Now that niblet number two is starting to delve into culinary delights, partially eating and mostly decorating the kitchen, we were running out of organic options for fruits and veggies. The nearest Whole Foods is nearly an hour away and our local grocery store has been trimming back its organic offerings so much that we had to resort to buying mostly frozen just to avoid the pesticides in all the   Dirty Dozen.

We had tried organic home delivery eons ago, but since we were both working full time, the produce spent a lot of time in a cooler on our front porch and it cut down on the shelf life quite a bit. Since I’m home a lot more these days we decided to give it a try again. Orlando Organics has a variety of delivery options with their basic packages ranging from $22.99 to $42.99. We tried the Harvest Blend Regular which is $32.99 and which has proven to be just enough for our family of 4 to eat within a week and not go bad. An example bag for our most recent week’s deliver would be. But the amounts and items can change, plus they let you list your favorites and not so favorites within your online account (so in our instance we didn’t get collards but instead celery).

• Broccoli
• Cantaloupe
• Collards
• Gala Apples (4)
• Green Beans (1#)
• Hayden Mango
• Minneola Tangerines (1.5#)
• Red Butter Lettuce
• Tomatoes (2)
• Valencia Oranges (4)
• Vidalia Onions (1#)
• Yellow Corn (2)
• Zucchini (1#)

They deliver it in a reusable cooler bag that you just return the following week and so far we have loved everything that was sent. Our first week we had an avocado that was bad, but they replaced it with one the following week with no fuss or muss. The nice thing about the organic home delivery is that it keeps us honest in terms of snacking since I loath to waste food, so instead of breaking out cheese and crackers, I’ve been offering the kids sliced up fruit. Though, dubbing a kiwi as “Princess Fruit” was not always enough to entice a picky two year old, mama sure enjoyed it (as did little sis). If weekly is too often, they also have an option to deliver every other week as well.

From their site:

How Orlando Organics Works

Orlando Organics is a family-owned and operated organic produce home delivery service. We have been in business since June 2002. We are not a co-op or a buying club, nor are we a retail store or a CSA farm.

We exist solely as a delivery service. At Orlando Organics, you sign up for a subscription of organic produce, choosing one of our primary produce options, and we deliver that produce to your home weekly or biweekly (every other week). (Unfortunately, we do not deliver to offices or business addresses. Sorry.)

The contents of each of these bags change from week to week and are based on seasonal availability, what we get the best price on, and are based on our goal of supplying you with a varied selection of fruits and vegetables every delivery.

We get our produce from organic farms all over the country. We try and obtain locally and regionally grown produce whenever possible.

You will never get the exact same produce twice in a row, and often the contents will change very regularly from week to week. We keep our web site updated frequently so that you can see what produce will be in your bag each week, although sometimes availability causes us to make some changes.

I’m loving using more fresh fruits and vegetables in my soups and other dishes and I’m surprised that the extra prep time isn’t really an issue. Plus, using Orlando Organics has cut back on our food budget since it is really way more cost effective then buying frozen or driving to Whole Foods and the produce is even fresher then what we’ve found at our local Farmer’s Market.