I don't have a lot of enlightening or deep things to say today, I'm so tired my brain hurts. Hubs had a hockey game last night that we didn't get home from until after 1am. Setting that alarm clock and having it tell me how few hours I had to sleep before I had to get up and work on produce stuff was devastating.
Have I ever showed you pictures of what it looks like when we're filling produce orders? Everything comes in cases, items are priced per item or weight, depending on the uniformity of the box, orders are emailed in 1-2 days before we pick up all the cases, cases are picked up early early early Tuesday morning, cases are broken down into the orders Tuesday before I leave for work and then orders are picked up/delivered Tuesday and Wednesday.
In between all that is lots of tallying and running numbers, my personal specialty. (you can click the photos to enlarge)
***Not shown is the baby spinach, green beans, portobello mushrooms, eggplant, kale, avocados, broccoli, pears, honeydew or cases of clementines.
When the weather gets warmer we'll add watermelon, peaches, nectarines, raspberries & blackberries to the mix, but for the most part, what you see above is what we're packing up each week.
While the whole process is a tremendous amount of work and I'm still left wondering where all my time seems to go Sunday-Wednesday, it is also extremely rewarding. Experiencing the fresh produce off the docks vs. buying it from the grocery store after it's sat for 1-2 weeks and then been handled by 10 people before it even gets to the floor, much less all the shoppers that touch but don't buy...makes it more than worth the extra effort.
When we buy a case of the green leaf lettuce for ourselves and when we get it at it's peak, it will last a full month in our fridge before starting to wilt and break down. And since a case of lettuce never lasts that long around here, its a very rare occasion indeed that I have to throw anything out. Apples are rarely mushy or bruised and the tomatoes smell like they've just been picked out of a garden.
I also appreciate the fact that I've become so much better informed on where produce comes from during certain months. Also, how to predict rising prices from different weather patterns being experienced globally. California just had a big freeze in an area that a lot of fresh produce comes from in the winter months, consequently, we'll most likely start seeing shortages on berries and citrus (among other things) again.
It's also affected the way I view produce sales in the stores...when we call up and place an order and they tell us they've "cut the prices on ____ but personally I don't recommend buying it as we've had it for a couple weeks." Well what do you know, *insert big name grocery store here* is there buying it up the next day and sometimes not even cutting their prices in store! Just to clarify, that means they're often buying things that have sat on the docks for a few weeks, only to have it sit for another week or so in the cold room before they bring it out...and I used to wonder why my produce couldn't even make it a week!
One of these days I'm hoping we can start buying seafood again, years ago we used to split up cases of fresh salmon, swordfish, tuna and shrimp and other than eating it freshly caught, I've never enjoyed more fresh seafood. But it's also a lot more involved so perhaps we'll wait to do that until after I quit my job to stay home and raise our future kiddies.
How does everyone get their produce?
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7 comments:
Wow, that's awful that the big grocery stores buy old produce like that! I do notice that my fruit lasts alot longer when I buy from certain stores - I'm sure this is why.
Thanks for the support too Jen - you are such a good friend! :-)
You probably know this from reading my blog, but during non-garden months, we buy from a local grocery store that buys local whenever possible. Obviously, some things that aren't in season were flown in, but it's usually pretty easy to tell.
During the summer, we LOVE LOVE LOVE having our own garden!
Oh my goodness, that is amazing! I never knew produce could last that long! How did you get into this? And is it your business? Do a blog pls-how does this work and how do you sell to others?
YAY!! Thank you guys for doing all you do, we love our produce! And um, if you do decide to do seafood, let a sister know, I can get down with some seafood!
Oh my gosh I guess I never thought about the process it takes to get produce to the store... now I'm grossed out that the stuff I buy has been touched by so many people and sitting so long!!
Looks so yummy!
XOXO,
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I had no idea that's what happens at the big grocery stores!
I try to buy locally-grown produce, but I admit I bow to convenience and cost most of the time.
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