Goodness comes in a wax box
One of the major frustrations I have encountered is the lack of good produce available here. The grocery store that Dave works for does have a produce department, but for whatever reason the quality is less than stellar and the prices are outrageous (groceries in general are so expensive, but that's a whole different, carefully worded post!).
A couple of weeks ago some friends told us about Full Circle Farms in Carnation Washington. They offer bi-monthly organic produce delivery to our village (and many other locations in Alaska and Washington) so Dave and I decided to give it a try.
Signing up was simple and quick online. We were given the option of "permanently excluding" three items. These are things that you never want in your box. Our three permanent exclusions were brussel sprouts, beets and parsnips. On the Thursday before our village's scheduled delivery we received an e-mail declaring that weeks box contents. From Thursday until Saturday we were able to log into our account and make up to 5 substitutions to our box or add additional content to our box. Substitutions are free, but adding contents does cost additional. I only made three substitutions trading tomatoes for kiwi, lemons for more apples, and asparagus for avocados.
Tuesday is pickup day in Kotzebue. All of the boxes are air freighted in and delivered to a church. My friend Bree was kind enough to go by and pick mine up and delver it to my house for me!
There was a few casualties in shipping in that three of the five kiwis and one of the mangoes were smashed and split open by heavier produce, but I was told that the farm will take care of that, so I sent them an e-mail today. Other than that we are very happy to have found this service!
12 comments:
That is so cool!
What a great service! How much does some thing like that cost if ya don't mind me asking? And how about the shipping? I am just so curious.
I was chopping up all my fruit from Costco for an event tomorrow and was thinking of you.
What would you want in a care package? I know you are getting some but I want to send ya something too.
Miss you!
Delores, it's $59 per box without any additions, and that includes shipping. The week before we ordered I had spent nearly $70 on produce at the grocery store. So this is a great deal for us. I may add a few more things to my next order just because I'm not sure this will last us two weeks.
Care package? I can't think of anything right off......but we LOVE suprises!
Who knew that fruits and vegetables could be so exciting! Can ya'll grow anything yourselves like in a raised bed? I would love to know some of the costs of things, too. But I so understand about that carefully worded post!
You could start your own grow operation in your bathroom- just another kind of leafy greens.
Yep, Trish, I do think that you are going to have to create an indoor greenhouse and get your green thumb on - get your canning stuff out and just start stockpiling whenever you find a good deal - maybe you could make friend with the produce guys at hubby's store and see if your hubby can get a "perk" of produce deals - order a few extra things just for yourselves at store cost... worth a try! But overall, that box of produce looked pretty good - I am impressed! I bet you have completely changed how you feel about letting produce spoil or go to waste - EAT YOUR VEGGIES, AND I MEAN IT!!!!
I totally get how exciting it is to receive produce! The cost for you, takes my breath away. Not to rub it in, but I pay $16.50 for a laundry basket full of fruits and veggies every 2 weeks from my produce co-op. We get so excited to pick it up and find out what goodies we'll get! How nice to be able to choose and substitute stuff!
I just sent a package off to you! It should arrive in about 10 business days. Your house will be fragrant in no time!!
I too was wondering if anyone had greenhouses or anything there... Or even a few potted veggies would be nice if you had a place indoors in the sun with as many hours of daylight you get there.
That is just too cool! I just had a friend come back from a week long business trip to Anchorage and said he couldn't believe the grocery prices there either. Guess it must be the shipping :)...
I just can't get over the adventure you're having there. So glad I can live it vicariously through you! :)
How fantastic that things like that are available.
I LOVE your blogging Trish. The way you write always just pulls me right in.
Aaahhhhh - grocery issues.
I have produce I wish I could send you that's pretty cheap but the rest of it? Yipes....heart attack fodder that's for sure.
I don't think they've covered this enough in culture shock books. :)
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