Friday, 19 November 2010

• The Vegetable Box has Arrived!

  
  It took one segment of a clementine to know that I had made the right decision. The vegetable box scheme is fabulous, I am sure of this already. You see, it had started with a clementine, sort of. The supermarket that I usually go to is famous for being cheap and its vegetables are...well, just that - cheap.  And tasteless. 
  
  And the clementines were bitter.  I love clementines because they're great for taking to work and boosting your vitamin C (and my body needs all the help it can get, believe me) and bitter clementines sort of ruins the point really.  I'd bought a whole bag and I just had to throw them away in the end.
  
  So it was this, along with a few other things, that prompted me to research a box scheme.  Organic vegetables from a grocers or even a supermarket is fairly expensive, and a box scheme seemed to be the ideal solution - good, organic vegetables, but very cheap.  In fact, just looking at the amount that I got this week, I know it's cheaper than the supermarket would have been.  I'm getting more than double the portion sizes I'd normally opt for and for only a few quid more and it's delivered, for free.
   
  My box =)
  
  
  That's five apples, nine clementines, six tomatoes, three leeks, a pack of salad leaves, a huuuge butternut squash and a romanesco cauliflower.... for £10.95.  This is the mini fruit-and-veg box, suggested for 1-2 people.
  
  The scheme that I opted for, after browsing a lot online, is Riverford.  There are lots out there but I liked Riverford for a number of reasons.  They are flexible about which box you get and how often.  If you want to skip a box then you can.  If you want a larger box one week or want to add things to the box, then you can.  They send you newsletters and recipes and they also have food prep advice and recipes on their website, including in video form. 
  
  For example... I have never seen a romanesco cauliflower before in my life.  But they have this video on their website (and on youtube) which tells me how to cook it.
  
  
  My welcome letter, newsletter, recipe pamphlet and information about Christmas things they do
  
  I'm actually very excited.  My mind is already buzzing with lots of recipe ideas. What's more, I feel like I'm supporting my local farmers, keeping good seasonal British vegetables alive and being very environmentally friendly.  Plus I have some gorgeous clementines!
  
  Have you ever thought about trying out a vegetable box scheme?
  
  
  
  

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