Here's what I found on this site => http://www.todaymarket.com/tmp_refe.htm (They've also got pictures.)

"Lug
Usually refers to a container that is placepacked in two or three layers, depending on the crop.

Lugs can also be bulk-filled. They are made of wood, corrugated fiberboard, or a combination of both. 

Standard dimensions are 16 1/8 x 13 1/4 inches with varying depths. 

Ventilation slots provide airflow and drainage to accelerate cooling and maintain freshness. Locking pegs limit container movement to prevent product damage during transport. 

Capable of holding 8, 12, and 16 oz cartons or loose product. Designed for picking and shipping produce.

Produce Lugs stack and nest with either a 180Â° turn or with a 90Â° turn."

/VM


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## TxCloverAngel

Thanks! that was a big help!!


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## Barb

When fruit is sold by the lug it is usually packaged in a standard box. It is sold by weight rather than by bushel, half bushel, peck etc. The weight varies with the kind of fruit sold. We have to buy our fruit here by the lug because it is shipped in and not grown locally. For instance I bought a lug of peaches at the store today. It weighed 17 pounds. A bushel of peaches should weigh about 48 pounds. According to my Blue Book a bushel of tomatoes weighs 53 pounds. Ask how many pounds in her lugs and then you can compare.

Even in the north some things are sold by the lug. Cherries are an example of that. I usually bought blueberries by the pound but they are probably sold also by the lug.


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## mulliganbush

Both a bushel and a lug will have differing weights depending upon the type and average size of produce they contain. Also lugs will vary somewhat in shape, size, layering.

A bushel of tomatoes is 53 lbs. A lug of tomatoes is 32 lbs.

Ray


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## Utahchef40

culpeper said:


> I've found several different meanings for 'lug', but none which relate to measurements!
> 
> However, the following site gives measurements for pecks and bushels etc.
> 
> Liquid and Dry Measurement Equivalents
> 
> Why not ask your MIL to measure out a 'lug' of something, and then you physically measure it in pints or pounds of whatever?


I picked many a lug of cherries growing up


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## muleskinner2

When you pick berries or cherries to sell them. You put them in little quart baskets, if I remember right twelve quarts is a lug.


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## muleskinner2

muleskinner2 said:


> When you pick berries or cherries to sell them. You put them in little quart baskets, if I remember right twelve quarts is a lug.


The orchard used to pay us ten cents a quart to pick cherries. Or $1.20 per lug. I bought my first cowboy hat this way.


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## geo in mi

Anybody pick tomatoes by the "hamper"?
geo


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