How Does This Work?

Every week, we visit local farms, talk with the farmers, and purchase the freshest, yummiest food. We support farmers who nurture their soil, strive for sustainable farming practices, and don't use harmful or questionable products. Each week, you choose a la carte from the list of available food and pay for what you choose. We pack your share into reusable containers and you get your food. You, in turn, leave us the empty containers from last week's order and arrange payment. It's that simple!

To assist in your enjoyment of local produce, we will share storage information, preparation tips, recipes and ways to use new foods via this blog.

Sometimes, customers will have the option of adding eggs, honey, meat, cheese, mushrooms, bulk fruits, and other foods to their orders. Monthly, we order dry goods and food staples from Neshaminy Valley Natural Foods (based in Philidelphia, PA). These additional options are called Special Orders.

Is the food organic? Organic is such a key word these days. We go for local first, choosing farms that are as close as possible to the LaPlata area. Whenever there is an organic option, we will go with that. After that, we look for farmers who use IPM (integrated pest management), composting, and other sustainable practices. If you would like your food to be strictly organic, just let us know when you become a customer!

There are three membership options:
I) Weekly delivery to your home - cost $12/month + mileage charges
II) Weekly pickup at my home - cost $12/month
III) Special Orders Only - cost $5/order


Monday, October 27, 2008

Egg Weights and prices

Ever wondered why free range, organic eggs can be as much as $4 a dozen? Organic chicken feed is more expensive than conventional feed, but not a huge difference. And you want the free range chickens to eat plenty of bugs so the eggs are chock full of nutrients for you and bright yellow yolks as well. I find that the main price difference has to do with size.

All eggs sold in the state of Maryland must be sold by the following weight classes as specified by USDA standards (The minimum weight of each class increases by 3 oz more than the one smaller than it):

EGG WEIGHTS
SIZE OZ/DOZ
Small 18
Medium 21
Large 24
Extra Large 27
Jumbo 30

I recently purchased jumbo size eggs for baking from farmer #1. They were $4 a dozen. So that is $0.33 per egg or $0.13 per ounce of egg.

In the spring, from farmer #2, I purchased small eggs at $2 a dozen. That is $0.17 per egg and $0.11 per ounce of egg.

So the jumbo and small eggs are about the same price per ounce of egg which is what I care about when baking. When we are eating just eggs or omlettes, I use fewer jumbos than smalls and so they actually last us longer. Funny how things work out with math :-)
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