Great news if you want to participate! We now have 2 drop sites every Saturday. The Fire Hall and Sacred Heart School this week and the Hospital and Sacred Heart School next week. The response has been so overwhelming that Montana has now been moved to an earlier time to contribute. Get online at bountifulbaskets.org every Monday at 10 am. Custer County will sell out quickly so set an alarm.

There are also sites in Broadus, Baker, Fallon, Jordan and Glendive as well as Colstrip. I believe they are working on Roundup and Ashland also! Anyone willing to be a Site Coordinator, please contact me and I'll help you get started!

Yummy fruits and veggies!

Kim

Looks like Roundup is going as well as Sidney.

Wow! This has really been successful. Congratulations!

And FAllon MT has a site to

Jamie,
She's got Fallon on the list - it took me a couple of read-overs too! ;0)

There are a few baskets left in Roundup and Circle but that's about it for this area! Can't wait for Saturday!

I'm trying to order but don't find Custer County in the list for Montana. Has anything changed or is it just sold out?

You're correct...if Custer Co isn't on the list it's sold out. They went fast!

I have an alarm on my computer at 10 a.m. Monday morning. I know if I'm not there by noon, forget it!

I forgot to change my alert from noon to 10:00.....darn. Looked like they had a good Easter option too.

Order quick! Only pickup site at HRH available at 5 after 10 a.m. this morning! Asian basket, carrots and tomatoes are the extras, plus the usual bread and granola.

Are they all gone already?

It appears that Custer is off the county list, which means all the baskets are claimed.

I have a huge, huge garage in a good location.....would they let me use it as a drop site? or no residential areas? I usually work on Monday mornings so I always miss out and I hear these baskets are awesome!!

Is there some reason there is only one pickup spot? I thought there were two sights in Miles City.

Sacred Heart School had to pass this week as the school is being used for Springfest.

Yes, another site can be started. All you have to do is train at one of the other sites for a couple of weeks. Visit with one of the site coordinators. I picked mine up at a private home in Billings in February.

I noticed there was no Sacred Heart School this morning and I thought, gee, I wonder why that is. After my brain ground gears for a few minutes, I remembered I am babysitting my youngest niece this Saturday so her parents and older sister can go to Springfest. Plus I am eating at SHS on Friday night and buying stuff.

So, yeah, Springfest. The theme is Roman Holiday this year.

I just ordered my basket from Jordan, they have 38 available still...and Fallon has a few left as well, if you can't live without your basket this week...you could take a nice Saturday drive to get one 25 lbs of carrots, 25 lbs of Roma Tomatoes, Asian veggie pack, and sourdough bread are extras this week!

Is there a need for another drop off? I would be willing to offer my garage up if we need it...who do I contact to get in for training? You can call me at 406-934-1440! Thanks

ddtb--you just need to show up at one of the other sites, visit with the site coordinator and work a couple of weekends and they'll get you going.

I would love to start getting baskets but am totally new to this and a little confused. Whats all this extras stuff? i hear there is an organic option, how does that work? What are the pickup times?
Thanks everyone, sorry for my ignorance

RB: Check out http://www.bountifulbaskets.org

Has anyone else found that the fruit lately is so green it will rot before it ripens?

The apples have been lousy but that is the only fruit I've had trouble with. Steve just bakes the apples into pie and we get by. The tomatoes are standard shipping tomatoes, which disappointed me.

None of mine has rotted....it just took a while to ripen. You can always try to ripen things a bit faster in a brown paper sack--just make sure you check it daily!!!!

All of my fruits and vegetables have been delicious and I haven't lost any to "rotting".

My apples have been awesome--crisp and flavorful. The Junamis we got in January have been my favorite.

The little green apples we got the last time were darling but had absolutely no flavor. They were like eating dust. However, Steve stuck them in a pie with spices and caramel and they were delicious! Worse comes to worse, COMPOST!

Our biggest problem is we forget we have something. Like that canary melon still sitting in the frig. Oh, dear.

I agree. Our produce has been great. The Junamis were wonderful. We get organic. I wonder if that makes a difference?

Liz

OK I am understanding this better now thanks! So those of you who get organic, you are satisfied with what you get? Are there stickers on the organic produce, how do they keep the organic and non-organic seprate? How many pounds of produce ususally come per basket? Thanks!

We love our organic box. They come packed seperately in boxes. They do have organic stickers on them. I have never weighed the produce, but am well satisfied in the amount and variety.

Liz

The Junamis were an add-on. They weren't in the regular basket. But I'm not complaining! I get a huge amount for a good price. The organic basket comes in a separately packed box. It is less than the regular basket and has a different selection entirely. I have never gotten the organic so can't comment on it, but we are getting a regular basket, the Asian add-on and 25 pounds of carrots tomorrow!

