We were really excited when we found a co-op here in Fort Worth where we could receive fruits and veggies. However, we just as quickly got very disappointed with the co-op basket. All the veggies and fruit are organic, but they are the same produce that we can just as easily buy at the grocery store down the street. So, let’s just say we decided after this week to look elsewhere to buy our produce.

Luckily, we found the prefect fit for us. A local beef farmer located about 10 miles from Fort Worth owns a small organic store that offers a CSA basket every 2 weeks. It will be loaded with local seasonal veggies and some fruit. However, there will also be some non-local produce in the basket. The farmer assured me that when he needs extra produce he purchases from small farmers in Indiana. I know it is far, but I would rather support local small farmers in the Indiana area instead of a factory farm mass producing produce in California.

So, this is what we received in our co-op basket. I am already looking forward to our CSA basket in a few days!

1-PURCHASES:

Food

Co-op basket

• 2 heads of lettuce
• 1 bucnh of kale
• 2 bell peppers
• 1 container of grapes
• 1 container of raspberries
• 1 bag of carrots (2lbs)
• 6 apples
• 1 celery stalk
• 2 pumpkins
• 2 butternut squash
• 1 bunch of beets
• Tomatoes
• 8 pears
• 1 bunch of bananas

Sub-total: 50.00

Central Market:

• Peanut butter in bulk
• 1 bunch of Cilantro
• 10 tomatoes
• 2 Serrano peppers
• 1 loaf of millet bread
• 1 loaf of sprouted “ Ezekiel” bread
• 1 onion
• 1 package of sprouted “Ezekiel” pita
• 3 bunches of bananas
• 4 peaches
• 1 carton of coconut milk
• 3 glass bottles of Kombucha
• 1 glass bottle of apple cider vinegar for my hair
• 1 bag of  “Vega” vegan veggie/protein powder
• 2 bags of tortillas

Sub-total: 80.09

Miscellaneous

• biodegradable toothbrush covers 3.19
• Toilette paper made from recycled paper (I am looking for toilette paper in cardboard packaging instead of plastic –  if anyone has seen some, please let me know.) 7.29
• Sign-up fee for registering for our CSA 50.00

Sub-total: 10.48

Restaurants

• Tuesday J.P went to Chipotle for lunch- I was jealous 10.00
• Wednesday J.P went out for drinks with friends; again I was jealous 16.00
• Friday night was pizza night at Mellow Mushroom 40.00
• Saturday afternoon at the state fair J.P had one corn dog and a lemonade 7.50
• Saturday night was “I am too tired to do anything.” We each ordered veggie wraps at Spiral dinner; 2 cookies; all vegan, all organic and dined at home. 29.00

Sub-total: 102.50

TOTAL: 243.07

2-COMPOSTING

I am sighing with relief. Our composting is no longer a problem- not only did our new friend Ruby offer to take our compost, but our our lovely farmer Mark has also agreed to take it as well.

Our compost this week weighed a grand total of 8.8 lbs. We are trying to decrease our compost by using the fruit/veggie pulp after juicing to either make soups, broths or raw breads.

3-RECYCLING

We actually didn't have that much to recycle this week. Same old same old; paper seems to be the culprit.

4-TRASH

We again tried to weight our trash and it still says zero which we know is not true. We will wait until we have a larger amount to actually weigh. We are hoping this day doesn't come.

We had the usual suspects in our trash this week receipts, fruit/veggie stickers, plastic wrapping from banana, plastic wrap from my Kombucha caps and unrecyclable plastic from the toothbrush holder.

5-TRAVEL

Seeing as J.P is either carpooling or taking the train, we only travelled a total of 128km (79.5mi). We again did not need to fill our gas tank; I still have half a tank left. The last time we filled up was when J.P arrived in Fort Worth over 2 weeks ago.

We went to the Texas State Fair on Saturday and J.P wanted to enjoy a corn dog and a lemonade. However, he wanted to make sure he respected our zero-waste. It worked out great for him. He was able to get his corn dog without a wrapper and the stick was compostable and we came prepared by bringing a reusable cup for the “just in case” moment. And, this definitely classified as that moment.

The one thing we learned over the last six weeks is that you can never be too prepared! And, that we are!