Customizable vegetable boxes

[Franci]

Hello. I couldn’t find an old thread on this. Since we moved here to Florida, compared to NY, I feel our fruit and vegetable consumption has decreased. It is so important to our diet that we still consume a lot but I often miss the quality and variety I was able to find in NY. I am thinking of ordering online but I don’t like the idea of a box where I have no say in what I am getting, I like the idea to customize my vegetables. Do you have any suggestion where the ratio quality and price is justified? 

Also, any of you buy fruit boxes? I am tempted by the Georgia peaches for example,  but the pugliese in me still cannot get over the prices. I mean, in my mind I have the couple euros a kgs for the most nice smelling peaches, vs the 60-70$ for 12 peaches, really?  So tired of throwing away tasteless fruit. 

[gfweb]

Your best bet might be a supermarket.

I tried misfit and imperfect and was frustrated by the quality and the amount of useless stuff.

[Franci]

  On 6/14/2021 at 4:10 PM, gfweb said:

Your best bet might be a supermarket.

I tried misfit and imperfect and was frustrated by the quality and the amount of useless stuff.

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@gfweb I am getting frustrated with supermarket too. Since September that we moved on the island is even worse. It takes me 15-20 minutes to get off the island, here we have only Winn-Dixie. I do not like their fruit and vegetables. Whole Foods is still  better than other supermarkets but I have the old habit of getting the best from each store and shopping has become so difficult.  I feel I have to drive tons to get to different stores. Definitely these days missing so much my French farmers market from Monaco, walking distance, 10 minutes in the back of my house 🙁

[gfweb]

  On 6/14/2021 at 4:23 PM, Franci said:

 

@gfweb I am getting frustrated with supermarket too. Since September that we moved on the island is even worse. It takes me 15-20 minutes to get off the island, here we have only Winn-Dixie. I do not like their fruit and vegetables. Whole Foods is still  better than other supermarkets but I have the old habit of getting the best from each store and shopping has become so difficult.  I feel I have to drive tons to get to different stores. Definitely these days missing so much my French farmers market from Monaco, walking distance, 10 minutes in the back of my house 🙁

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I feel your pain. Acme Markets up here are pretty bad

[weinoo]

I was always surprised by the lack of great produce in Florida - they ship most of the good stuff out.  

 

What about taking a once a week approach - there must be some farmer's market or decent place to buy fruit and vegetables in or near the city of Miami. How about these for starters?

 

https://glaserorganicfarms.com/

 

Bonmarche Market

Address: 7621 NE 2nd Ave, Miami, FL 33138

 

This place does customizable boxes, and is local...  https://floridafarmdirect.com/

 

https://vizcaya.org/posts/farmersmarket/

Fresh Produce Every Sunday

The market gathers dozens of vendors offering locally grown and hand-crafted goods every Sunday, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Watch the video to go behind-the-scenes and inside the market.

 

http://www.urbanoasisproject.org/farmers-markets.html

 

http://www.urbanoasisproject.org/

 

 

 

 

 

[Franci]

Thank you @weinoo! The first link is for Coconut Grove mkt, my old neighborhood, compared to NY market, no interesting to me. I went there the first week and left wondering what was all fuss about this market. 

 

I went through all your links! Many CSA are not starting until November but I did find a very interesting one. Fruits and cahoots, not huge selection but it was what I was looking for, organic local produce and prices don’t look out of this world. I already placed my order. I will let you know guys. 

 

[Shelby]

  On 6/14/2021 at 4:10 PM, gfweb said:

Your best bet might be a supermarket.

I tried misfit and imperfect and was frustrated by the quality and the amount of useless stuff.

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 I was going to suggest Misfits and Imperfect until I thought about it a second and realized you're on the east side of the US like Gfweb is.  It would likely be the same hub that yours would ship out of and his hub is TERRIBLE.  I've had great success with both companies produce but mine ships from completely different places than his does.

 

I suppose it wouldn't hurt for you to try, though.  You can always cancel your account if you're not happy.

 

I would feel the same way as you if I was used to such delicious and good-priced items like you've had access to in the past.  

[Franci]

  On 6/14/2021 at 8:45 PM, Shelby said:

 I was going to suggest Misfits and Imperfect until I thought about it a second and realized you're on the east side of the US like Gfweb is.  It would likely be the same hub that yours would ship out of and his hub is TERRIBLE.  I've had great success with both companies produce but mine ships from completely different places than his does.

