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We are 4 months into our real foods journey and our family is really embracing the changes. Some have been more of a struggle than others but most have been very positive. I was excited as we approached this month and our focus on fruits and vegetables. Excited because I love fresh produce but really do struggle with this aspect of our real foods journey as much as I do with giving up caffeine. I struggle with making the right purchases, how to move growing our own produce and solutions for those items we can’t grow. I KNOW the dirty dozen and the items I really need to focus on buying organic; but I when push comes to shove at the grocery store, if faces with .99 cent a pound apples and $1.99 a pound organic apples I have trouble choosing the organic. My wallet starts screaming at me to PUT THEM BACK AND GO CHEAPER! Yes, I know the benefits and the cons but it is still a hard decision when faced with the choice. So what is a mama to do?
Since starting our journey I have bought less of my produce at the conventional grocery store and instead purchased most of it at the local farmer’s market. The reason being that when I am at the market I am given organic and local options. Either one of those is a better choice than conventional for our real foods journey. I am not presented with the alternative so I don’t hear my wallet screaming at me. This has helped a ton.
As for gardening, we just don’t seem to have a good spot for it. Several years ago I did square foot gardening but our back yard has a lot of afternoon shade and isn’t close to a water spout (don’t ask). A couple years in a row we used the front flower bed as a vegetable garden but it doesn’t end up being the prettiest look on the block.
When we put our house on the market, we decided to invest in a CSA program instead. I loved the CSA program because I was introduced to new fruits and vegetables, was taken out of my comfort zone in cooking and received great fresh produce. After two years with that particular program/farm, I found the system a bit cumbersome, and I was experiencing a lot of waste when I received items which we didn’t care to eat.
This year we found a PERFECT solution! Green B.E.A.N. Ohio. If you live anywhere in or around the Columbus, Dayton, Cincinatti Ohio area you must check them out! What I love about this CSA is that I can choose every week or every other week. I can go in each time I have an order and adjust my order to the produce I want and don’t want. I can upgrade my box or downgrade my box. I can order groceries and meats as well from the various partner vendors. And even greater, I can start or stop it at any time and even choose to pause it while I am on vacation! Amazing! And they don’t require a deposit. I am utterly and totally in love.
Lately, I have also gotten quite a few questions on the cost comparison. I am always quick to indicate that I didn’t sign up for this CSA because I wanted to save money, but rather, I wanted to focus more on organic produce and keep myself away from store choices I feel aren’t as good for me. So the price hasn’t really been a factor for me. But it did get me curious so I decided to do a cost analysis of my most recent produce bin.
The cost of my bin was $35 and I received the following:
- 12 ounces asparagus
- 1 bunch broccoli
- 4 lbs of Yukon Gold potatoes
- 10 ounces snow peas
- 1 pound green beans
- 2 each Pink Lady apples
- 2 each Bosc Pears
- 1 each Murcott Mandarin
- 2 each avocados
- 1 pint grape tomatoes
- 1 each romaine lettuce
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Disclosure: I did not receive compensation from Green B.E.A.N. Ohio, I do however earn a discount on my order if you put my name in. All the opinions in this post are mine.