organic boxes

[mrsflibble]

on recommendation i hve signed up to abel and cole.

i'm feeling somewhat hippysmug as it's not only mostly local and organic, it's also one free box every 4 weeks when you sign up to regular delivery so it's actually cheaper than asda!

it gets delivered on wednesday.

[Penny Lane]

Oooo you lucky girl!

The only one available to my area (that I know of) is Riverford. They don't do a free box but I'm looking forward to Wed's delivery - it's a new box called 'roots & greens' and there's a mystery veg!!!

[eccentric_emma]

ooh i love veg boxes. we just had to cancel ours (for a variety of reasons) and i found it so hard writing a shopping list of veg to pick up from the greengrocers! i just stood there going 'umm....' i'd got so used to someone just plonking a box of veg on our doorstep and getting on with whatever was in there!

[Flo]

It's too rural here to make a veg box pay - it needs to come with meat, milk, eggs to make it viable which is not much use for someone who is virtually vegan.

[Uller]

I used to use Abel & Cole, but have been using Riverford for several months now. I love it - I've tried so many veg I would never have bought from the supermarket - kohlrahbi, celeriac, swede, jerusalem artichoke, wet garlic etc etc.

I usually get the seasonal box, but cheated last week as I couldn't face another batch of parsnips. I got the 'favourites' - all the things I used to buy in the usual supermarket shop. The tomatoes are pretty tasteless (not sure why I expected any better) and it was a comparatively expensive box as more of it is imported - back to the seasonal box for me! I'll just have to learn to love parsnips!

[Milims]

Sadly organic boxes haven't worked for us. Too expensive and not quite as god as we expected But there is no competition round here and they don't produce and deliver locally. However, there is a teacher at the school I work in whos OH runs a veg farm - it's not quite organic, but it is local and very fresh!

[Fizzy Izzy]

That sounds like a great deal, mrsf...

I had one last year and found it so useful. Not only did we get such a lovely variety of veg (and grew to really love fennel which we might never have tried otherwise) but it made shopping so much easier. And it is cheaper for the amount and quality you get!

[Loobyloo]

I've done abel and cole off and on (as finances allow!) for a few years now. They are very good. I've found through trial and error that its best to get a smaller box every two weeks than a larger one once a month. They also have very good meat and a wide range of ecover products.

[sleepyowl]

To be honest I was not impressed by them at all, maybe it was just the supplier round by me but generally the fruit & veg would go off after 2 days

[Loobyloo]

To be honest I was not impressed by them at all, maybe it was just the supplier round by me but generally the fruit & veg would go off after 2 days

I found the shelf life of the veg was definitely not as long as supermarket bought stuff, but the for the quality, flavour and range I got I didn't mind.

Abel and cole introduced me to weird and wonderful veggies I'd never had before!

When I first got jerusalem artichokes I had no idea what they were! I was like ' these new potatoes are really nobbly?'

[Mylovelyhorse]

I too get a weekly veg box (well, a bag actually). It's from a much smaller firm, called Simply Wild (based around Tunbridge Wells). I'm really really happy with the service and the veg I get from them - and it's nice to be supporting something that's a bit more local than the big ones (Abel and Cole and Riverford - though I have heard lovely things about them too).

[Green Aura]

In Ashton we had a weekly meat, groceries and veg box (well about three) from a company called Northern Harvest. They were excellent and not overly expensive.
No such thing up here - although the fish van comes once a week!

[SarahJane]

I dont think that I could afford to have a box delivered each week, and probably wouldnt be worth it for one, but I will google the above sites mentioned and see what the costs are.

[Russian Doll]

I dont think that I could afford to have a box delivered each week, and probably wouldnt be worth it for one, but I will google the above sites mentioned and see what the costs are.

with abel and cole you can choose when you want delivery but if you have a weekly box you get the 4th one free which works out quite good

i lurve abel and cole and the veg is wonderful...the kids actually ate mash potato and enjoyerd it

[Uller]

I moved from Abel & Cole to Riverford after some delivery issues, but also after discovering that Riverford had a farm in Hampshire (I am in Surrey) - a bit closer than Devon.

We alternate fruit and veg boxes each week and get all our dairy from Riverford too, plus some wine/beer occassionally. Average about £25 per week and the stuff lasts for ages.