Yes that is ice on the veggies!

We’ve been getting shipments of fresh organic fruits and vegetables from Full Circle Farm the last few months, resuming service after over a year. We stopped service previously after helping to bring Full Circle Farm shipments to Tok with others in the community including the tireless efforts of Francine at the Tok General Store because the shipments in winter were arriving frozen. The truck (from an Alaskan shipping company) that brought the boxes of fresh produce to Tok from Anchorage where they are flown in from Washington State didn’t realize the devastating affect of Interior winters on the contents in the boxes.

We resumed recently when we heard that the truck drivers learned their lesson finally after much spoiled produce and were putting the boxes in their cab. All was well and earlier this winter, we had a few great deliveries, savoring the fresh and diverse offerings. But now, for a second box in a row, we are getting produce that is frozen solid including tomatoes, tangerines, apples, pears, mushrooms, carrots, beets, kiwi and potatoes. The boxes are in the back of the trucks again.

The vegetables will fare better upon thawing than the fruit which will turn to a semi liquified state (applesauce and pear sauce may be in order before they competely spoil). The shelf-life of the veggies thawed, however, will be just a few days.

While Full Circle Farm has a 100% satisfaction guarantee which is greatly appreciated, it is discouraging to get half-edible but great looking produce at a time in the year that every little bit of “sunshine” counts. Well, you do what you can do and get what you can get in these parts.

I’m off to sautee some frozen rainbow chard.

Got produce?