This Little Piggy is going to Market!

I read Michael Pollen's In Defense of Food. It was a good book. I think, it made some very valid points. One such point encouraged either growing a garden or consuming local organic produce. I'm not really a garden kinda girl.  So, all hail the internet! There was a service in my area that offered online ordering of organic locally grown goods and residential delivery. Lazy AND organic... was I a hipster wanna be?


I ordered a summer vegetable package with a supplemental fruit bundle all for the bargain price of $75 not including delivery and packaging fees (the use of a cooler). Ridiculously expensive? Yes! But, Pollen also points out, in his book, that the demand for cheap food is what brought us to this sorry state of food affairs. Also, I was under the illusion that, not unlike fruit of the month, I was going to have so much produce my kitchen would be over flowing. 


It amazed me how little $75 will get you. I received my order on Friday, it's Monday and I'm almost out. Here's what I received: 2 pints of blueberries, 1 pint of blackberries, 8 mini Apricots, 14 tiny plums, 2 cucumbers, 1 incredibly bitter head of red leaf lettuce, 6 Chinese eggplants, 3 round zucchini, 3 patty pan squash, 12 very small yellow yukon potatoes, 2 tiny heads of purple cauliflower, 2 tiny heads of white cauliflower, 5 ears of corn, 6 tiny spring onions, 3 heads of pak choi, 1 bundle of dill, some string beans and 1 pint of josta berries. It's a nice list, but one I could have easily paid under $45 for at the supermarket, if I bought non organic. 

My cooler of produce

You do not get to choose what you get, which is exciting and, at these prices, scary. If you get something you aren't used to cooking and you ruin it, you feel terrible. 


For example, I over steamed the 3 heads of pak choi. It smelled awful. I threw it out. 


I had so much stone fruit that was too tart to eat; I made a very tart fruit tart. 


I pickled the cucumbers with the dill and some apple cider vinegar. 


I roasted everything I could: cauliflowers, zucchini, onions, potatoes, corn and eggplants. I was frantic to prep everything I could to ensure it would be eaten.


I tried to eat the lettuce, but it was so bitter I couldn't get it down. 


I have no idea what to do with the josta berries, they taste very weird. Before, I would have cooked them with pork. 


I must say, most of the produce was incredibly delicious. I will try this again in the fall. But, for now, I think I will be scoping out local farmer's markets. They are only open 7AM to 12PM on Saturdays, but it just might save my wallet and my health.