Bountiful Baskets Tucson

This week I decided to try out Bountiful Baskets.  They are a co-op that does a vegetable share.  You pay $15 a week for a basket of about 6 different fruits and 6 different vegetables.  You don't know what will be in the basket and you don't get to choose.  The nice thing about it is there is no commitment.  The other CSA's in the area are a 12 week commitment and between $20-$25 a week.

Here is this weeks loot.  

FRUIT: Pears - 5 pieces, Yellow Plums - 7 pieces, 1 Mini Watermelon, Bananas - 5 pieces, 1 small pineapple, 1 small basket of blueberries

VEGGIES: 2 Bushels of Radish, 1 large English Cucumber, 5 Tomatoes, 2 heads of Collards

The melon this week was awesome.  I ate about half of it for lunch.

If you are interested in trying out a local Bountiful Baskets in your area, go here for current locations.  They have locations all over the country and there are a lot of different pick-ups in Tucson alone.

While the produce isn't local or organic, it is pretty good.  I probably won't order a basket very often because I am the only one who eats fresh foods in my household.  If I had a family of 4 I might consider doing it more often.  

Value wise, if you eat everything in the basket, you probably do save a little money.  I think I probably broke even on my loot.  I am excited to try new things with the radish and collards, two items I never buy.

Here is a link to some local Tucson CSA's.  

I would probably prefer a local farm, but as I mentioned earlier, they are more expensive and require an upfront contribution for around 12 weeks.  If you are just one person it may be a challenge to eat that much in one week.

My plan for these pears?  Pear pizza on some homemade dough.  I have a lot of cooking to do!

Here is a shot of today's lunch with the items from my basket.  I cut the mini watermelon and devoured that while I cooked up a tomato and mozzarella grilled cheese, sauteed radish and radish greens, and a salad of edamame, cucumber, radish, and tomato.  I have never been a huge radish fan, but sauteed with butter and garlic, they were pretty good.  The greens were very much like spinach with a little more flavor.