Caroline S.’s Experience:

Baby Alexander at about 5 months, covered in applesauce.

Realizing that the first few months with a new baby were likely to be filled with exhaustion, last year we decided to order our first Terra Organics a few weeks before our baby arrived.  I cannot even begin to describe what a relief it was to know that every week, a substantial portion of our grocery shopping was already handled, with the added bonus of finding all kinds of fantastic seasonal produce at our doorstep. With a schedule that is pressed for time these days, it is great to have some really interesting (and new) recipes to try.  Everyone (baby included) ate Fettuccine with Rainbow Chard and White Beans last night, and a few weeks ago Summer Beets with Mint were a huge success.

As our child began to reach the age for solids, we decided to try a grain cereal first.  I made the cereal somewhat reluctantly, as it looked (and smelled) way too much like wallpaper paste to have any substantial nutritive value.  The processed portion of the “processed food” experience seemed to outweigh the food element.  None of this seemed designed to introduce a baby to real food with textures and taste.  Our son was even less thrilled.  I took one look at the pasty cereal in the bowl, glanced over at the fresh apples from Terra Organics in the fruit basket and decided to make a batch of homemade applesauce with cinnamon.  Within minutes the bowl was empty.  And our baby has become a very healthy, enthusiastic, and adventurous eater.  Pluots in the box this week?  They will be gone before our next order arrives.  Carrots?  He toddles around the playground with handfuls of cut up cooked carrots.  Grapes are sliced up and vanish.  Do you have any idea how many grapes a small child can eat in one sitting? We need to up our grape orders.  Zucchini cooked with pepper and onions?  He will eat them for days in a row.  Sliced cherries are taken to playdates, and gleefully shared with others.  Nectarines have been a favorite of late, and the discovery that pressing on a cube of watermelon or cantaloupe produces a juicy mess is apparently one of the great joys of childhood.

Our toddler now eats so much produce that a few months ago we switched over to the larger, regular box.  Our only request?  Could Terra start please a laundry service too?  We haven’t yet figured out how to successfully remove the beet stains, raspberry smears and crushed blueberries from his clothing.

Caroline S. and David W. were winners in our Terra Organics Experience Contest. Email etrotter@terra-organics.com with your Terra experience if you want to share your it on our blog.

Thanks to all who submitted to our first ever Terra Organics Experience Contest. After consideration of all of the entries, we decided to split the Grand Prize between two of our favorites. Congratulations to Kelly T. and Caroline S. You’ve both won a $100 coupon to the Terra Organics webstore as well as a free T-shirt from the Terra Organics mech shop. We’re so proud of our submissions that we wanted to share them. We’re always excited to hear about what your Terra Organics experience is like. So feel free to email us or let us know how you’re liking your boxes on Facebook.

Winning Entry #1 – Kelly T.’s Experience:

My name is Kelly and I have been a customer of Terra-organics for almost a year. I am a stay at home mom of four and much of my time is spent taking kids from here to there and keeping up with the house work. If I have to run an errand that means I would have to take all four out with me and that is just torcher. I have been trying to simplify my life. In doing that I have built up a food storage so I only have to go to the store every three months. It was the weekly stuff like getting bread, milk and fresh fruits and veggies that was making it hard. I was dreading those trips. So I went in search of a company or companies that delivered.

I was excited when I found Terra-Organics. Not only was I able to get fresh fruits and vegetables delivered to my door but they were organic too. Now I was a little hesitant because I wasn’t sure about the pricing and what if something is wrong with the order, but I decided to test it out. My first box showed up and it was so nice to see that the produce not only arrived on time, was priced well but it looked amazing.  So I put it in the fridge and before I knew it my children had eaten it all. I couldn’t wait for our next box. When it should up again, on time and with everything looking nice I was hooked.

My children know that on Thursday our box will show up. It is like Christmas for them to see what new fruit or vegetable I am going to have them try or what did I order for the week. My husband loved when the kumquat’s were in season. I think the best story I have to share is of my latest box we just got.

