Last week, I decided to try something new and ordered fresh vegetables online. I researched several places and in the end settled on Farm Fresh to You. They are a bay area farm that specializes in organic produce. I chose Farm Fresh because it offers the widest variety of choices. You have the ability to list out fruits and vegetables that you absolutely don’t ever want to see in your box, can adjust the size of the box, and the frequency of delivery. There are also fruit only or vegetable only choices and even a “no cook” box for those that don’t cook or don’t have time to cook.
I ended up ordering the regular size box ($31.50) to be delivered every other week….mainly because the website suggested this for a couple or small family. The $31.50 includes the delivery charge. For those of you (if you are like me) that need to plan your meals ahead or shop on the weekends, you can look up what will be in your box on the weekend before it’s delivered. I wasn’t aware of this feature when I first ordered, but was thrilled to find it when I looked up my order several days later! It also included direct links to storage suggestions and recipes for each of the fruits and vegetables on my list.
My box arrived yesterday and included the following:
Apples, Tangelos, Tangerines, Red onions, green onions, lettuce, kale, collard greens, cauliflower, carrots, and beets. If I had ordered a week earlier, my first box would have included mushrooms and chard (hope to see these again in my next shipment). It does not surprise me that in the winter I would see more leafy greens, onions, and beets in the box, since that is what’s growing now. I’m really looking forward to seeing what we get in the spring and summer months!
I did a quick price check on the produce I received and if I had purchased these at a farmers market, I could have gotten them for a lot less. If you have access to get to one of these on a regular basis and the time to go, then that would be a better choice. But, if I were to purchase all these from the organic produce section in Raley’s (I love this store), then the price is actually pretty comparable. The main advantage to getting vegetables this way is that it forces me to be more creative when it comes to feeding my family. I’m not a picky eater and so far (knocking on wood), neither is my daughter. But my husband is…or at least he’s not that adventurous. It’s easy to get stuck in a rut when it comes to meals…especially when it comes to vegetables. Unless we get something we absolutely hate, my plan is to take what I get and come up with easy, healthy recipes that incorporate that. The hope is that we’ll end up with new, healthy dishes that we otherwise wouldn’t have tried.
The second advantage is the time savings, which for me, as a working mother, is huge! A trip to the grocery store can easily take an hour, if not more. And to keep fresh fruits and vegetables in the house, those trips need to be fairly often (at least once a week). We already make bigger trips to places like Costco or Sam’s Club to buy our meats and non-perishable items. We invested in a freezer to keep in the garage and a very simple vacuum sealer. This way, we can buy the large, bulky meats, and separate them into family size portions. This takes some extra time on shopping day, but saves us money and decreases the number of trips we need to take. Plus, we can keep a good variety of things in the house this way. So, with the meat, rice, pasta and canned goods taken care of and now, the fresh fruits and vegetables being delivered directly to our house, the grocery shopping is pretty much done. Making a weekly pit stop for milk and eggs, if I do it right, can take as little as five or ten minutes and can happen on my way home from work. The time savings equals a lifetime for me!
Speaking of eggs…I got an email from Farm Fresh this morning that said they are adding egg delivery to their service. The eggs come from a neighboring farm and you can get either free range eggs for $7/dozen or cage free eggs for $6/dozen. At first, I was a little excited at the possibility of farm fresh eggs being added to my box, but I do think it’s a little pricey and have decided against it. Unless getting free range or cage free is the most important thing when it comes to buying eggs, I say it’s not worth the extra cost.
