Bountiful Baskets! What a Deal!

I’m always hearing how expensive it is to buy local, farm fresh produce. Is that really true? Here’s “Part 2” of my fact finding mission!  (click here to read "Part 1")

Here’s what I did…

On September 10, 2013, I picked up my weekly delivery of local, farm fresh produce from Live Power Farm’s CSA and catalogued what was in my basket. The basket was overflowing this week with summertime treats!… There were Lambkin and Tasty Bite melons, 3 ears of corn, 2 cucumbers, 1.5# potatoes, 1 eggplant, 2 sweet peppers, 3 summer squash, 1 large head of lettuce, 6 stems of chard, 3 radishes, a small bunch of arugula, a small bunch of Asian greens (tatsoi), 2# of slicing tomatoes, 2 spicy peppers, 1 basket of cherry tomatoes, and a head of garlic. 

With this list in hand, I then headed out to our local grocery store, Ukiah Natural Foods Co-op. This store has beautiful, organic produce… though only some is LOCAL produce. Here are a few notes about my procedure: 1) I didn’t find exactly the same items at the Co-op as were in my CSA basket. For example, they did not have Lambkin or Tasty Bite melons, only Honeydew. 2) The Co-op did not have any corn on the cob or Asian greens, though they were in my Live Power CSA basket… I just estimated that 3 ears of corn would be about $1.00 on sale at a big grocery… I simply left out the Asian greens. And 3) I did my best to check for size and weight that matched up with what was in my CSA basket.

And now… check out the results of my point-in-time price comparison survey.

Fresh Produce	Ukiah Natural Foods Co-op
Lambkin melon	4.87
Tasty Bite melon	4.87
Corn	1.00*
Cucumbers	2.00
Potatoes	.65
Eggplant	2.30
Sweet peppers	1.40
Summer squash	2.00
Green Leaf lettuce	1.85
Chard	2.29
Radishes	.50
Arugula	.15
Tatsoi (Asian greens)	*
Tomatoes	8.38
Spicy peppers	.75
Cherry tomatoes	5.00
Garlic	.78
TOTAL for Live Power CSA  $22.66	TOTAL for Co-op  $38.79

I have to say that I am pleased to be eating local, farm fresh, AFFORDABLE produce from Live Power Farm’s CSA. I even saved $16.13 buying from a CSA! Plus, I enjoy knowing exactly where my food is coming from and to be in a relationship with local farmers.

Are you interested in joining a CSA? Check out the complete listing of Mendocino County CSA’s in the Local Food Guide.

Mendocino College Fall Plant Sale - Oct. 4th, 5th!

Tree Care Blitzed!

Thank you to Common Vision, PG & E, and all the volunteers who helped to care for Brookside School Farm's fruit trees on Sunday! Don't they look great?

Sharing the Bounty 2013!

 

Having difficulty viewing this great slideshow, go directly to our Flickr site:   

Sharing the Bounty 2013

 

The 4th annual Sharing the Bounty fundraiser for The Gardens Project of NCO held at Saracina Vineyards this past Saturday, September 14th was a huge success.  The event raised $10,000 for developing school and community gardens.   Over 75 community members were treated to a unique and delicious 4 course meal prepared by local chefs:

•  Nicolas Petti of Mendo Bistro and the Mendocino College Culinary Arts Program, 
•  Phil Castro of Saucy
• Craig Strattman of Patrona Restaurant and Lounge
• Adam Weiss of Piazza de Campovida

All food and wines for the event were donated by local farms and wineries, then presented to the chefs to create unique the unique flavors of our county.  Dinner was served overlooking the olive orchard, vineyards and mountains of the Sanel Valley of Hopland.  A huge thank you to John Fetzer and Patty Rock for donating their space at Saracina for the event.

Additionally, a tremendous thank you to the following individuals and businesses that made the event possible by donating their labor and products,  thus helping create a resilient and accessible local food system in Mendocino County and beyond:

The evening's chefs and restaurant owners:  Cynthia Ariosta of Saucy, Anna Beuselinck and Gary Breen of Campovida.  The wineries and winemakers that provided the supreme libations for the evening:  Husch Vineyards, Scharffenberger Cellars, Roederer Estates, Alex MacGregor and Saracina/Atrea, and The Apple Farm.   The foundation of our local food movement, the farmers and producers:  Anderson Valley High School Farm, Aqua Gardens Family Farm, Cinnamon Bear Farm, Filigreen Farm, Floodgate Farm, Green Uprising at Blackberry Bend, Live Power Community Farm, Leonardis Organics, Russian River Pistachios, Lovin' Mama Farm, Mendocino Grain Project, Mendocino Organics, Noyo Hill Farm, Ocean Harvest Sea Vegetable Company, Seely Farm Stand, Schat's Bakery, Shamrock Artisan Goat Cheese, Stella Cadente Olive Oil Company, Tres Classique, and Cuppa Joe to Go.

Special thanks also go to our volunteers from Community HealthCorps and First 5 Mendocino, Thompson's Party Rentals for giving us a great discount, Jim Stuart and UVMC for material support, Marcos Pereda for his great music, and Moira Evans for leading dinner service.

We live in an amazing community and are grateful to all for sharing the bounty to help us build school and community gardens.

Missed the event, but still want to help?  Donate!  Volunteer!  Contact us!

                                             See you at Sharing the Bounty 2014.

Two Times the Fun: Canning Workshops in Ukiah and Willits

If you've been wanting to learn how to can, here's two great opportunities to do it with your community. Come to one, come to both!

Pomolita Middle School, Sponsored by Ukiah Natural Foods Co-op
Tuesday, September 24th
6:00-7:30pm
Home Ec. Classroom #316
$5 for Owners, $8 for Non-Owners
RSVP here! Or call Customer Service 462-4778

Grange Commercial Kitchen in Willits, Sponsored by The Gardens Project
Saturday, October 12th
10:00am-2:00pm
$5- all supplies and fruits to can included!
More details on our events page