On the way home from our journey this afternoon, we stopped to do a quick grocery order before my mom and stepdad arrive tomorrow.
It’s not just a fake house, it’s a fake kitchen too! :)
Going clockwise from the Organic PC Romaine:
- Organic baby spinach (large)
- Free Run Boneless Chicken Breast (to keep the men happy tomorrow!)
- Cantaloupe
- Sweet Onion
- 1 large english cuke
- Organic Granny Smith Apples that were on sale
- Bag of avocados (5)
- Plum tomatoes (4)
- Bananas (I buy a bunch and let most get over ripe and then freeze them for baking)
- No Salt Added Canned Tomatoes
- Black Beans
- Lima Beans
- 4 Almond Breeze (on sale) 2 original, 2 unsweetened
- 1 Low Fat soy milk
- 2 Original Money’s Gardenburgers (my fav!)
- Kale (NOT organic, our grocery store seems to not be carrying the organic now for some reason…!)
- Whole Wheat Tortillas
- 1 red pepper
- Icing Sugar
- 2 Zucchini
- Oranges, navel
Lots of green goodness, eh? :D
However, something has been on my mind lately with my grocery orders, most notably with the produce.
The problem is- much of the produce I buy (Organic romaine and spinach) is sold in non-recyclable plastic boxes.
You know, I actually assumed incorrectly that I could recycle these until Eric told me last week that you can’t and the plastic ends up in the landfill. EDIT: I checked and apparently you can recycle the spinach box- note to self: Don’t listen to hubby! lol
I must say, I go through a lot of this spinach and romaine. Unfortunately they don’t sell the organic spinach non-bagged- only the non-organic kind. I always prefer to buy greens organic since they are among the dirty dozen (most contaminated produce):
(worst) Peaches – 100
Apples – 93
Sweet Bell Peppers – 83
Celery – 82
Nectarines – 81
Strawberries – 80
Cherries – 73
Kale – 69
Lettuce – 67
Grapes – Imported from outside U.S. – 66
Carrots – 63
Pears – 63
Collard Greens – 60
Spinach – 58
[Source]
I always buy our apples organic as well as our carrots. I try to buy the bell peppers organic but our store doesn’t always carry them. I find the organic selection in my grocery store is very poor and the produce is often not fresh!
Which brings me to this exciting news:
Community Shared Agriculture (CSA)
I think I have been living under a rock because I had no idea that my area had Organic CSA’s! My BIL sent me an article from The Star on CSA’s in Southern Ontario and I was super stoked.
I came across Plan B Organic Farm:
What is a CSA?
“Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) is a system of growing and distributing organic produce that restores the link between the farmers and city dwellers. Successful in Japan and Western Europe since 1965, CSA today operates on approximately 1000 farms in North America.
In early spring each year, local households purchase subscription “shares” of the year’s harvest from a local organic farm. CSA “shareholders” pay for their produce at the beginning of the growing season, providing the necessary start-up capital for farmers to purchase seeds, supplies and soil amendments, eliminating their reliance on expensive bank loans and helping to pay for the real cost of food.
5 Great Things about CSA?
- Provides local farmers with an economically viable farm business
- Consumers gain access to affordable, fresh, & local organic foods
- Consumers learn about what grows in Ontario and how to “eat seasonally”
- Strengthens the local economy and builds community
- Less transportation & packaging makes for a healthier local environment
This not only satisfied my need for fresher organic produce, but for a more environmentally friendly option as well! I will be cutting down the packaging use tremendously. They give you a box and you use it for the entire 19 week period.
What does it Cost?
At Plan B Organic Farms, it costs about $23 per week for 19 weeks (June-Oct). You get 9-12 pieces of produce per week. Not too shabby for fresh organic produce! I know we are spending more than that each week on poor quality stuff at the grocery store.
The only problem?
Money has been tight for us so I can’t just go out and spend this kind of money off the bat.
However, I do have a birthday coming up in May! *evil cackle*
I think you know where this is going…
I have asked Eric to forgo buying me birthday gifts this year and instead donate to my CSA fund. I think he laughed and called me a nerd.
Umm excuse me, the last time I checked it was cool to be green!
I am also asking the same from my parents. I hope to save enough to be able to get this CSA half share for the summer! I also want to start my own veggie garden, but I’m not sure if that will happen this summer or next.
Tonight’s Question: Have you ever used a CSA? What was your experience? Is it on one of you ‘things to do’? I know it has been on my list for a while now!
