Green is Such a Lovely Color

I found a company that delivers Fresh Local Organic Produce--right to my front door! This company is called Greenling, and it's based out of Austin, Texas. In addition to providing a lot of produce from local farms, Greenling also has many non-produce items such as milk and eggs as well as non-food stuff (I haven't checked everything out yet because so far I'm just interested in local organic produce). You can do almost all of your shopping this way, and there's no extra charge for delivery! Check out the website here to learn how a young college guy started the whole thing. So cool!

I stumbled upon all of this on Saturday and liked what I saw, so I decided to give it a try! The set delivery day for our area is Tuesday. That's today! I decided to go the easy route and choose the Local Box. This bin contains fresh local produce, and the selection obviously changes weekly. For this week, here's what I got:

• Spring Lettuce Mix from Tecolote Farm
• Carrots from Acadian Family Farm
• Chard from Bradshaw
• Brussels Sprouts from Hillside Farm
• Summer Squash from Acadian Family Farm
• Yukon Potatoes from Green Gate Farm
• Flat Leaf Parsley from Tecolote
• Heirloom Tomatoes from Bluebonnet Hydroponic
• Mango from G&S Grove
• Crisp Green Leaf Lettuce from Lund Produce

Here's a picture:

click on the picture for a larger view

At first I thought some of it was kind of skimpy. But after contemplating for a little while, I realized that it's probably just right. I sometimes end up throwing food out because I don't get to it in time. This is one way to have just the right amount. Besides, If I know I will need more of an item, I can request it ahead of time. There are other types of boxes to choose from, and you can build your own if you want only specific items. Although, I kind of like the randomness of the Local Box.

One of the many nice things about this company is that there are no contracts to commit to. You can order whenever and whatever you want. I only signed up for this week's delivery because I wanted to see how it all works. I haven't tasted anything yet, but I'm already thinking about ordering next week's box. I also plan to go to the grocery store tomorrow to price these things as a comparison--just out of curiosity since I know organic local food can cost a bit more. Either way, using Greenling is a fun and healthy way to eat my fruits and veggies as well as support local farms and help the environment. All good things!

Oh yeah, the box contains a list of what's in there as well as recipe suggestions. How helpful! They also gave me (as a welcome, I guess) a bumper sticker.

I'm so excited! Now I need to decide how I want to use everything this week.

Buon Appetito!