Summer vegetables

Back to reality. A few reasons prompted me to try Dominion Harvest this summer – a) curiosity b) I liked (the idea of) supporting the concept of a local company delivering VA produce and c) I wanted to see how I’d respond to the challenge of using vegetables picked out essentially at random. Since I've never seen any actual descriptions of DoHa in the blogosphere, here is my limited data on the "cardinal box" (spoiler alert !).
Week #1: Yukon gold potatoes, Carrots, Melon (Roundabout), Okra, Yellow squash (Sunny Side), Basil (Holly Hill), Green Peppers (Adlyn), Hanover tomatoes (Dodd’s), Goat cheese (Lover’s Retreat), Eggs (Fern Stream)

Week #2: Carrots, Beets (Roundabout), Red and White potatoes (Wayne’s), Local honey (Bob Stapleton’s Honey), Green Beans (Dodd’s), Zucchini, Swiss Chard, Garlic (Adlyn), Feta cheese (Lover’s Retreat), Eggs (Fern Stream)
I must say, it was rather fun seeing a nice red box on my porch every other week and opening it with some anticipation. I didn’t have any issues with the quality of the packaging (even with picking them up late on a particularly scorching day) or the produce. It wasn’t even a challenge to consume the items since they weren’t too far off my existing repertoire. Sadly, I decided to end the experiment after only 2 iterations. Primarily because of a certain degree of travel and also because it wasn’t too cost-effective (my back of the envelope calculations didn’t seem to think so). (I add, for me (as with everything else!)). I found myself visiting the farmer’s markets anyways, so it really didn’t make much sense to spend xx amount on stuff that I would deplete rather quickly.
I really like the concept and the execution and wish them luck. I am sure there is a customer base for who this sort of system is appropriate and of course - I could cry myself hoarse on the subject of local and fresh produce. Non-homogenous looking fruits and vegetables, with imperfections and taste! What a concept!!

Speaking of (the joys of) farmer's markets, one addition to the South of the James market has been the Market on the corner of Robinson and Monument. The former has been getting busier and busier (a great thing I'm sure). The latter has been going in a slightly different diirection with a fair number of antique and art sellers. Choice is nice.
Admittedly there is a bit of self-righteous smugness among the sustainability crowd (of which I am proudly one) but I still find some things amusing. Overheard at SOTJ one saturday (a scene right out of Food Inc) - A couple arguing the strawberries at a certain stall were "too expensive". The wife insisted that "but that is what they actually cost". The husband, nursing a venti mixed starbucks drink (retail > $4.00) countering "I dont care ! thats too much". As a point of comparison, that day, an identical box of strawberries @ Kroger (those of the white-on-the-inside kind) were a $1.30 more ! I dont question how people spend their money but at some level, pricing coupled with extensive externalizing of costs has muddled our conceptions of value, in the economic sense.

(Edit: found and uploaded a picture of Box #1)