For quite awhile now I’ve been frustrated with my vegetable eating options. Actually…no. It’s not the eating options, it’s the buying options. Ideally, I’d love to be growing them. However living in a flat in the city with a designated area that’s not optimum for growing, my growing in pot choices are limited. So what are some other choices available to the average city dweller?
* Super market bought fruit and vegetables- big business
* Independent green grocer- small business
* Farmers Markets
* Wholesale Markets
* Box schemes- quite often delivered to your door
* Community gardens- add your name to the waiting list and grow your own
* Food Co-ops- member owned and operated, bulk goods
* CSA- Community Supported Agriculture
Choosing how you get your fruit and vegetables depends on many things, so it feels like it’s been a long time coming that I’m finally happy with a fruit and vegetable scheme that works for us.
Four weeks into my new CSA fruit and vegetable box and I couldn’t be happier. It suits our family, the quality is fantastic and it works for me. Hoorah!… I found it in Foodconnect.
Foodconnect uses local sustainable farmers, bringing their produce to city folks like me. Box gets dropped off at a local drop off point, where you pick it up once a week, and go home happily munching on the seasonal goodness. All boxed and ready to go, all you have to do is pick it up from a local ‘city cousin’.
So it’s local, organic, seasonal, easily pay from 4 weeks- to a year, it’s not the same fruit and veges each week, supports regional growers, farmers get a good price, super super fresh, has got us eating different vegetables, (I was in a vegetable rut and didn’t even know it) if I don’t like something there is a swap box and I don’t have to do anything but pick up the box. Pretty good deal I think.
* I’m always happy to see a caterpillar or slug in my organic produce. To me, it means it was pretty darn happy just to hang out in the leafy goodness, and also shows that it’s really fresh. Saying that, I would prefer to find them before I eat the leafy greens and not after, wiggling out of the kitchen sink. All this does to me is question my washing skills and did I just inadvertently eat its sluggy cousin?
Now there’s a cheery thought…
cityhippyfarmgirl 
I think I’d prefer you to keep those cheery thoughts to yourself! Good news and congratulations on your box. It is rather a trial if you don’t have your own garden (and we live in a small market town). Sometimes I feel we should join our local CSA, which is a good one rather than trudging down and up a rather steep hill to our plot on a field which doesn’t really have the facilities we need and we can barely visit in Winter. But apart from CT not having anywhere to do his unusual crop breeding, I just can not bear the thought of throwing away good compost material.
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If you eat a lot of fruit and vegetables you really do generate so much compost. I recently heard of a community compost bin in a neighbouring suburb. Wonder if that will go further in Sydney… Does it cost for your plot?
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Great discovery, Brydie, I didn’t know we had that in Sydney! It’s fabulous that they’re able to provide you with such locally grown, fresh produce! You might be interested in Amanda’s posts on her FC boxes in Adelaide – every fortnight she talks about what’s in the box:
http://www.lambsearsandhoney.com/category/food-connect-boxes/
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Foodconnect in Sydney is still relatively new, I think it started back in Feb this year, with Brisbane starting it all off before that. So still growing.
I do know the lovely Amanda 😉
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Yesterday I picked up my first box from foodconnect and I’m also lining up to commend the scheme for its quality, range, ethics and the obvious passion with which its organisers conduct their business. Last night we had crunchy spears of fresh as fresh asparagus and I am happily anticipating the big bunch of chinese broccoli, avocados and various assortment of goodies.
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Really glad you were happy with it Wendy.
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This sounds like a great idea. I like the sound of the food coming directly from the farmers.
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It’s the kind of fresh that you simply don’t see if getting your veges from the supermarket. I get a little excited every time I open the box 🙂
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There’s a similar program run by CERES in Melbourne, too (www.ceresfairfood.org.au), which our family has been really really enjoying!
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Excellent. I had heard about a Melbourne branch but wasn’t sure if it was flown under the same banner. Glad you and your family have been happy with it!
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A slug was found in the veg drawer the other day in the fridge and a caterpillar had built a nest in there as well. One day I had brought a whole lot of something in, can’t remember what it was and by the evening there was a race meet of earwigs going on in slow motion on the bottom shelf. slow because they were operating at 4 ºc ! It’s all go in my fridge sometimes. Though at the moment it is pristine. Your box scheme looks great, I just had a peek at their site. Hope it does well. At the moment we are getting most of our organic veg from a farm that runs a box scheme but also opens up a shop on Saturdays, just round the corner from one of our fave dog walks, so we walk the dogs, pop over to the farm, and choose from what he has there that day. But I might go back to the veg box as the winter goes on. I still prefer to choose for myself.
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Joanna I had a good giggle thinking of your earwigs going in slow motion. I keep meaning to clean my fridge out, but something keeps coming up, (always something better to do.) I’ve really enjoyed not choosing as we were just getting the same veges over and over again as they were Monkey friendly. Makes me think a bit more with what to have for dinner, using what we have been given.
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I like the CSA boxes my friends get! They go out of town a lot and I get their veg for the week!:)
I love Farmers Markets. I love to pick and see, taste and talk to the growers. But if I didn’t have that option- the CSA would have me for a customer.
I had container plantings this summer. I’m not doing it again- I didn’t get much produce. Maybe I will cajole my husband into a small veg bed next year.
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Heidi I did container plantings for awhile too. It was a constant battle, and in the end I invested so much money with very little to show for it, decided it wasn’t worth it. So a just a few to keep us going, and me being to dip my hands in soil now and then (or potting mix.) The smaller amount of them, means they get extra special love from me 😉
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So happy to hear you love Food Connect – I’m just starting to do some stuff with them here on the Sunshine Coast and SO looking forward to it.
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PS I’m still working on the worm farm mite problem for you too…
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Thanks Sonya. I really appreciate it. No one seems to know what they are.
And that’s great you are going to be doing some work with them, (Foodconnect, not the mites!).
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Fantastic, Brydie – I am so pleased that you are happy with Food Connect! I’ve been a fan for months now, although the teenage son has complained about the increased load of veg in his diet!
One of the things I really like is the surprise when I open the box every week!
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I love the surprise too Amanda. The Monkeys aren’t so impressed with the new array of veges before them, but I’m loving it. Coupled with my new flat bottomed wok and I’m a happy gal!
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Well done!! We have a popular organic box delivery system in our area for people that don’t grow their own, or want to supplement their homegrown supply. Some friends (like you) have mentioned that it has gotten them eating completely different vegies than they would normally buy. I think it’s a great idea! 🙂
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Last night we had asparagus. I had forgotten just how delicious it is when it’s fresh. Deeelicious.
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I’ll post about the mites on Monday!
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Thank you!
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CSA is wonderful isn’t it! I love not having to work out whether something is local or organic. I just know it is.
I still struggle with fruit, there’s not much grown locally. But we we’re probably eating too much fruit anyway.
p.s. I have a draft post along these lines. So when I get around to finishing it one day – please don’t think I copied 🙂
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The more the better Tricia. Spreading the CSA word!
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No, we’re really luck, so I do feel mean complaining. A friend lent us a bit of his field. Before we got started, he sold it but the new owners seem happy for us to stay and no money has yet been asked for – we’ve had 2 seasons so far. It’s actually a really lovely space and when I have the time and the weather is good it’s a real blessing to have somewhere quiet and sunny to go. But it’s just inconvenient for the day to day work of planting, weeding and most importantly harvesting that needs to be done.
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