How do you know what some things are? I wish they could write on the bags. I have no idea what fresh herbs we got last time. Would be nice to know.

You guess. You look on-line. You ask my husband, the foodie. You hope for the best.

That is one of the things that makes BB fun! Never knowing what you are getting, even after you got it.

If you are on Facebook, so is Bountiful Baskets...I go there a lot, and you will see a lot of people asking what the different items are...it's a great way to find out, discuss, and share recipes!

I love the guessing game when I've never seen an herb or food before! It's fun!!! I also like NOT knowing exactly what I'm getting, but just knowing it'll be worth every penny!!!

This week's apples smell wonderful! We got water chestnuts in the Asian pack! Steve is downstairs prepping stuff to freeze even as I type.

So can I order tomorrow or is it the next monday?

You can order every Monday now. Be sure to register in advance. You will log-in when you go to order on Monday. At 10 a.m. I won't be ordering for a few weeks until I go through the current crop. My deep freezer is FULL!

Tomorrow at 10 a.m. you can contribute for either Sacred Heart or The Firehall. Next Monday for Sacred Heart or the Hospital. The only other week I am aware of with less than 2 sites in MC will be Bucking Horse weekend.

If anyone else would like to start another site let a VSC (volunteer site coordinator) know at one of the current sites so you can start training. Anyone in Forsyth?

I couldn't find our county on the link above am I to late was that why our county is not on the list or am I doing something wrong???

http://www5.bountifulbask...ttype=BOTH

Custer County did sell out in less than an hour. Try next Monday at 10. If you can't find the county on the list, it is sold out. Each site has a maximum of 96 baskets. I think we need more sites!

The Bountiful Basket people have actually put the new sites opening on hold for a bit. They are working on getting more trucks and drivers to make it to all the Montana sites we have set up now. Turns out us Montanans love our fresh fruits and veggies! But please keep training and looking into setting up new sites! Thank you for making this such a successful program!

Just curious if anyone knows what the green leafy thing in the organic basket is? There is Romaine lettuce, then another thing that looks like celery(but its almost white) at the bottom but has dark green leaves.... Any thoughts? I couldnt find it online

That was fennel in the Organic Basket. Look up some great recipes--goes well with pasta.

The Hospital will now have a double drop which means we will have twice as many baskets. PLEASE check your pickup time because they are staggered by 15 mins so we will have 2 different sign out lines. Beginning tomorrow at 10 am Miles City will have 288 baskets up for grabs this week. Let's hear it for fresh fruits and veggies!

Please plan to volunteer whenever you can--at least once every 6 or so times you participate! Thanks!

Kim

I don't think it is fennel. I think it is boc choi (my spelling is terrible).

FIFTEEN MINUTES TO THIS WEEK'S SIGN-UP!!!

I still have fruit and veg left from the last time so I'm not signing up but others might be interested.

P.S. Fennel smells slightly like licorice.

As of right now, SHS is sold out but there are still lots of baskets available at HRH. I have already laid out the Farm and Ranch Weekly, which is why I have time to kill this morning.

As of 3:30 p.m. on Monday, there are still 20 baskets left for pick up at HRH. This seems to be the right amount of baskets.

So excited for the tropical pack and case of strawberries!!!

We're down to 11 Baskets in Miles City. Maybe 3 sites a week is the right amount? Hoping to have enough volunteers to help me with the double drop at the Hospital!

I'll be in Missoula, K, but I'd be there otherwise! I'll try to send a couple of teen boys your way if I can. Will A be there? That will help entice them.

so is that 7 am or 7 pm for the volunteer time at the hospital?

a.m.

Its not fennel, at least not in my basket, maybe there were different things in the baskets?

We had organic, and it was fennel in ours.

Please volunteer if you are able at the site you will pick up your basket. The Double drop at the hospital will be outside tomorrow, so dress warmly. Bring on the fresh produce!

Bok choy has dark leaves whereas fennel has the kind of spikey fronds that sort of look like fresh dill.

Is anyone else having problems getting on to the website? All I see right now is Georgia and S. Carolina as locations available.

The website seems to be broken. It is running v e r y s l o w l y and shows only two states. Have to try again later.

yes and i've was connected at 10.00am

Also having trouble getting on to site. Did Montana sites get another time?

Website is down due to excess volume. They asked that people get off and try back in a few minutes after the website gets back up.

MT is up now

GOT MY BASKETS !! VERY HAPPY!!!!

Hurry and sign up for your baskets today!!! HRH still has many avalible!!!

Got the Asian basket as an add-on today. Does anyone know what the purple garlic looking type item is? Not sure if it is a fruit or vegetable.

Never mind. Just figured out they are water chestnuts.

[This message has been edited by Winslow (6/9/2012)]