Does anyone have an organic veg box delivered?

[Dancergirl]

I'm thinking about using Abel and Cole or Riverford for a veg box delivery. But I'm slightly worried about a) not being able to use everything and having to throw stuff away....and b) there not being the right veg for a particular recipe I'm making and then having to go to the shops anyway.

So what do you do and how does it all work in practice? I love the look of the fresh fish and bread from Abel and Cole. Do you end up buying extra veg from the shops anyway?

We get a veg box. We do use everything and don't throw stuff away.

Like you say, we might want particular stuff that isn't in the box, so what we do is order one that's a little smaller than our total veg/fruit consumption for the week, and buy some extras elsewhere.

Don't know how others work, but ours has a choice of types (e.g. mainly mediterranean style veg, veg only, veg + fruit) so you can get more of what your prefer, and you can also blacklist certain items if you or your kids don't like them.

We've just started to get a veg box from a local farm. It gets delivered to the house once a week, and we told them one veg (mushrooms) that we definitely didn't want). The veg is yummy, and I've found we use it all up quite quickly, largely because I meal plan around it once it's arrived. I like searching online for new/unusual recipes with certain veg just to see what else I can make (got four courgettes on Thursday, made a chocolate courgette cake and courgette griddle cakes). I do buy extra veg from the shops as well, but less of it and that's only because we really like veg!

I was worried about throwing stuff away but I guess it depends what you get.

i use Riverford, for veg and other stuff too, milk is cheaper than the local shop

i used to end up chucking stuff, but now meal-plan around the box contents and we eat all of it, and more (being vegetarian does help)

you can choose different box sizes and they have a good selection, and a box which they guarantee will never have potatoes in.

i've found it a really good way to try different veg, even if you find you don't want to use it again, but i do have to be fairly disciplined about using it all.

hth

I was about to order from Abel and Cole but did a quick web search and found a local organic farm with weekly markets, a shop and a free delivery service. It's far more flexible. Have you checked what's available locally near you?

The bread from Abel & Cole goes stale very quickly. The meats/dairy have a good fridge life though. You can chose to skip items/boxes if you don't like them which is great as they tend to put onions in the box every week.

I use Abel & Cole and find them very good. If you are organised, you can check the boxes online a dew days before and make some adjustments.

Mine is delivered on a Monday, so I check the box, then amend my shopping list for the week and do my shop that day.

I font throw much away. Didn't use all the celery last week, but used the rest.

yes, in fact have developed a slight crush on my new meat and two veg man

We have Abel & Cole, mixed fruit and veg box. You do need to be organised, see what is in the box that week and plan accordingly. That way wastage will be reduced. You may find that sometimes you have to cook up stuff for the freezer to use things eg braised red cabbage, cakes with beetroot and courgette, and soup by the gallon...but when your freezer is groaning you can skip a week or two to eat it all up. It has taken me out of a culinary comfort zone and we love the fact that the fruit especially tastes so much better than supermarket stuff!

Do it! And get yourself a copy of "Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone" for tips on how to use the surplus of obscure veggies that you will be sure to encounter. It has chapters on countless different vegetables and recipes that make use of them. .

Riverford gives you recipes every week that build up to a lovely library of recipes. Recent hits have been cheesy beans and potato, tomato and chorizo salad. You have to change the way you cook rather than choosing recipes then buy veg, you wait for the veg to arrive or if you are organised actually read the e-mail the week before the box contents on it and plan from there.