David's Raging Nexus

Today we went to get our “Projecto Prove” basket for the second time, when we first sign up we weren’t sure what to expect so we asked for bi-weekly deliveries so we could get our bearings first, but right after we got home and drilled down the basket … we immediatly changed it to Weekly deliveries , and who knows, we might double the dosage

We’re falling deeper and deeper in-love with this, the flavor is unlike the groceries we get at the supermarket (we’re city folk, supermarkets is our “standard”) and I truly believe this to be an excellent opportunity both for consumers – who get fresher, local products – and for producers who can sell outside the big market, no doubt driven by the supermarkets who set the prices, quantities and only accept products that follow certain metrics (not necessarily related to quality), so in posting – even if in Bad English ™ – I hope or try to push the information for anyone wanting to try this out

So, here’s today’s contents:

So, next week, will you join us? There’s good coffee there, leave a comment

A while ago Josien Kapma and Pedro Custódio reminded me of this project and today we went to get our first Basket from the “Prove” (from the Portuguese “Promover e Vender” – to Promote and Sell) project . The project is a EQUAL funded project aimed at bridging the gap between small producers and consumers. The project is spread to 8 areas and seems to be expanding, which bodes well

The way it works is this: you log on to the Prove Order Website, fill out your data and choose where you would like to receive your basket. You then choose the weight of the basket – some regions only have on option, other have more and you’re presented with a list of possible products that you’ll receive – mind you, this is not Farmville, the crops vary throughout the year – and choose up to 5 items you don’t want to receive. The contents, weight and price of the basket may vary because each region (or center) negotiates with the local producers. Finally you choose the day and place – each region may offer various options – where you’ll pick up and pay for the basket and the periodicity – weekly or bi-weekly, and you’re done . Baskets are made up from available products, excluding the products you choose not to receive – and are picked up on the day of delivery. You get to meet the producers, which are available to explain the products, give you tips, recipes or general chit chat .

We picked up our basket at the “Espaço Fortuna” – which I didn’t know at all, but we’re glad we do now and this is what 10€ bought us – translated to the best of my knowledge and available tools

We’ll definitely repeat the experience, we had initially asked for a bi-weekly delivery but changed it now to weekly (you can change the order on the website) and decided to get Lettuce out of the picture, so next week we’ll be picking up our basket once more , care to join us and have some coffee there ?

I’ve been going through a lot of personal life phases lately, for a long long time, in fact, I’m writing this post on the first vacation time I had for some 5 years – I’ve been to the Algarve, but I did my 10h work day either way, so that’s hardly … anything. My kid is almost 5 and we’re having a second one in late November (a second boy, boy oh boy ), I’ve had an incredibly – if such a word is adequate -  busy and roller-coaster type of life and yet I have little to show for, if you don’t take into to account the problems and challenges I had to (and still) face and this has also reflected itself on my online presence .

I’ve grown anxious, I hid myself for a while (outside of the problem scope, in that regard I believe in a in-your-face approach), depended and looked for low depth interactions on quick mediums – Twitter is my absolutely favorite and more “prolific” online presence, I neglected my blog, trying to feed it by purely online presence and activity (and having the occasional debacle with certain Lifestream + Twitter plugins) instead of taking care of it myself and it shows, both on the blog and on my attitude.

I want to tell my tale, and I will eventually talk about it, but I’m still in the middle of it and it’s the sort of thing that “entrepreneurs” sometimes go through – completely outside the glamor, fame and fortune that you might take for granted . Despite my shyness and silent mood, a few close – and not so close – friends recognized the general situation and helped me and my family in whatever ways they could, I am a richer person for having them and to them I’m grateful.

The fact that I’m back here now and that I start to acknowledge these … character and life problems is part of a roadmap I’m trying to build and follow, my life from 2007 to 2009 have been almost 100% based on problems, large scale non-health-but-scary-as-such ones, and while they are not entirely resolved, they have been addressed and put into a more manageable state, so now is the time for me to take care of myself and pick up the pieces again .. and at 31 – no longer will I be able to be a young millionaire like the Ad said but I’ll keep at it, if anything because I absolutely love what I do and because I absolutely love life – even if only know I’m acknowledging it.