I’ll be starting the detox protocol next week, and I’m scouting the grocery stores in the area, looking for the best stores and the best deals on organic produce.

This store certainly isn’t it! Look at those prices on the left! I can’t afford to shop here!

Not all the stores are this expensive. It’s easy enough to find organic kale, spinach, other veggies and fruits in many stores these days. The thing that makes the difference is the price, quality, and freshness. Usually the quality and freshness are OK, so that leaves price as the main criteria for grocery stores.

I found a store in the next town that carries organic kale, spinach and lettuce for about half price. They run out often, but they re-stock as soon as they can.

I can also get wonderful organic veggies and lettuce from the farmer’s market, although everything costs more (but way less than the store above).

Despite the prices, I really enjoy going to the Farmer’s Market and buying ripe fruit. I love all the different varieties that are not available in grocery stores. So I’m sure I’ll be getting lots of my produce from there.

Uh oh, I ran into a big problem — I can’t find wild blueberries anywhere. I’ve checked every grocery store and specialty store in town and four surrounding towns.

Around here, all our blueberries seem to come from Oregon, Washington, or the California coastal areas. Nothing from Maine that I can find.

I found a few websites of farms that sell blueberries in Maine, but only one that ships, and only when the berries are in season. Unfortunately, right now, the berries are out of season.

Reading the comments on the page, it seems they never have any left, anyway, they sell out within days. Maybe that’s OK — the shipping costs are sky-high!

I’ll have to make do with regular blueberries for now and figure it out later.

And what will I be blending my blueberry smoothie with? Why my brand-new Vitamix!

I was at the home show a few weeks ago and found myself in front of a booth where a man was demonstrating the new Vitamix Ascent A2300 Blender. Oh my, it was beautiful!

Since I had just burned through three blenders in short order (they sure don’t make them like they used to), I decided to take the plunge and just get it. I had one of the original Vitamix blender (with the stainless steel container) for about 25-30 years before it wore out. Other blenders have left me very disappointed since then. I knew none of the other blenders would hold up to the high-speed blending required on this diet.

What a motor this one has! It runs like an outboard motor. It certainly does the job!

Getting it also solidified my decision to go on this detox protocol. After all, if I was going to spend this much money on a blender, I’d better use it in the best way possible!

I see the Vitamix Ascent blenders are selling on Amazon now for a little less. They also come in red.

I got the black, but the red is a nice accent color and very popular!

Oh, no! I forgot to order the supplements again. Better get on that today. It takes quite a bit of time to pull a supplement order together, let alone finding the suppliers. I have to sit down and research the supplements I need and find out who carries them.

» CONTINUE: Day 1 on the Medical Medium Protocol Diet — My First Blueberry Smoothie