SPUD - Organic Local Produce Delivered to Your Front Door

Last week I saw this Social Shopper add in the local news paper for "SPUD." 

Basically, I paid Social Shopper $20 for a $40 gift certificate at SPUD, a sustainable produce company. I've often wanted to buy more organic, but with the prices being so high, I've stuck to organic apples and spinach (two of the top "Deadly Dozen" offenders for chemicals and pesticides).

Don't I wish I was getting paid for this. Anyways.

I purchased the Social Shopper Gift Certificate and went immediately to the SPUD website.

Basically, it's a company where you get local organic groceries delivered to your front door, a wonderful company if you're into sustainable living.

I checked out their website for a while, then I ordered a box of assorted organic local produce, to be delivered the following Wednesday (today).

When I came home from my errands this morning, there it was at the front door: my box of sustainably harvested local, organic produce. I got apples, beets, carrots, corn, fennel, romain, crimini mushrooms, pepper, nugget potatoes, and a pound of tomatoes. 

I am really pleased with this company - my only complaint is that the website is a bit complex (it needs to be with all the choices involved for online grocery shopping), but with a cup of tea and a few minutes, totally do-able.

If you want to try it out, they sent me a coupon for friends: 

Referral Code: CRVAN-BURVIC

If you use that code, we both get $20 of free SPUD groceries.

Love, Victoria

Hopeful Herb Garden

As you can see, my little herbies are definitely not growing yet. Hmmm. Maybe it's too cold yet?

Composter

So, as part of my new gardening persona, I decided to do composting. But compost bins were hard to find in town and when I looked online, ALL of them were more than $100. To put rotting vegetation in. Yeah, right.
So I went on craigs list.
And I would have you know that yesterday I became the proud owner of two recycled 58 gallon barrels (one for a rain barrel, one for composting) for the hot HOT price of $15 a piece. All I have to do to make the one in to a composting bin is drill a few holes in the bottom.
The rain barrel will be a bit trickier, because we are going to drill a tap into the bottom of it, but I have a plumber friend who is going to help us for cheap (maybe free?).
Also, I have been shopping around for gardening tools, and I got everything I needed for $2.50. Yep. I borrowed a shovel, edger and clippers, and purchased a spade, trowel and watering can for $2.50 at the local thrift store.
Man, I love a bargain.

A Green Experiment

I am going to try and grow a few herbs.
If you know me very well at all, you will know that I am very adept at killing plants and may be inclined to laugh, but I feel a new phase coming on, so I am willing to try and see if my brown thumb has turned green.
I purchased chives and rosemary at $1.79 a packet, and Stevia at $3.79 a packet. It cost about $6 for some seed starter and I am going to look at BFM for pots today. But I am also going to try using the bottom of a 4L milk jug as a starter container. If I  get a decent crop of Chives and Stevia, will definitely make back my expenses within a few months, so I think it's worth a gamble.
But I also (... I wonder if I have bitten off more than I can chew...) picked up onions and garlic for $2 a piece. I haven't decided yet how to plant them (in a container or the ground, but I would definitely make the money back if I can actually grow them.
Wish me luck... I am going to get started today.