How to buy fresh produce

Some people have gardens. Some people have co-ops. Some people go to a grocery store. Some go to the market. Me? I don't go anywhere! My fruit and veggies come to my front door!

How is Kim so lucky, you may ask? First, some background...

When we first moved here, I got used to a lot of different noises. (See my very first post for more on this.) There are a number of noises that come from the street: People blare music in their cars as they drive by. Stores will hire people with massive stereo systems to drive around all day playing advertisements. Most recently, in light of the impending elections, (October 7) candidates like to promote themselves, mostly through writing catchy little ditties about how wonderful our municipality is. (ugg... just writing about it got one of them in my head!)

But there was one sound, though, that just I could not figure out. It was someone driving around with a large stereo, speaking into a microphone, saying something like this: "whoa wha whoa whoa who whassaaa sasaaaa aaa"(If you are confused, think of how adults speak in Charlie Brown cartoons.)

After hearing this a couple of times, I started asking my neighbours what that person was saying. You know what they said? "We have no idea!"... Then they said, "But we do know who it is. It's the fruit and veggie guy!" Hmm....

So the next time I heard "Whoa wha wha wha..." I grabbed my wallet and dashed outside. Sure enough, there was a pickup truck driving slowly down the street. The driver had a microphone to his lips, mumbling incoherently. The box was filled to the brim with goodies. So I flagged him down. Turns out he is not incoherent. He just has a brutally bad sound system. It also turns out that his produce is beautiful, fresh, and is pretty much the same price as in the open air market. The differences are: #1: I don't have to drive 10 minutes each way, wasting time and gas to buy produce. #2: I don't have to dicker for prices. His prices are always the same. #3: He doesn't sell meat, so I don't have to walk through the open air meat market. (While I like a nice steak, the meat market is just... gross.) #4, and possibly most importantly: I don't have to compromise my personal bubble while elbowing my way through crowds.

He comes down our road every Tuesday and Friday sometime between 8:00 and 9:00 am. There are a couple of things I can't get from him, but for the most part, this is now how I do my produce shopping. What a magnificent concept!

So if I am ever in North America and hear garbled voices through a microphone, don't be surprised if my knee jerk reaction is to grab my wallet and sprint for the front door. If you want tomatoes, you've got to be quick!

The truck

The selection

Make sure you turn your volume up to watch the video. Sorry about my bad acting. Can't say I enjoy being filmed!