How To: Farm Fresh Delivery

I recently had a mom friend ask me about my experience using the local produce delivery service, Farm Fresh Delivery.

I’ve shared information about our deliveries here on the blog a couple of times. I’ve been very happy with the quality of the produce we’ve received thus far. I’ve had 1 issue- my grapes weren’t in my bin- and they immediately credited my account for the error.

I get the medium fruit and veggie bin for $42. All produce is organic and it is from midwest farms as much as possible. Farm Fresh also seeks relationships with local area farmers to provide to their customers.

On Thursday afternoon, I receive an e-mail from Farm Fresh with their newsletter. The newsletter highlights any specials being offered, local producers, reminders, and recipes.

It’s also my notification that it’s time to go customize my bin if I’d like- I have until Monday to do so. My delivery day is Tuesday.

I go to the website and login. This is where I can customize my bin or I can scroll down and add various grocery items to my order. I’ve not gotten anything extra from FFD before (meat, granola, eggs, pasta, etc).

I click on “Customize” next to my standard bin order. It shows me everything that is currently scheduled for my bin for the coming week’s delivery. The list shows me how much of each fruit or veggie and where the produce is from. If I’m happy with what’s included, I don’t have to do a thing.

I can go through and make adjustments to anything I don’t want or want more or less of. Anything I don’t want, I change the quantity to zero. For this bin, I don’t want lettuce or garlic or collards or corn, I want 1 lb of grapes instead of 2, I want 1 cucumber instead of 2.

Then I hit Update and now the ordering system will let me select new items based on how much room I have left in the bin based on my changes.

The drop down menu changes based on how much I can add to my bin.

Oh! They have beets this week! I’ve been wanting to try fresh beets and this is my chance!

I click update and it will tell me if I still have room and will customize that drop down menu based on how much room I have left.

I add a cantaloupe and still have room. I add pluots (plum/apricot hybrid) and still have room. I add mini sweet peppers and still have room. I add 1 vidalia onion and still have room. I add 2 avocados and still have room. After the avocados, you can see that the choices that will still fit in my bin have changed and it’s more limited now.

I change my quantity on the pluots from 1 to 2 each and now my bin is full.

My new bin:

Delivery comes on Tuesday for me. On cooler days, it’s just a large green plastic bin with a snap close interlocking lid. Now that the heat has really kicked in, the bin is lined with insulated material and includes an ice pack. Thankfully, my delivery seems to come around the end of the day so it doesn’t sit out for very long at all.

You can see my other mention of and post about Farm Fresh Delivery. Tomorrow, check the Eternal Lizdom Facebook page in the evening to see a picture of the bin’s contents!

P.S. Farm Fresh has recently expanded to include delivery service to schools!

Funky, Funny, Feel Good Friday Fragments!

Click the buttons above to go visit our lovely hosts- Mrs444 and The Girl Next Door. Here's my fragmented list of things that I felt good about this week!

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I posted over at FitCity Indy yesterday. As often as I can, I've been attending every other week chats on Twitter that FitCity hosts. There is a different guest each chat who is there to answer questions about food, fitness, healthy lifestyle. This week, I posted about how those chats are magic- at least for me. Hop over and I hope you will leave a comment and maybe include a link to your favorite online motivation for staying focused on fitness! Click the button below.

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A week ago, I went out with a group of theatre friends. Actually, I only ever worked with 3 of the women in the group. 4 of the women I have met through these nights out (I get invited because I'm still friends with Christy). We went to a local hibachi place and had a blast. I enjoyed 2 small glasses of wine and those small glasses of wine certainly helped me find great humor in the turtle tank when I ventured off to find the bathroom:

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I greatly enjoyed this week's Farm Fresh Delivery again! This week, instead of just accepting what was sent, I went online and customized my delivery bin. I got strawberries (2 containers), blueberries (1 small container), an artichoke, an avocado, 2 kiwi, a bunch of radishes, a bunch of carrots, a pound of peas (in shell), a pound of green beans, a lemon, oyster mushrooms, baby spinach. My kids have created a new favorite snack- hollow out a strawberry and fill it out 3-4 blueberries. Never would have been possible with regular strawberries but the ones we got were HUGE!

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I had a very frustrating drive home on Wednesday. It had already been a long day and I was exhuasted and I had to go do the mom-school-Teagan-Ball thing and all I wanted to do was go home and put on my red athletic pants (from Ashli) and zonk out. So that kind of lets you know my mood. Our route home is usually mostly highway. Yesterday, we cam upon major traffic so Christy and I decided we'd take our back roads route. It usually serves us well. Not this time. Traffic, traffic everywhere. Red lights at every turn. I finally got on the main road that goes from one side of town to the other (116th Street). The stretch I would drive would be about 5-6 miles. Not long after turning onto this main road, and immediately hitting a major back up, a woman passes by on her bicycle. Ha ha ha, right? Traffic starts to move and we pass her.

Traffic backs up again and she passes us. Hm.

We finally get to a major cross road and have caught up to each other. Traffic looks bad so I opt to head south and then cross over and come back up north. Traffic was bad that way, too. We finally make it back up north and are about to the cross street near home and what do I see?

Yep. That's her. Yep.

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Happy Friday!! Any big, fun plans for the weekend??

Teagan has pre-k graduation on Saturday morning (*sniff, sniff*).

2 more local Farmer's Markets open this weekend (not sure I will get to them but we'll see).

Sunday, the church choir kids are going to lead the congregation in a worship song for the first time!

I also have some planting left to finish- herbs, peony, sneezeweed.

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Focusing on healthy living, kinky turtle, giant strawberries, efficient bicyclers, and weekend plans... What do YOU feel good about this week?

Something Brand New

Today, I will be getting my first ever delivery from Farm Fresh Delivery. It will be at my house by the time I get home. I received my invoice that tells me what I will be receiving and I am very excited! You select the size container you want- the website gives you an idea of how much produce you receive in the various size bins. The food iss organic and, whenever possible, locally produced. Indiana hasn't yet hit high produce season- the bins should get exciting starting in June, I think. I went for the Medium bin which is recommended for a small family. 1 24 oz -Potatoes, Klamath Pearl - Organic 1 Each Onions, Vidalia - Organic 1 Bunch Broccoli - Organic 5 Each Oranges, Valencia - Organic 1 One Pound -Asparagus - Melon Acres - LOCAL 2 Each Cucumber - Organic - Lady Moon 1 Each Lettuce, Green Leaf - Organic 1 Pint -Tomatoes, Grape - Organic 1 1/2 Pint -Blueberries - Organic 1 16 oz. Berries, Strawberries - Organic 1 9-12oz. Mushrooms, Portabello - Organic Potatoes, onion, tomatoes, blueberries, and strawberries will be for everyone! Broccoli, oranges, asparaus, cucumber, lettuce, and mushrooms will be primarily mine. We will have to hit the grocery store for grapefruit. We picked up bananas this weekend. With my focus on the majority of my diet being fruits and vegetables, this is going to be an ideal opportunity. I also love that I don't have to think about the produce. They select what goes in my bin. This also means I have great chances to try new items! I've thought many times about trying Farm Fresh Delivery. But my diet wasn't consistent with my desire to try it out. Now I am very confident that I will consume the food that is delivered right to my door! This might reduce how often I get to the farmer's markets around town. But there is also a good chance that a weekly delivery on Tuesday will be consumed by Saturday and I'll need to hit the market to get through to the next delivery. Used to be that I would plan out which fast food place was closest to home. Amazing how we can make better choices!