We had been on vacation and when I got home I quickly got on-line to order our produce for the week. It wasn’t anything special just our normal type of order. But when we got it there was a HUGE surprise. I mean literally a HUGE surprise. Every week I order lettuce and each week it comes but this week when it came it was Gigantic. When I showed my kids it they all said “WOW that is Huge! What is it?” I quickly told them it was lettuce. The look on my youngest son when he held it up was awesome. (see photo). He could barely hold it up and it was bigger than his head.

Terra-organics has not only allowed me to not have to go out and do my weekly shopping but it has allowed me to introduce new items to my children and they eat it all up. We are all looking forward to our next shipment to see what kind of goodies or HUGE surprises will be in there.

We’ll share our other winning entry later this week! Email etrotter@terra-organics.com with your Terra experience if you want to share your it on our blog.

Here at Terra, being able to provide families, businesses and everyone that loves organics with a selection of fantastic fruits and vegetables keeps us warm and fuzzy inside. We also love hearing about how much you’re enjoying your produce boxes and what you’re doing with ‘em. We love it when you Yelp us, post something on our Facebook page or Tweet your love for Terra, which is why we wanted to offer a way in which we could reward you for sharing your Terra Organics experience.

Here’s How It Works:

1. Write an article or make a short video about an experience you had with Terra Organics (good experiences only please ). The more creative, the better chance you have at becoming a finalist. Your article/video may include:

   • Who you are
   • How long you’ve been getting produce from Terra
   • A recipe/cooking show starring you
   • Relevant photos in articles* (*bonus points)
   • What getting produce from Terra means to you
   • A funny story that relates to your produce box
   • Kids’/friends’/family’s reaction to produce box

2. Email your article/video link (and any relevant materials) to etrotter@terra-organics.com by September 21, 2011 @ 5pm PST.

3. Our panel will choose our favorite articles as finalists and post them on our blog over the following week.

4. YOU vote for you favorite article.

5. The top three voted submissions receive fabulous prizes.

Prizes:

2nd Runner-Up: A Terra Organics T-Shirt of your choosing

1st Runner-Up: $50 Credit (2 weeks of FREE standard boxes) & a Terra Organics T-Shirt of your choosing

GRAND PRIZE: $200 Credit (2 MONTHS of FREE standard boxes) & a Terra Organics T-Shirt of your choosing

We’re extremely excited to learn more about your Terra Organics experience. Whether you’re interest in participating in this competition or not, we always want to know how our produce is treating you. Email info@terra-organics.com if you ever have any comments.

We can’t wait to see your submissions!! (If you have a question about the competition, please let us know in the comments.)

1. Go to our Terra Zazzle Gear page and pick out your favorite T-shirt design.

2. When your shirt arrives, put it on and snap a photo celebrating organics.

3. Post your photo on our facebook page or email it to etrotter(at)terra-organics(dot)com.

The first one to complete all of the steps wins!

As mentioned, this contest has already been going on for a couple weeks and considering we haven’t received any photos yet, you have a fantastic chance to win! Think about it, for the price of displaying your organic pride, you’ll be awarded with two boxes of produce. Help us spread the word of organics and get zazzling.

Bonus Points: Suggest in comments or send in a new design idea and if we use your idea you’ll win an exciting bonus prize.

Fan Photo Contest

We’re so excited about our new store that for the first person to send in/or post on our facebook page a photo of themselves decked out in Terra Gear will receive their next TWO DELIVERIES FOR FREE.

Take a look at some of our designs below and head over to http://www.zazzle.com/terraorganics for your favorite and a chance to win!

How to Win

Step 1: Purchase your favorite item from our gear store: http://www.zazzle.com/terraorganics

Step 2: Sport the item and show off your Organic Pride for a photo

Step 3: Send that photo in to etrotter (at) terra-organics (dot) com or or post on our facebook page

Step 4: The first person who completes Steps 1-3 wins their next two deliveries for FREE.