Fabulously Fun Friday
Stay tuned for a whole lotta blogger fun coming up tomorrow!
- MOM + ME Gardening
- The winner of the mascara giveaway
- MOM + ME bake-off
- Fabulous weather + outdoor workouts!
- Running talk
- A t-shirt I am designing
- Where I bought that damn bamboo box- your questions finally answered!
- and more…
See you then!
Don’t forget to check out my Shop 4 a Cause page and let me know what you are donating for the auction :) It is going to be so much fun!
PS- Does anyone know if you can set Windows Live Writer to automatically save drafts as you type? I lost my post tonight THREE times. And I even saved it. I don’t know whats going on with it.
I see you picked up seeds. Did you know that $200.00 worth of seeds will grow a minimum of $2200.00 dollars worth of produce at low seasonal prices! That is the US amounts so it would be even more cost effective in Canada.
Time to hoe, hoe, hoe ladies.
Then pickle and bottle and blanch and freeze.
I have an organic garden in my back yard. Organic to me means pick the damn weeds by hand grrr. But the food tastes great and its nice knowing nothing was ever sprayed on my food other then water. I say it’s organic as I know nothing has been sprayed on my property in 10 years. Nothing on the grass the paving stones or garden. Yes I have honey suckle, dandelions and anything else a patch of dirt can grow but I never call them weeds. They will always be flowers to me. I use boiling water on the patio stones to kill weeds and use a tool to pick weeds out of the lawn and garden. I have never seen a reason for spraying. I come from farm country and know the health risk. Farm land now means cancer zone, its sad to say but very true.
Oh my gosh that sounds like such a great birthday present! I have worked with a CSA farm before near my university and had a wonderful experience. I got a gigantic box of beautiful, fresh, and organic produce every 2 weeks, I love it! :)
I feel very fortunate to live in a “foodie town” that appreciates the local farmers and restaurants. It’s one of the biggest reasons I love it here so much, I’ve subscribed to a CSA for 4 seasons. Totally worthe very penny!
thats such a good idea to have your family give you money for CSA instead bday gifts….I have been wanting to join CSA but the $$ holds me back most of the time….It really shouldn’t I just need join. Considering I spend a ton in produce at the store..
I posted about my CSA yesterday on my blog. Our CSA actually already started. I love love love it!!! Money was tight for us too (I lost my job in March), but we thought maybe in the end this would save us money.
I agree with planting your own garden. There are many wonderful books you can borrow from the library to get you started. There’s nothing better and more fulfilling than your own freshly picked produce.
Here’s some gardening tips, put hay down around and in between your veggie plants. This will help keep the soil moist so you won’t have to use as much water (also it keeps the weeds at bay). Lay a soaker hose around your plants rather than spraying above which can make the skins of tomatoes tough/split. The trick to a soaker hose is arranging it when it’s wet and using tent pegs to stakes to keep it in place.
You could also check to see if you have a Local Farmers Market nearby — many of them sell organic products. (Also, shares for CSA’s sell out quickly)
Loove CSAs!!
I think birthday CSA is a great idea! I should ask for that, too. I just bought myself an HRM, and that’s what I really wanted but I couldn’t wait until june :)
Thanks for posting about this, I had no idea something like this existed! I looked this up in my area and we do have quite a few, but some of them are already full so I may have to do some digging! Although it is kind of expensive up front, I definitely think you would get your money worth.
I wish I had a yard to plant in, but living in an apartment I have limited options! I did have a balcony herb garden last summer that I loved and will be starting that again this weekend. Thanks for the informative post!
My friend and I are getting ready to share a share in our local CSA. Since it is our first time, we opted to share it to see if it was worth while and it would not cost us each as much as a full share.
Our CSA also offers a payment plan!
Could you re-purpose the containers that are not recyclable?
I’ve always wanted to participate in a CSA, but living on my own makes it a bit difficult because even the small boxes are a bit too much produce for just one person. Plan B is an amazing CSA though. Once you join, you can visit the farm any time you want, it really speaks to getting to know those who grow your food. I have a friend who is a part of the Plan B CSA and have only heard amazing things about the farm’s owners.
CSA’s are a great idea! And with the produce packaging, for the ones that aren’t recyclable, could you wash and reuse the packaging for other things, like storing stuff or leftover foods?
Thanks for the list of the ‘dirty dozen’. I had no idea.
I am learning so much from you Angela
great info about what to buy organic. I’ve always wondered which are the MUST veggies/fruits. And I’ll check CSA right now! :)