Transporting produce by bicycle?

[Chestnut]

Does anyone have any ideas or practical experience of transporting produce home from their plot by bicycle?
What is your preferred technique to avoid bruising relatively delicate stuff like tomatoes and soft fruit?
One of my ‘new normal’ due to covid will be a cycle commute , with uniform , wet towel & lunchbox , adding allotment produce on the return journey. Trying to figure how I will deal with carrying everything home in the glut weeks.... :-)

[Jimny14]

Hhmmm, first thoughts are, what type of bike do you have and what are you already using to carry stuff in. My thoughts are if you can fit rack and panniers then do so. Then I'd put my stuff for work and harder veg in the panniers and use tuppaware and bags etc in a rucksack (preferably one that fits you quite well). My thinking is you'll get a bit more protection from bumps etc on your back rather than in panniers.

[Squingy]

Volunteers at my old allotment site transported produce on bikes in normal sized backpacks. You'd see things like big leek heads sticking out the packs so not like it can't be done.
I'd transport on foot actually, but same principle of preventing bruising. I would save up plastic fruit containers and stack them one inside the other like a kindof dome, filled with tons etc so no space to move around. Then they would stacked on onto the other in the backpack. Really important not to leave space, if they are firmly packed they won't get damaged. Egg cartons in backpacks worked well for me too on foot. At home go through and pull out any bruised ones, store separately and use them soon.

[Jungle Jane]

Would something like this luggage trailer in the link be easy to use on your cycle route,as well as a rucksack? Potatoes would be heavy to carry on your back. Wrap things in newspaper so they don’t crash against each other? -
https://www.wish.com/product/5d5ba7d..._BwE&share=web

[burnie]

I can see allotmenteers modifying an old wheel barrow a bit like that posh one JJ, or go the whole hog and modify the rotavator like they did in the Good Life lol.

[Chestnut]

I love the idea of a trailer, but I am afraid I don’t have a spare barrow to adapt ;-)
However, I’m liking the idea of making the most of what I have and getting creative on minimum budget (boiler packed up this week) :-o
It’s a hybrid road bike(ish), and has a rack. Rucksack is a definite, and I will start saving eggboxes - super idea for protecting tomatoes nd keeping them from finding their way to the bottom of the bag!

[Mikey]

When I had my allotment it was either carried in arms, with a carrier bag or in a wheelbarrow depending on volume. It was only a five-minute walk to my allotment so no big deal. To be fair I quite enjoyed the conversations you'd have with people on your way back when the barrow was brimming.

[lottie dolly]

have you a basket you could attach to the front,years ago before i drove,i had 2 kids on my bike,DH welded a little frame on the frame,and put a little seat on it,1 on the back in a child seat and 1 in the front,any shopping was in bags on the handle bars,front basket,and often in with the backseat one,i used to go into leicester market around and back home,without taking them off,it was aprox 4miles each way,i had anything from veg to fabric loaded up,the front 1 had a harness on,and was safe between my knees,that was then,would NOT dare do that now,as traffic is bad,it was harder on the knees,but i was determined,am sure you will find a way with what you have around,

[Snadger]

I've always fancied one of those gadgets that allow a bike to pull a trailer usually with a small child in it.

I've just had a tangential thought. In Italy I once saw a bloke on a moped/scooter with a pig jammed sideways in front of his knees driving along whilst smoking a cigarette.

[Mr Bones]

I wonder what sort of ciggies the pig prefers
We carry produce home in a big bag, one litre yog pots come in handy to stop the produce squashing or getting mixed up.

[Chestnut]

Too warm for allotment this afternoon, so been creating a carrier to go on the rack at the back of the bike. It’s in the style of the one I had on my first bike back in the 80s, looks like a fabric box with a buckle fastening to hold the lid down - capacity approx 7 litres so should hold uniform/towel/lunchbox, leaving rucksack free for allotment produce ;-)