Bountiful Baskets!!!

I've heard of Bountiful Baskets before.  Mostly from friends and family that live in Idaho and Utah.

It is a produce co-op that works entirely with volunteers.  You "contribute" to your site every other week (in our area) for fresh, amazing and quality fruits and vegetables!  I heard that my friend Jesse Mae was training to open one here in western Nebraska and I jumped on the chance to train!

I had to travel to Cheyenne, WY (130 miles) for my training, three times.  Then we had to wait three months to open.  I won't lie, I was beginning to think that we were not going to open.  Jesse Mae and I were so anxious and excited to offer to this our friends and our community, we had a hard time waiting!

Finally.

OPENING DAY!

Today!

When I trained in Cheyenne, the truck was at least 1.5 hours late.  It was a relief to have it arrive five minutes early!  I made fun lanyards for my volunteers to wear each time.  I could not do this alone and volunteers make it all possible.  It is suggested to use no more than 10 otherwise it is too many people and chaotic.  The "VSC" is me....the Volunteer Site Coordinator.  Matt wasn't a fan of the zebra stripe I told him I at least chose a gender neutral green ribbon instead of the pink I first grabbed.  I made 11 of them in less than 30 minutes for under $10!

We had 75 baskets "ordered" or contributed to.  All of the money stays at our site to buy our produce so you really don't "order" a basket....the more people who contribute, the more produce we'll have.  There are  96 baskets available, so 75 is a great number for our very first time.  I predict we'll sell out next time!

All of the produce comes off the semi in cases, like it would at a grocery store.  This why volunteers are so important.  We sort and distribute all of the produce equally into each basket for each person.  Every piece is sorted by hand and also quality checked.  You won't receive bruised or rotten fruit!  How great is that?  You can also order "extras" in addition to your baskets. Organic produce, bread, veggie packs, cases of fruits or veggies.

Our empty baskets.  Technically....each participant gets "two" baskets.  One with fruits and one with vegetables.

This was my "basket" today.  Just the melon, cherries and blueberries would be close to the $15 the entire basket cost.  The melon is a Galia....a hybrid of a cantaloupe and honeydew.  SO GOOD!

I also ordered an Asian veggie pack: bok choy, green onions, onion, ginger, garlic, peas, basis, celery and napa cabbage.  The best part....only $8.50 for all of it!

20 pounds of peaches for only $21!  I plan on canning most of them and freezing the rest for smoothies and ice cream treats!

Five loaves of organic bread for $12, that is less expensive than the cheap wal*mart bread!

I didn't order an "organic" produce box but I just had to peek and see what came inside!

Grapes, bananas, mango, peaches, tomatoes, cucumber, plums, potatoes, green pepper, radishes, lettuce, broccoli, beets...$35.

All in all, it was a huge success!  I am so relieved to have "opening day" done!  Next time will run smoother, everyone has an idea of how it works and everyone won't be "new" to the experience!  My awesome friend Kelly is training to be my "back up", we have so much fun together!  It is daunting to think of "doing one more thing" right now but this is such a great opportunity to offer something amazing to our community and it is only every other week so I think it will be a good addition!

Do you have a site near you?

www.bountifulbaskets.org