 

I suppose it wouldn't hurt for you to try, though.  You can always cancel your account if you're not happy.

 

I would feel the same way as you if I was used to such delicious and good-priced items like you've had access to in the past.  

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I’ve seen that Imperfect doesn’t deliver to my address, Misfits ye,  I will try and see how it goes. Meanwhile local CSAs will start again in November, although I am not huge fan of having a set box. I could try in the future. Meanwhile I want to see how it goes the order I just placed for this week. 

[Shelby]

  On 6/14/2021 at 8:54 PM, Franci said:

 

I’ve seen that Imperfect doesn’t deliver to my address, Misfits ye,  I will try and see how it goes. Meanwhile local CSAs will start again in November, although I am not huge fan of having a set box. I could try in the future. Meanwhile I want to see how it goes the order I just placed for this week. 

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I'm shocked that Imperfect doesn't deliver to you.  I bet they will in the near future.

[weinoo]

You could always take a ride up to delray and see "the boys."

Admittedly a schlep.

Fruits & Cahoots looks nice.

 

I was more thinking along the lines of taking a ride to one of these:

 

Market Locations- All markets are year round

Legion Park Farmers Market
6601 Biscayne Blvd, Miami, FL 33138
Saturdays 9-2PM Now Open
Free parking in main park lot, 6447 NE 7th Ave, Miami, FL 33138

South Miami Farmers Market
Between City Hall and the Library
6130 Sunset Dr, South Miami, FL 33143
Saturdays 9-2PM  NOW OPEN
Free Parking at City hall, SE 72nd St.

Vizcaya Village Farmers Market
 3250 S. Miami Ave, Miami FL 33129
Sundays 9-2PM NOW OPEN
Free Parking at Vizcaya Village, west side of S. Miami ave (old science center lot)

Market Mondays at the Arsht Center- Drive Through Market on the valet ramp
13th and Biscayne Blvd (1301 Biscayne Blvd.)
Mondays 4-7 PM NOW OPEN

 

And seeing what's up at them.

 

Sadly, I don't think you have a great chance of finding some of those more bitter greens that I suppose you're lusting after.

But I will say that the boys, in Delray, had all that stuff...how shall I say it was Italo-centric.  And some day I'll tell you the story about how my mother would say, every single fucking time I went there to shop, that she knew them when all they had was a roadside stand.

 

I wonder if there's something closer like that - Lauderdale perhaps, Homestead? Sure a schlep, but might be a fun weekly or biweekly excursion. We travel for rapini could be your slogan.

 

 

 

 

[weinoo]

Also, face it Franci - you're in Florida and Florida pretty much sucks.

 

Come back to Brooklyn - all is forgiven!!

[KennethT]

@FranciI belong to a Facebook group dedicated to buying fruit - mostly tropical fruit.  The vast majority of the sellers are in Florida - many of them in Homestead.  I recently bought 2 boxes of green Thai mangoes that have been awesome so far.  The group name is "fruit 4 sale" - if you have a problem joining it, PM me with your facebook name and I can invite you into it.

[Franci]

  On 6/14/2021 at 10:42 PM, KennethT said:

@FranciI belong to a Facebook group dedicated to buying fruit - mostly tropical fruit.  The vast majority of the sellers are in Florida - many of them in Homestead.  I recently bought 2 boxes of green Thai mangoes that have been awesome so far.  The group name is "fruit 4 sale" - if you have a problem joining it, PM me with your facebook name and I can invite you into it.

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 Awesome, thank you @Kenneth. Edit to add: thanks again @KennethT just joined, very interesting. 

Edited June 14, 2021 by Franci (log)

[KennethT]

  On 6/14/2021 at 10:45 PM, Franci said:

 Awesome, thank you @Kenneth. Edit to add: thanks again @KennethT just joined, very interesting. 

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Since you're so close (I don't know how far it is to their farms though) you might be able to PM some of the sellers to get better pricing since you don't need the Next Day Air shipping which is a lot of the cost.  I used Tai Duong for the 2 shipments and he is great - really responsive, fast shipping and really high quality fruit.  Everyone in that group raves about him.

