Produce Box Delivery Review: Naturally Organic

In a bid to make eating local, seasonal produce as easy as possible, I've decided to try out some of the produce box delivery services available in Auckland. This week's box is from Naturally Organic, an organic food store based in Albany. As well as a number of produce box options, you can order lots of other organic products from their website.

I ordered the two person mixed box of organic fruit and vegetables for $30, plus an extra 500 grams of onions for $2.50 (also shown in the box in the photo). There was a delivery fee of $6.98. This put it on the pricier side of the produce boxes I'm trying out. The box contained plenty of fruit, and all of the produce looked fresh and of good quality. My one complaint is that when I ordered the box I chose the option of having my produce delivered unwrapped, but when it came it was all wrapped. The fruit was all in paper bags, but I pulled it out before taking the photo so you could actually see it.

The Naturally Organic website was easy to use. During the ordering process you can specify things you don't want to receive in your box (handy when you are still trying to finish off a giant cabbage from last week's produce box). You can get an idea of what your box might contain by checking the seasonal lists on the site. You can get a box delivered (in Auckland) any weekday if you order before 10 am on the day.

Reviews of other produce box delivery services:
All Good Food
Foodbox.co.nz
Eco-Organics

Growing Vegetables on Your Apartment Balcony

I'm very excited to announce the arrival of the newest addition to my household... my balcony planter box!

I've made some half-baked attempts at growing herbs in my apartment before, but this time I'm growing as many vegetables as I can squeeze into my planter, so I feel like it's worth the time and money I invest. But I haven't just invested time and money into this; I've made an emotional investment too. I've raised the plants from seed and have developed a bit of an attachment to them. I'm not allowed to keep animals in my apartment, so those little green guys are my substitute pets. So, I must warn you at the outset, I'm probably going to be upset if they don't grow well!

What can you grow in a container on an apartment balcony?
You can grow quite a lot in a small space, as it turns out, using techniques like Square Foot Gardening. The most important factor is how much sunlight your balcony gets. Fruiting plants like tomatoes need at least six to eight hours of sunlight each day for optimal growth. Root and leaf crops don't need as much. You should start by working out how much sun your balcony gets, and then choose crops that like that much sunlight.

What am I growing?
It's autumn here in New Zealand, so I'm growing broccoli and cauliflower. I'm also growing basil, parsley and coriander to season the delicious dishes I'm going to whip up when my crop is ready.

Where did I get my gorgeous planter box?
My planter box is made of macrocarpa, a tree that is often used for windbreak hedges on farms in New Zealand. The wood is naturally resistant to fungus and rot, so you can use it untreated in gardens. It also looks good and smells amazing! A lovely Auckland hobby craftsman made my planter box. If you're in Auckland and want to find out about getting your own macrocarpa planter box, contact me and I'll put you in touch with him.

Produce Box Delivery Review: All Good Food

All Good Food box contents

In a bid to make eating local, seasonal produce as easy as possible, I've decided to try out some of the produce box delivery services available in Auckland. I've started with All Good Food because I liked the authentic feel of their website and how easy it was to use. The philosophy behind All Good Food is basically, "We couldn't find reasonably priced organic food and we figured others would be having the same problem, so we thought we'd start up an organic produce delivery service to solve that problem." As well as several sizes of organic produce boxes, you can also order a range of organic and free range meats, and free range eggs.

I thought the small mixed organic fruit and vegetable box (pictured above) was reasonable value for $30 (including delivery). All of the produce looked fresh and high quality. The bananas are Fairtrade All Good Bananas. They helpfully include a produce list on their website in case you don't recognise some of the less common contents of your box. They hadn't got around to updating it in time for box deliveries this week.

The service was  excellent. When you order you can include up to three "wishes"- items that you particularly want or don't want in your box. The night before the delivery I got an email telling me when (approximately) my delivery would take place. The delivery guy was very polite and asked whether it would be OK to drop the box by the apartment door if ever I'm not home at delivery time. They also have cute deals like if you place a four week order, you get a free bag of mixed herbs. It's very straightforward to add extras like potatoes, organic meat or free range eggs to your order. There's a recipe section on the website containing a token two recipes. Perhaps they are changed regularly to reflect the contents of the boxes?

Update
All Good Food still hadn't updated the produce list by the end of the week, and it turns out they don't update the recipes on their site to reflect the contents of the box. Two weeks after receiving the box, none of the ten or so kiwifruit that came in it were yet ripe - not ideal.

Reviews of other produce box delivery services
Naturally Organic
Foodbox.co.nz
Eco-Organics