It is the last day of July, and for a change of pace, it is raining this morning in the desert!  August no doubt has a lot of heat in store for us here, and I doubt we will do much more than we have for the last month or month and a half, which is hide in the air conditioned coolness of the indoors, and try to fight with the A/C unit to keep it running! 

The big thing I have to share with you today is about a group called Bountiful Baskets.  Bountiful Baskets is a food Co-Op that takes only $3 to join, and it charges $1.50 for each transaction after.  Other than that, most of what is on offer is laundry baskets of food.  Each “basket” costs $15, and in our case is actually two baskets divided up as fruit and vegetables. 

These two baskets of food are the return on our $15 contribution.

Between specified times on Monday and Tuesday you go to the website and make a contribution of $15 per basket.  You are allowed up to three baskets per week, and there are other items available too, such as bread.  Then, on Saturday morning you come down to your specified pick-up point and collect your food.  In our case, it is in front of the local elementary school. 

Here’s the baskets laid out for collection.  Volunteers lay out the food.  You are advised to volunteer once in every six to eight times you use the Co-Op, but are told not to worry about it if you cannot!

You don’t get to pick what is in your basket, but at these prices, I am sure that if there is something we cannot make use of for the family, then the chickens will happily help us out! 

We got our first basket, and figured on the local prices at the store to be about $30 worth of food.  The website boasts that you will get $50 worth.  Even though we felt a little shorted, we actually still got 50% off our food, so we cannot complain, really! 

http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/

I do recommend the site, so follow the link above and see if they serve your area.  The organization is centered around Utah, but serves 15 other states as well!  If you are in the west there is a good chance you can participate.  Also note South Carolina is listed!  You can also set up your own site if you are not currently served locally!

For us, Bountiful Baskets may make up for what has happened with our garden, or in this case, NOT happened!