$15 Bountiful Baskets v. $10 Food Co-op = Tie!

Well, I finally got around to trying Bountiful Baskets-a western state food co-op where one literally needs to sign up within in the first few minutes to get the prime pick-up locations! They charge $15 for their weekly allotment (you just sign up on the weeks you are interested.) There's an additional $1.50 charge for running your payment through the system. (Bottom line: $16.50 total)

We received 12 Roma tomatoes, 6 ears of corn, 4 artichokes, 3 cucumbers, 3 mangoes, 2 yellow onions, 2 green peppers, 1 3-lb. bag pink lady apples, 1 pkg. blackberries, 1 head of romaine lettuce, 1 pineapple and 1 cantaloupe. The cucumbers and green peppers had to be eaten within the first five days but the rest stayed fresh for at least a couple of weeks and longer (except the blackberries which lasted about 30 minutes. We can never test the freshness of berries because they never last long in our household!)

The people were friendly and helpful. Food Good.


And then there's the long time competitor that we've patronized for years now-the community food co-op where a share is only $10 [no payment charge (ding!) point in their favor!]

We received 1 bunch of 6 bananas, 5 pink lady apples, 4 regular tomatoes, 4 green peppers, 2 cucumbers, 1 bunch of broccoli, 1 bag of coleslaw, and 1 personal sized watermelon. The green peppers, tomatoes, bananas, and coleslaw needed to be used within the first five days. The rest lasted a bit longer.

The people here are also friendly and helpful. Food Good.


Results: A Tie. There was a total of 8 varieties and 19 items from the local co-op for $10.
The newcomer? There was a total of 12 varieties and 37 items from the BB co-op for $16.50.


Checks and balances: about 1/3 of the Bountiful baskets was the 12 Roma tomatoes. Hmmmm....were the tomatoes hogging the item count? But their food lasted longer that the food we usually get from the other co-op. The other co-op seems more and more to be getting food that needs to be used within a week. I have to admit that it was nice to have food that lasted longer from Bountiful baskets but the price is a bit more than the community food co-op.


Verdict: I think we'll actually continue to get food from both and see how it continues to measure up. I am looking to see if the local food co-op will bring back the farmer's market share...that was always tasty and worthwhile because of the two main selling points: a) local and b) organic.

Author 80: Ed Young with a cat

Simple. Beautiful. No words. By Ed Young. Look for Asian influences. http://edyoungart.com/

County Shoebox Float Report

Recently the school project for the semester centered around a report on any county of the state. Summit county was chosen and the report involved making a shoebox float to display at least 3-5 important items from the chosen county. Summit county has lots of wildlife [deer, squirrels, even the occasional bear (even if the real ones are a bit bigger than the gummy ones on display)], lots of plant life (pine trees, flowers, berry bushes, etc -each side of the box has a picture of a different kind of plant/bush/tree from Summit county), the Sundance film festival is held every January in Park City (the roll of film with a "star" on it), there's recreational activities from hiking to skiing (skier) but Summit County started out with mining [the ring mounted in silver (not real silver!) and the stone to the side that's lodged in the box and is meant to represent gold mining (but it's really fool's gold!)] She considered some other items but just ran out of room on the box.

Along with the box float Daisy presented an oral report talking about her county and the items chosen for her float. She received high marks for her work!

Say, is that Mica's green precalculus book in the top left corner of the top picture? The knowledge building just never stops!

Author 79: Marilyn Singer with world weather

On the Same Day in March by Marilyn Singer

From melting snow in Alberta, Canada to hailstones in India to rain in Kenya to hot and sunny in Thailand-there's all kinds of weather in all kind of places all on the same day in March.
Read more about Marilyn Singer at: http://www.marilynsinger.net/

Author 78: Otoshi teaches the value of 0

Kathryn Otoshi presents the value of Zero in this simply drawn children's picture book. Zero feels like she does not have value like numbers 1-9. But then when she decides to join them, they find they all have a greater value when they include zero. We like the message that everyone has worth and we don't need to compare ourselves to others to find our worth- because it's right there inside of us. When we recognize our own value we can help increase the value of others as well.

Spring Chalk Art 3

Drawing of Cat
Said cat by drawing
More notes for art history



Finalizing preparation for AP Art History


Results? We won't find out the scores until summer is well underway. Now she has three classes that will still meet and study and learn even though the main tests are over for her Art History, Euro and English AP classes. At least there is less pressure now and she can devote a bit more time to physics and pre-calc!

Authors 76 & 77: Rockwell and Balian Mother's Day Books

Mother's Day is coming up on Sunday, May eighth! This post is just a little thank you for all the wonderful things all the mothers in our lives do for us including mothering that comes in the form of grandmothers, aunts, sisters, cousins, and friends. And most especially for mom! Thank you for all you do for us!

Mother's Mother's Day by Lorna Balian

Mother's Day by Anne Rockwell with illustrations by her daughter, Lizzy Rockwell. See more of Lizzy's art and more mother/daughter collaborative books at: http://www.lizzyrockwell.com/