[Franci]

 

  On 6/14/2021 at 10:26 PM, weinoo said:

Also, face it Franci - you're in Florida and Florida pretty much sucks.

 

Come back to Brooklyn - all is forgiven!!

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🤣 I honestly wish but my husband is all determined to stay here, let’s say that I prefer the dirty streets of Brooklyn to my tropical island, might sound crazy to some but it’s true 😁

[Franci]

  On 6/14/2021 at 11:39 PM, KennethT said:

Since you're so close (I don't know how far it is to their farms though) you might be able to PM some of the sellers to get better pricing since you don't need the Next Day Air shipping which is a lot of the cost.  I used Tai Duong for the 2 shipments and he is great - really responsive, fast shipping and really high quality fruit.  Everyone in that group raves about him.

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Good to know! Thank you, KennethT. 

[weinoo]

  On 6/15/2021 at 12:15 AM, Franci said:

 

 

🤣 I honestly wish but my husband is all determined to stay here, let’s say that I prefer the dirty streets of Brooklyn to my tropical island, might sound crazy to some but it’s true 😁

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You don't think I doubt that, do you?

 

Other than eventually sinking into the ocean, FL is a hellhole. Without state income tax.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

How do we go about reprogramming your husband?    Is there a possible compromise between Florida and Brooklyn?     San Francisco?      

[Franci]

  On 6/15/2021 at 12:33 AM, weinoo said:

 

You don't think I doubt that, do you?

 

Other than eventually sinking into the ocean, FL is a hellhole. Without state income tax.

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Not at all, unfortunately I am stuck here for a while. 

 

  On 6/15/2021 at 1:16 AM, Margaret Pilgrim said:

How do we go about reprogramming your husband?    Is there a possible compromise between Florida and Brooklyn?     San Francisco?      

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Not now that he has found the perfect solution for the kids school. But hopefully travel is becoming easier and I can finally escape 🤣

[Franci]

Finally my first order from Fruits ‘n Cahoots  arrived. It looks promising 

[dtremit]

  On 6/14/2021 at 8:45 PM, Shelby said:

 I was going to suggest Misfits and Imperfect until I thought about it a second and realized you're on the east side of the US like Gfweb is.  It would likely be the same hub that yours would ship out of and his hub is TERRIBLE.  I've had great success with both companies produce but mine ships from completely different places than his does.

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We're closer to gfweb than Franci is, and we haven't had anything like his issues — I think the problem is far more granular than the East Coast.

Edited June 17, 2021 by dtremit (log)

[KennethT]

  On 6/17/2021 at 5:37 PM, Franci said:

Finally my first order from Fruits ‘n Cahoots  arrived. It looks promising 

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that is a big passionfruit!

[Franci]

  On 6/17/2021 at 6:16 PM, KennethT said:

that is a big passionfruit!

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I opened the mango and it was very juicy and sweet, also the goldfinger bananas super good! Thanks @weinooyour research was fruitful, for real 😁

[KennethT]

  On 6/17/2021 at 6:43 PM, Franci said:

I opened the mango and it was very juicy and sweet, also the goldfinger bananas super good! Thanks @weinooyour research was fruitful, for real 😁

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Nice!!  I just got a shipment of tree ripened nam doc mai mangoes from a grower in Homestead, FL.  He also threw in a few mahachanok mangoes for free since this is now the third time I've bought from him this month!  The mahas are small but unbelievably sweet and fragrant.  The nam doc mai remind me of what I used to have when on vacation in Thailand... so good. Sweet, a bit of acidity for balance, perfect.

[Franci]

  On 6/17/2021 at 7:55 PM, KennethT said:

Nice!!  I just got a shipment of tree ripened nam doc mai mangoes from a grower in Homestead, FL.  He also threw in a few mahachanok mangoes for free since this is now the third time I've bought from him this month!  The mahas are small but unbelievably sweet and fragrant.  The nam doc mai remind me of what I used to have when on vacation in Thailand... so good. Sweet, a bit of acidity for balance, perfect.

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I just checked, also these guys have the mahachanok mango…I saw I can get the mix box, 6-8 pounds for $30. I will get next week. I am all happy now, at least fruit wise. The owner told me that they sell more vegetables in the fall. For now I got zucchini and butternut squash.