Archive for the ‘Local produce’ tag

The Produce Box…Connection From a Cardboard Box

It’s 4 a.m. and I can’t sleep. Hey, it happens. So here I sit, steaming coffee cup nestled beside me, crickets happily chirping away outside, combing the internet to find a way to use up some butternut squash that I have left over in the deep recesses of our fridge.

Those who know me best know that butternut squash isn’t something that I’m going to be the first to volunteer for. In fact, it’s fair to say that you’d probably find me last in line.

So what’s a typically squash-avoiding woman like me doing with squash in her refrigerator?

Well the story goes like this…we’re fortunate here in this part of the country to have a wealth of folks skilled in agriculture, bee keeping and the like. Add this to essential ingredient to the formula along with an enthusiastic interest in farmers markets and fresh produce and voilà: meet Courtney and the folks at The Produce Box.

The Produce Box is a business whereby folks receive a weekly box of fresh local produce (picked no more than 18 hours prior to delivery) and, get this; they deliver your box right to your front door…think Schwann’s-style.

We’ve enjoyed the weekly deliveries and I’ve been challenged to use what arrives. There have been surprises like the gigantinormous (Giant’s word for HUGE) white root vegetable with straggly green tassels as well as Elf’s and Giant’s decisions to add sprite melons to their respective lists of “non-yucky” foods.
The boxes have been true gifts. We’ve been able to discuss the food cycle, organic v. non-organic farming, distribution chains as well as answer the kids’ questions such as how do worms get into corn…and why? We’ve practiced naming our colors, too – reds, purples, yellows, dark greens, blues, whites and oranges have all burst forth from the boxes this summer.

Occasionally, we are able to enjoy “add ons” such as special breads, nuts, locally made gourmet items and this fall we can look forward to coffee! All from the area where we live, love and laugh together.

We anxiously await Thursday mornings when Ms. Gina delivers the goodies. She is our summer Santa.

The Produce Box is great teaching tool that encourages gratitude, interest in the world around us as well as a sense of connection…to our state and the planet we call home, to our hearth and, when it comes to fresh fruits and vegetables, to our health. We look forward to lifting the lids off many more white boxes. To those who farm in harmony with the earth and its creatures, we applaud and thank you.