Thursday, May 14, 2009

The veg box

For a few years, I have had my veggie box delivered from a well-known organic farm more than 75 miles away.The produce has always been first rate but I have been becoming increasingly aware of the struggle that our local growers are having, especially since Mr Tesco opened a store at the edge of the village.
I was chatting about this with a local young farmer and discovered that he does a home delivery of freshly picked vegetables at a fraction of the cost of my usual order. Not that price is the deciding factor for me, I think that, as a nation, we pay far too little for our food. As a result, we have lost some of the best varieties of fruit and vegetables.

I placed an order and I have been delighted with the three boxes I've had to date. This week I had lots of lovely asparagus and rhubarb and a surprise gift from the farmer's son: a box of little pullets' eggs. Here they are in a bowl with a regular hen's egg, small but perfectly formed and quite delicious.

I am going to be away for a few days and won't be posting or visiting any of your blogs until next week. I will be with a group of very energetic and enthusiastic young volunteers, planning for this year's summer camps. I feel exhausted already!

9 comments:

  1. Take care and have a good time!
    Margaretha

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  2. I am so interested in these veg boxes. Are there what we call farmers' markets? Can one go to the farm itself to buy? Are there CSAs - Community Supported Agriculture where you pay a certain amount at the start of the season and then pick up vegetables each week? Is the veg box the option to all these things??

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  3. Have a good time and thanks for dropping by my blog! This sounds like the perfect year to read Ellen Glasgow! :D

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  4. Thank you, Margaretha, I am home again after a hard-working but enjoyable weekend.

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  5. Nan
    We do have farmers' markets and that is where I met this particular young farmer. Until 50 years ago, my house was a farmhouse and his family lived here - one of those 'small world' coincidences.

    Most farms have their own farm shop but an increasing number are doing home deliveries, probably their only hope of surviving the competition from the huge supermarkets.

    I'm not aware of anything like the CSA scheme running here. It sounds interesting. I pay a monthly fee for the new scheme and I get a box of freshly picked vegetables (and fruit and eggs) every Saturday. If there are five Saturdays in the month, I do very well!

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  6. I'm inclined to agree with you about us paying too little for our food in this country, M. But it seems the big supermarkets have a stranglehold on producers.

    Our rhubarb crop has just come in and I've already got too much. What a pity you don't live next door!

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  7. Cath
    How I wish I could just call over the fence!

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  8. You'd probably get heartily fed up with the rhubarb, raspberries, tomatoes and courgettes I kept thrusting at you, M. You'd be hiding behind the settee when you saw me coming up the path...

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  9. Not at all, Cath. They are all among my favourite foods!

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