If I bought my veg from a box scheme

[BoilingHotFrayedKnot]

Would it actually taste of something?

I have been spoiled in summer for the last however long by having fresh veggies supplied by my Dad from his garden, and grown some of our own.

Now we live miles away, and I am struggling to find veggies that taste of anything. We don;t have a farm shop / greengrocer very nearby and the easiest option is Tesco but I am fed up of tasteless sh*te.

Opinions please, and recommendations...?

I am in the SE.

[Witchycat]

Have you done a web search for organic veg box deliveries? Have to admit we don't use one at the moment but I'm reliably informed the ones round here are good tasting quality stuff although can get repetitive because obviously it's all seasonal veg so variety can lack.

I'm in the North so not sure I can help with SE but surely someone on here will?
Whereabouts in the SE?

[jenkel]

I'm in the South East (Herts) and we use River Nene (Peterborough), not sure how much of the South East they cover. I generally have one every other week and have been pleased,

[OldieMum]

We use Riverford (www.riverford.co.uk), a consortium of farms in Devon. Many people on MN use Abel and Cole. Both deliver in the SE. We switched to Riverford from A and C because we kept getting rotten produce from them. The quality of the Riverford produce has been much higher.

[southeastastra]

have you tried local markets?

[BonyM]

We get Riverford - it is good quality and tastes better than supermarket stuff, but as Witchycat says it can get repetitive. Went through a phase of getting cauliflower in every box and I don't even like cauliflower much! At the moment it's courgettes and I am desperately trying to find new things to do with them.

[BoilingHotFrayedKnot]

I don;t have a problem with repetition - tend to eat seasonal stuff if we can so e.g. courgettes at this time of the year would be in my weekly shop anyway.

I just want the stuff to not taste like it's plastic toy food from ELC.

[hulababy]

We started getting an organic veg box a few weeks back and I was really suprised at how much difference there actually is in the taste of the produce. You can really taste it straight away. I ordered a fruit box as well last week and that was fantastic!

[BoilingHotFrayedKnot]

Which one, Hula?

[hulababy]

We are in Sheffield and have much less options available to us. Went with FarmsAround...North. So far have been very pleased with what we get.

[BoilingHotFrayedKnot]

Ok obv a bit far away - but good news the veg is tasty.

I might give one a go and see.

[stringbean]

We also use Riverford; the veg are good quality and really taste of what they're supposed to. It's converted me to different veg I wouldn't have tried too - dh and I are now huge fans of beetroot.

[brimfull]

we get a veg box from sunnyfields farm,they're based in southampton area.They're really good,all veg grown locally on their farm.Today I got my box delivered and after checking the ingredients I realised I had been given a different one to the usual one ordered.When I checked with them they said it was because I told them we weren't keen on broadbeans so they changed the order,I thought that was really nice of them,felt stupid for phoning after that.
Overall we have been really impressed with the taste.

[Xena]

hulababy I was just looking at farmarounds box this week, we salad fruit and veg so do I need the standard veg bag, salad box and fruit box?

[BoilingHotFrayedKnot]

Just discovered my nearest farm shop does a scheme! All local produce.

Am going to try it out.

[Iklboo]

BHFK - we get a box delivered & the stuff tastes nicer than shop bought. It's all local produce & really good. They only do seasonal produce, so now we're getting one every couple of weeks. BUt the one we use has HEAPS of different farms doing cheese, butter, meats, veg, fruit, pickles & chutney etc - so we can get a 'larder' box instead if we wanted to.

[cece]

I have used Riverford in the past and they definitely taste better

[hulababy]

Xena - there are 3 of us (me, Dh and 4yo DD). I get a luxury veg box (this includes veg and salad stuff), eggs, mushrooms and a pack of apples or pears each week. This is plenty for us for the week (we out mostly at weekends), although I sometimes top up with some peppers or a cucumber (or whatever might not be in the box). :Last week I got the luxury fruit box and that was lovely, but there was a lot of fruit for us!

[NotQuiteCockney]

We use Abel and Cole, and are reasonably happy. I might change our order around soon, just for a change.

There are four of us, and we get through a luxury veg box and a luxury fruit box reasonably well. Actually, the veg box really just provides us with three solid veggie meals, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and maybe a bit more than that.

We have a harder time getting through the fruit, but I often bake with it.

[bundle]

our riverford box (recommended on MN ) has been a big success for us too, I generally get a medium veg box and a fruit bag, but this week have gone for large veg box
I don't think that organic stuff necessarily tastes better but I am able to get nice stuff like swiss chard which I think I'd find hard to source elsewhere in London (except at pricey markets like Borough) - and it's delivered to my door on one of my days off

[hulababy]

Mine is delivered on one of my work days, but they leave it inside DD's playhouse in the back garden

[hulababy]

To give you an example, this is what I got in my luxury veg box (£13.60) yesterday:

New Potatoes (enough for 2-3 days)
Carrots (enough for 2 days)
Onions (x2)
Broad Beans (enough for 2-3 days)
Garden Peas (enough for 2 days)
Cherry Tomatoes (eough for 2 days)
Cucumber
Spinach (enough for 1 meal)
Spring Onions (typical bunch)
Sprouting beans (reasonable sized tub)
Aubergine (x2)
Cos Lettuce


Last week I got the luxury fruit box for £12.70 and got (roughly from what I can remember):

Bananas (3)
Oranges (3 or 4)
Small melon
Plums (about 5 or 6)
Nectarines (4 or 5)
Apples (x3)Pears (x2 large)
Grapes

[bundle]

this is tomorrow's box:

courgettes UK
bunched onions UK
bunched carrots UK
bunched beetroot UK
new potatoes UK
broad beans UK
french beans
hispi cabbage UK
gourmet lettuce UK
rocket UK
mint UK
rhubarb UK
tomatoes UK