Co’op The Who What Where & How .. June’s Products..

As I have stated a few times here on my blog.. I belong to a Co’op. Many of you have asked.. What is it?.. What all do you get?.. How much do you pay?.. etc. So last month I started keeping track and taking photos of each week’s load.

As for the questions.. I’m going to answer all that I have answers for.

• What is it..   In our group we have 10 ladies including myself.. We all split a load that is picked up weekly from a warehouse where everything there is sorted in equal amounts to be divided amongst 150 groups like ours. Each group is to have no more or less than 10 members. When they divide each load at the warehouse.. each load is sorted so each member can get equal amounts.
• Where do the people in the Warehouse get all this stuff..  All of the items are donated from Companies, Corporations, Farmers, etc from all over.
• Why do these Companies donate it.. Most of them for Tax credit, Promotions of new products, Discontinued products, Close to sell date, damaged packages, dented cans … etc.
• Why not just give it to a food bank.. Guidelines for donating to area food banks are very strict, and believe it or not, alot of them refuse it if it’s not of a certain amount.
• How did you get in this Co’op… I got in through a friend who actually gave me her spot about 2 years ago. Which is a no no , and not something that is usually ever allowed. Normally you have to be put on a waiting list to get in a group.. and because the stuff is so great nobody wants to drop out.. therefore you can be on the waiting list forever. I lucked up because my friend had started a new job and wasn’t able to pickup her stuff each week.. and she had asked me to do for her. Which I gladly did for about 2 months.. by that time I  had already bonded with everyone in the group.. they loved me lol… and when my friend asked if it’d be okay for me to move into her spot.. everyone agreed.
• How much does it cost.. I pay $13.00 a month. Yep that’s all.. 13 bucks.
• What all do you get.. Anything and Everything.. Produce, Frozen products, Paper products, Shampoo, electronics, cleaning products, school supplies, office supplies, we’ve even gotten furniture. You just never know what each week will bring.
• Do you ever get bad stuff.. Yes, sometimes we get things like produce that shoulda been chunked days ahead.. and sometimes we get things that are out of date. Those things I just toss out, because the good always out weighs the bad. We even get electronics..  that people have returned to a store for some reason or another.. sometimes they work.. sometimes they don’t.
• How do I get in a group like this.. That I do not know. Like I said earlier I stumbled in this one, and it’s sorta a word of mouth thing. I’ve never seen any thing listed in my area. You may check your local Churches to see if they know of any. I know that is how this one got started about 6 years ago.
• There wasn’t a question asked about this but I’ll throw it in.. We all take turns each week picking the load up… which is about 40 miles away. So we each get a 9 week break before it’s our turn to pick up again. Each load is brought to my home to be divided.. One reason is that I’m sorta the center of where everyone lives and secondly because I have a huge covered porch which makes it easier if it’s raining… and third because I’m a clean freak and everyone knows I’m not about to sort stuff on no dirty ground like I’ve seen done in other groups.. That’s just nasty and Debbie don’t do nasty lol.

Now I hope I covered the basics .. if you have any questions that I didn’t cover, just leave it in the comments and I’ll respond whether I know the answer or not.. or at least try and direct you to finding it.

Everything you’re about to see is from the last Friday of the last week of May and the entire month of June up to Friday June 26th.

The Last Week of May..  Since everything is visible in this photo I won’t list each of the items. Also by seeing those diapers down there.. you may be thinking .. Hey I didn’t know Debbie had a little baby.. Well I don’t lol ! We do tend to get things we don’t need or use sometimes.. which is ok.. cuz I always have someone that I know can and will use it. Like those diapers.

First Week of June.. Large load. The next 5 photos are of that week.

June: Week 2.. Very Small Load …  Lettuce and Vadalia Onions again .. 2 yellow squash, 2 zucchini squash.. Most of the lettuce from last week and this week I gave to a friend for her rabbits.  Next 4 photos.

 

June Week 3: Average load.. Next 2 photos.

   

June Week 4.. Average load.. Everything below but the Green Beans & Tomatoes.. My friend Suzanne brought those to me from her garden when she picked up her co’op. Which I cooked for dinner the next night.

That Jelly Belly box.. which I cropped out because I didn’t want you to see that water ring on my table..  are freezer pops. I’ve not seen those before .. so they may be new.

That’s it.. That’s my haul from the last 5 weeks. Not bad for $13.00 huh.  Tomorrow morning is my turn to go pick up.. so for next month I’ll have pictures of the warehouse and other things involved.

 

Tomorrow .. I’m going to try and get a post out about this awesome new program I’ve been using called Windows Live Writer.  Rhoda over at Southern Hospitality blogged about it and I decided to give it a try.. and I’m loving it. Have you noticed a difference in my photos.. how big and easier they are to see .. and how about this font.. can’t cha see it better.. Oh my Gosh.. I’m in hog heaven over it. So stay tuned.. I’m gonna do a lil tutorial showing you all it’s tricks. 

 

Big Ole Hugs, Debbie