The vegetables are in the bag

In a previous post I mentioned how we have been participating in Purple Dragon Co-Op for years. Today was our biweekly share pick-up, and I decided to give you an idea of how it works, and what you receive.

A food co-op is a pretty simple concept. Purple Dragon has "pods" across New Jersey, parts of NYC, and Rockland County, NY. These pods are part of a collective, where all products are purchased in bulk, and distributed to each pod. All food is selected in a mindful manner. Local, organic, ecological growers are part of the supply network. The preference is always local, but in the off season, the co-op will buy from as far away as New Zealand, still being mindful shoppers. By being mindful in their purchase, Purple Dragon supports sustainable agriculture - environmental stewardship, farm profitability, and prosperous farming communities. In return, the members get high quality, healthy food. 

By mindful, I mean they don't buy from big agri-business, where the produce is "nurtured" with pesticides, and the soil is destroyed by monoculture. Monoculture is when a single crop, usually genetically modified, is planted as the only crop on a piece of land. This practice sounds good on the surface, but since each type of plant has specific needs for nourishment, eventually the soil will experience loss of specific micro-nutrients and crucial organisms, and the crops will suffer. Also, if a pest or disease gets started in the field, it now has a huge supply of the food they like. Think of what would happen if you love chocolate, and have a very big box of it. Getting rid of these over eaters requires more chemicals on the plants and soil. Which you ingest as you eat your perfect, unblemished, symmetrical vegetables.


Members of the pod have a share to pick up every two weeks. Different pods have different distribution days, ours is Thursday. The person leading the pod sends out an e-mail to let us know what is coming, and if there are any considerations related to the current delivery. This week the broccoli is prime, so we are cautioned to eat it very soon.

Earth Machine

I usually go pick up our share. I bring an empty Ikea bag and the payment for the next delivery, and leave with the full Ikea bag that we left the last time we were there. This week the bag contained Fuji apples, beets, carrots, delicota squash, avocados, red leaf lettuce, Valencia oranges, Bosc pears, Peruvian bananas, yellow onions, Hakurei salad turnips, grape tomatoes, bok choi, and the broccoli. There are always special order items available, such as local honey, seed starter kits, and many vegetables and fruit.

Have you ever compared the flavors of an organic and chemical banana? Trust me, it is totally different. The same for organic avocados that are used for guacamole. Go ahead, give it a try. Buy some produce at the same time, and take the test. I guarantee that you will like the flavor of the organic produce a lot more than the chemical produce.

Secondary fence composter

There are times when we can't eat all the food. This is rare, but it does happen. When it happens, we put it in our Earth Machine Composter, along with any of the peels and leaves, sunflower husks from under the bird feeders, and any yard debris we accumulate. The composter turns it into nice organic soil for our garden. Many counties have these composters available for a deep discount, so before you buy one direct, check around. We also maintain an open compost pile for leaves and branches that are around after the town finishes the leaf pick-ups. To answer the question you are thinking, no, composting does not smell, at least not if you manage it correctly. I am sure this will be a topic for a post as we get into the spring.

Now get out there and be mindful! Buy organic, the birds are depending on us!