A Warm Thank You to Everyone Who Encouraged Me to Buy Wholesale! (It ROCKS!)

I can't believe I bumped along buying retail for so long. I finally took the plunge and bought wholesale from Organically Grown Company in Clackamas outside of Portland, Oregon. They are a wonderful wholesaler- they really are! You don't have to be a licensed reseller or business or anything to be able to buy from them. I filled out a very simple application to set up an account with them, which included my debit card information and named my buyers club Kindred Coop, which is just me!

There is a minimum of $150. I thought that would be prohibitive, but surprisingly worked out just fine. I don't own a car, so for twenty bucks I rented a zip car to go pick up the produce; nice option, huh?

Oh, one big thing that really helped me with this enterprise was that I went out and got my very own fridge, love it! I'm a paid roommate with a developmentally-disabled lady and shared a fridge with her and my co-workers, so getting my own full-sized fridge really opened up a lot of room for me. Two hundred bucks second hand but well worth it.

So for the first order I got ( I had so much FUN figuring out what to buy!):

* 12 pints of figs

*38 lb. bananas

* 88 count of valencia oranges

* 18 lb. concord grapes

* 9 large mangoes

* 6 romaine

* 6 celery

* 4 lb. spinach

All of that for $160! I was very apprehensive that I would end up wasting a lot of it, but I haven't hardly at all. I'm committed to being 100% for the month of October, but this last month was a little sloppy, but now I feel much more comfortable that I have the resources to really delve into this lifestyle. At this point I'm still eating oranges, grapes and bananas and bought some fresh leafy greens at retail at the tail end of this run, so I feel like my planning went reasonably well. I had to freeze quite a bit of the bananas but I'm okay with that.

I hope this helps someone else to take the plunge into buying wholesale. I'd love to hear feedback from other people what their experiences have been like concerning this. I make very little money as a caregiver for the elderly and now have a happy feeling that I can tackle the 811 diet. Also, this kinda forces me to do more mono-eating and simple eating, which has been fantastic.

My next pick-up is on Monday. I'd like to experiment with getting more greens in my diet. So far it's been spinach with bananas and then an evening salad. I can't wait for persimmons to become available! :)

Tags: 10, 80, budget, dog-kissing!, happy, love, money, organic, peace, raw, More…saving, vegan, wholesale

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Permalink Reply by Dovima on October 1, 2011 at 7:53am

Oh, any specific feedback on good ways to store oranges as they sweeten up? I left them in the box and lost some to mold and other ones are getting soft spots.

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Permalink Reply by Bart M on October 1, 2011 at 8:26am

Congrats! That's great to hear :)

Maybe you can find another person to get in on the deal with you, that way you can split the oranges and whatever else might be losing its freshness too quickly?

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Permalink Reply by DURIANRIDER on October 1, 2011 at 12:51pm

Have em laying flat vs bunched up touching each other. Keep em in a dry spot. I found that works. Get stuck into the fresh dates too. They are starting to come on now.

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Permalink Reply by ednshell on October 9, 2011 at 2:14am

Oranges don't ripen once picked so I taste them at the store first then I know when they are ready and buy from the wholesaler. The valencias we are getting in the midwest coming from California are now edible but not really sweet yet. Just a month ago and since they started picking them this season they were so unripe they burned my mouth which will do the same to the insides. I am finding grapes from California almost identical in timing.

I store both in the fridge as well as apples, this seems to preserve their taste and sweetness.

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Permalink Reply by Daniel on October 1, 2011 at 8:39am

Hi Dovima,

Thanks again for explaining all about OGC to me a couple days ago. :)

I'm still just trying to coordinate a ride out there, and maybe someone

to split an order with. Probably gonna go out next week.

Couple questions if you don't mind.. What's the '#' mean next to the

qty on the price list... Pounds I assume? Also, it says in the FAQ

on their site that they don't sell to the public. I'm not really worried

about it, but it'd be unfortunate to make the drive (13mi for me) out

there and get turned away.

Grr, can't wait to have a big box of bananas and apples. :)

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Permalink Reply by Dovima on October 1, 2011 at 10:44am

Hi Dan, good to see you around the neighborhood! So, the first thing you want to do is give them a call and tell them you want to set up a buyers club. They are very supportive and nice. The application process is easy, no big deal. Then have fun looking at the price lists. Fruit you gotta buy the whole case, but that works for this kind of diet. But the good thing is for a small mark-up you can buy greens six at a time, instead of a box of 24. I really put a lot of thought my order and was very pleased with it.

So, when you're ready to order, you can place the order over the phone anytime from 8:30 a.m. until 3:30 in the afternoon. Then you can pick up the next day from ten in the morning until three in the afternoon- but double-check that.

I felt very empowered to just do zip car and not try to wrangle a ride from friends.

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Permalink Reply by Daniel on October 1, 2011 at 11:05am

Thanks for clearing that up!

I totally hate relying on people for rides.. That's why

I just bike everywhere, usually 20 miles a day, but can

only fit $50 max of produce in my bike bags.. Never

owned a drivers license and don't plan on it. I really need

to get/build a bike trailer, but I dunno if I could manage

to carry $150 worth with one! Haha. You've inspired me

to work on this. :)

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Permalink Reply by Dovima on October 1, 2011 at 12:09pm

Hey, considering you've got those extenuating circumstances, feel free to communicate with me about ordering with me.

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Permalink Reply by Chuckster on October 1, 2011 at 9:20am

The zip car is a great idea.

Interesting that you could get small quantities of a variety of greens. Did you pack a box yourself?

My organic wholesaler is $250 minimum order, including delivery.

As for the oranges, make sure they dry out from having been stored cold. I put mine in the large tupperware type containers you can get at hardware stores with small holes I drilled in the cover so the moisture is not locked in.

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Permalink Reply by Dovima on October 1, 2011 at 9:54am

Chuck, hi there, this company is so nice. For a ten percent mark-up they will break up vegetable cases but not fruit. Super-user friendly. They were surprised it was all for me!

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Permalink Reply by RawDad on October 1, 2011 at 11:36am

Good for you... really cool. I have not found one here yet... but have not looked that hard.. i guess will have to ask the produce manager....

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Permalink Reply by Emily ♥ on October 1, 2011 at 12:57pm

Hi Dovima,

It's great you found a way to buy in bulk to make things more economical for you. I have only bought a few things here and there in bulk (bananas mostly). But now I will be living by myself and will have the space, and am planning on doing the same thing you are.

Could you tell us how long that order lasted you, roughly? Were you 100% while eating it?

Great post, it's good info for the rest of us who will be doing this as well! Thanks!