Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Food/recipes

For related content, visit our food content hub.

Original poster

Organic Fruit and Vegetable boxes - tell me more!

16 replies

Hulababy · 07/10/2005 22:48

I am considering giving this a go.

I have, so far, only found one place that deliversss to Sheffield though.

I can get various size boxes of fruit and/or veg, and other stuff if I want. I think a box with 10 varieties of fruit/veg/salad is £13.50, plus £2 delivery.

Is this about right?
How long would that amount last?
So how does it work?
Do you recommend it?

Any information and views, good and not so good, welcome please!

OP posts:
Original poster
Hulababy · 07/10/2005 22:49

This is the one place I have found so far.

OP posts:
startingtobehalloweenylover · 07/10/2005 22:50

i get ours from abel and cole and it's abouit the same price

however, we nebver get enough potatoes. this week we got 4!!!!
everything else pretty much lasts the week

startingtobehalloweenylover · 07/10/2005 22:51

oh, ouirs is a mixed box so fruit and veg

frogs · 07/10/2005 22:58

We get ours from a local wholefood shop, just down the road. I pay £20 and get a fruit/veg box that meets most but not all of our weekly needs (generally need to get extra bananas, apples, sometimes potatoes).

We briefly tried one of the big national deliveries and found the box much more standardised and less quirky. Which was good in a way, but much less fun. I also like the personal relationship we have with the woman who owns the business, so I can phone up and ask for extra of something, or less of something else. And the delivery guy is hoxtonchick's BIL!

I absolutely recommend it, but there is a bit of a learning curve while you figure out recipes to go with whatever is in season atm. Some of the big national companies (my mum uses Riverford) send recipe ideas out with the boxes, or you can download from their site. For example it took me a while to develop a range of uses for pumpkin and squash, which do tend to feature prominently in the autumn. But overall it makes us eat much more veg, and very convenient once you have a good range of suitable recipes at your fingertips. I do my weekly mealplanning round the contents of the box and then buy extra as needed.

Worth opting out of salads, though, as organic ones tend to have a shelf-life of about 30 secs. I've elected not to have any highly perishable greenstuff, as we don't use it in time and it makes v. expensive compost.

pootlepod · 07/10/2005 22:59

Sounds about right price wise etc. Which company is it?

We have a similar amount and there is 3 of us. It does tend to last us a week and we eat mainly vegetarian stuff. I do 'top up' with bits from the greengrocer but not every week. I find it has cut down on my shopping though which is great!

The difference with boxes is that generally you get what you are given. So what I find helpful is to wait for the box to be delivered and then decide on a menu for the week; and then top up with that in mind (with staples and other fruit/veg). If the veg/fruit is seasonal it can seem repetitive as well and you are unlikely to get things like mange tout etc.

It helps to keep most of it in the fridge and generally it won't look as 'pristine' as it does in supermarkets, you will get smaller apples, knobbly dirty carrots and beetroot with a couple of holes in.

I have had to become inventive with cooking the veg- but that's the exciting part! So, a few weeks ago we had a white cabbage, and I have used it for 2 stir fries, a little of it with brocolli in a cheese sauce then used the rest of it yesterday to make home made coleslaw.

Original poster
Hulababy · 07/10/2005 23:01

Only one so far I have found is the one I linked too - Organic Pantry I think.

Sounds promising though.

OP posts:
gingerbear · 07/10/2005 23:04

Hula, they might have MUD on them though lol!
You might need to store them in cool place though, by the end of the week the veg might get a bit yellow and floppy.

pootlepod · 07/10/2005 23:05

The salad I get with mine (Trinity farm) is the best- sometimes I think I would get the box just for that! And it generally seems to last a week as well.

Abel and Cole have a recipe search facility on their website.

Trickorflum · 07/10/2005 23:06

oooh just signed up with one of these.

Original poster
Hulababy · 07/10/2005 23:06

Ha ha Gingerbear!!! Told you, I'll be getting some wellies next!

The cool place to keep them might be an issue at moment! They'll have to go down stars in garden room as that is coldest room.

OP posts:
ks · 07/10/2005 23:07

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Original poster
Hulababy · 07/10/2005 23:07

So which of these will deliver to Sheffield?

OP posts:
gingerbear · 07/10/2005 23:32

Abel and Cole do a nationwide courier service - only one type of mixed fruit and veg box though.

suedonim · 07/10/2005 23:33

I was waxing lyrical about an organic box I've just started getting. Last week I has thirteen diff fruit and veg, for 10gbp - more than enough for dd and me. I didn't look too closely at this week's box as we're going away but I forgot to cancel so have given it to ds2. I can also make my own box up, if I wish.

Littlefish · 08/10/2005 20:58

I've been getting an organic veg box for about 2 years now and absolutely love it.

I found a great cookery book which is divided into seasons to help me be a bit more creative with my veg! It's called "Marie Claire - Fresh"

Here it is!

Original poster
Hulababy · 08/10/2005 21:10

Reckon I am going to try it; will have a look on the websites and get sorted.

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page