Text 239, 157 rader
Skriven 2008-01-05 09:54:28 av hap newsom (1:124/311)
     Kommentar till en text av Janis Kracht
Ärende: good veggies
====================
Good morning Janis!
-> > ->
-> > One of the nicer features of living here in the
-> > great Northwet, is our moderate climate. This
-> > morning when I got up at 5 am it was 45 degrees
-> 
-> Ooh.. heatwave <grin>.. Today so far we're at about 30F.. should warm 
up a bit
-> more, then hit the 40's over the next few days.. I'm happy so far <grin> 
But
-> yes, that sounds like nice winter weather!
-> 
-> > outside. High today will be about 47 or so I think.
-> 
-> That's even nicer :)
-> 
There is a downside (grin), we get rain, lots and lots
and LOTS of rain! I haven't checked but I'd guess 
in the last three days we've gotten over 2inches each
day with no real end in sight. You go out....you get
drenched! Plus we have plenty of wind to make sure
that even if you have an umberella, you still get 
drenched! 

-> 
-> > -> > It's titled "THE OMNIVORE'S DILEMMA"  and the author is Michael
-> > -> > Pollan. ISBN#978-0-14-303858-0 . I hope you enjoy it as much
-> > -> > as I am!
-> > ->
-> > -> Ok, found it :)  It was funny, as I was browsing the Web, another 
one of
-> > Mr.
-> > -> Pollen's books was also reveiwed on MSNBC.COM ..
-> > -> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22462991/  so maybe I'll get the two 
of
-> > them <grin>
-> > ->
-> > I'm certainly enjoying the Omnivore's dilemma, I may look
-> > for others by him after I finish this one!
-> 
-> I often do the same when I find an author I enjoy.. I've been known to 
clean
-> out everything I could find by a good author <grin>
-> 

Well, it's hard enough to find a good author these days..when
you get a good one, get all you can!

-> > -> Yes, same here.. Last year I signed up for a bi-weekly delivery from
-> > DoorToDoor
-> > -> Organics.. what they do is have you select what vegetables you'd 
like for
-> > the
-> > -> week or whatever, and they ship it to you via UPS in boxes with lots 
of
-> > -> coldpacks <grin>.  This is their page:
-> > http://east.doortodoororganics.com/ I
-> > -> haven't had them start sending again yet, since I've still got a bit of
-> > produce
-> >-> canned and/or frozen from this summer's garden, but I'll probably run 
out o
-> > -> good stuff in about February <g>..
-> > ->
-> > That is a good marketing plan for a small scale,
-> > but I'd think that the cost of shipping UPS would
-> > make it pretty expensive!
-> 
-> Nah, it's included in the price of the box of veggies.. so for like $60.00
-> (last year, that's what it cost at least), you got a large (and I mean
large)
-> box of veggies, spices and fresh fruit that would last for two weeks... so
it
-> cost $30.00 a week for that box.  I'll have to check the prices this year, 
but
-> I doubt they've gone up.  They have different size boxes you can order, 
and you
-> can get the boxes delivered every week, or every two weeks, however 
much you'd
-> like and however often you'd like.  Last year, a typical large box contained
-> about 2-3 lbs. of potatoes, 5 apples, grapefruits, pears, a large bunch of
-> Italian parsely, 5 oranges, a bunch of Kale, a bunch of fresh spinach, a 
bag of
-> carrots, a bunch of celery, squash, and more.. I'd have to go on their site 
to
-> see for instance what's offered this week.  You can customize your order 
and
-> replace part of the items offered if you don't want certain items so that 
works
-> well.
-> 
$30/week sounds a little expensive to me, wonder what it would be 
without the shipping charges?

-> >Here in Seattle there is
-> > an outfit that consists of several different farms
-> > and they "pre sell" produce for the entire season.
-> > You buy a "box" or two or three, and each week
-> > you get that week's bounty from the several farms
-> > that work together. You get your box once a week
-> 
-> That sounds like this organization that I used last year.. they get their
-> produce from a number of farms that they list on their site.
-> 

I'm not sure if ours is a group of farmers that got 
together and worked this out, or another group 
that contracted with the farmers. It's still an
interesting enterprise and it seems to be 
fairly popular as well!

-> > through out the growing and harvesting season.
-> > It seems that it's a pretty popular option for lots
-> > of folks who live in the very urban parts of Seattle.
-> > I'm not sure about the delivery I think you pick up
-> > your "box" at one of several arranged locations.
-> > Although I have heard that some get them delivered
-> > to their workplace (perhaps if enough people order
-> > it's worth making a delivery). From what I understand
-> 
-> Sure, makes sense.. over here, last year my daughter and I shared some 
of the
-> goods that came in .. Her kids are allergic to too many foods to make it
-> worthwhile for them to get their own box, so I just gave her a bunch of 
safe
-> stuff from mine :)
-> 
That certainly makes sense! 

-> > the several farms work together to plan crops that
-> > cover all the growing season and each farm grows
-> > things that keep the box varied enough to be
-> > interesting and another big advantage is that you get
-> > things that you don't usually see in the supermarkets.
-> 
-> Yes, that was one of the advantages here as well.. the other one was we 
get
-> rather spoiled by my garden and get really upset with the produce offered
-> locally at the supermarket <bg>
-> 
A good garden can really give you an edge up
on supermarkets! Anne and I used to do a lot
of veggie gardening in our back yard. Those 
who have been to our place for echo gathering
know we don't have a huge back yard, but most of
it was at one time our veggie garden! The big benefit
is that you can grow veggies that either you can't find
in the supermarket, or are very expensive. you can grow
heirloom potatoes and tomatoes (much better than the
commercial production ones), herbs, and odd varieties
of things that you like. Joan M and I were discussing a
method of growing potatoes, if you'd like I could post 
you the link and you could investigate it if you grow 
tater's at all. It's a GREAT method!
chat with you soon
hap 
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