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Original poster

Organic boxes - how much stuff do you get?

28 replies

KathyMCMLXXII · 12/09/2006 09:10

A q for all the organic box fans out there....
We are thinking of trying an organic veg scheme (well, I am - dh is gritting his teeth and silently weeping at the thought of all that kale and celeriac). I have researched it online and while I have got a pretty good idea of the variety that goes into each box, it seems that the one bit of info they don't give you (presumably because it's so variable) is how much of each vegetable they send you.
Without this info it's very hard to work out how good or bad value it's going to be, whether you can get through the veg in a week, etc.

The two I have found that deliver in our area are Farmaround North and Organicpantry.co.uk - thinking of going with the former as that looks fairly well organised. Any experiences?

Thanks!

OP posts:
burstingbug · 12/09/2006 12:43

These people do a good selection box if they deliver to your area. You can preview whats in the box for the coming week too iirc.

Iklboo · 12/09/2006 12:45

Whereabouts do you live?

Bramshott · 12/09/2006 12:58

It's a tricky one, I'd say either email the company and ask what size box they'd recommend for a family of your size, and then try it, and change if it's too much / too little.

We get ours from Riverford and I love it - we started out with the small box, but quickly downsized to the mini which is perfect for the 3 of us.

Original poster
KathyMCMLXXII · 12/09/2006 13:48

Ooh, some answers while I was out! Thank you!

We're in East Yorkshire, about 10 miles from York. Riverford don't do our area.

If I go with Farmaround North I can't have anything smaller than their standard veg box as that's their minimum order. Will definitely start and see how it goes.

OP posts:
RTKangaMummy · 12/09/2006 14:11

here is a copy of WORKING LUNCH from today and they talk about organic boxes and the costs

Original poster
KathyMCMLXXII · 12/09/2006 14:24

Wow, thank you kangamummy! I can't watch it now as I don't have sound on my computer at work but will def watch it when I get home.

OP posts:
RTKangaMummy · 12/09/2006 14:36

you are welcome

PeachyClairHasBadHair · 13/09/2006 14:21

We get enough at least for 5 people, usually more, of every veg: except corn on the cob, then we get 4. large bag rocket / watercress / rosemary, large lettuce / cabbage etc- always very generous (We have the riverford alrge bx)

hulababy · 13/09/2006 14:23

I have Farmaround North. Got a delivery yesterday. I got a luxury veg box. I will go and itemize for you and be backs oon...

PrettyCandles · 13/09/2006 14:27

We found that it worked nicely in winter/spring, but summer was no good for us. We would get a huge lettuce every week (1 lettuce would normally last us about 3w) and only 4 or 6 tomatoes (barely enough for a salad for one person, let alone a family of four). We cancelled a week or two ago because there was just too much wastage. We had considered downsizing to a smaller box, but they still get a lettuce every week. We'll probably start with the boxes again at the begining of next year, or maybe earlier.

I don't know aboutthe other companies, but with Riverford you can see on their website what their predicted box contents will be from week to week.

aDAdOnMumsnet · 13/09/2006 14:30

Am an ex Abel and Cole customer and would not recommend them
am riverford now and they are excellent. Sorry don't know the ones in your area.

hulababy · 13/09/2006 14:31

...back.

Yesterday we got, in our luxury veg box:

960g potatoes
460g carrots (3 large)
300g onions (3 smallish)
160g mushrooms
260g runner beans
400g cabbage
540g squash
600g corn on the cob (2)
260g broccolli
200g lettuce
240g vine cherry tomatoes (12)
200g radish (14)

Original poster
KathyMCMLXXII · 13/09/2006 14:38

Thank you everyone!
Interesting that you found it worked better in winter/spring, Prettycandles - I thought that would be the difficult time because of all the kohlrabis and kale.
We can probably cope with the lettuce as I know a lovely recipe for soup!

How long have you been with Farmaroundnorth, Hulababy? Are they good?

OP posts:
Original poster
KathyMCMLXXII · 13/09/2006 14:40

Hulababy, that is fabulous - thank you so much! (Kathy anticipates happy half hour spent comparing prices with Sainsburys....)

Must say I am tempted by the luxury box, but have agreed with dh we'll start with the most basic one and see how we get on.

OP posts:
bundle · 13/09/2006 14:41

i hate the word "luxury" tagged onto things like vegboxes..are the others just tat then, or ordinary?

hulababy · 13/09/2006 14:42

Been using them for 2-3 months, as has MIL. They seem pretty good so far. I normally order a luxury box, some extra mushrooms (as not always in the other box) and eggs. I buy fruit every so often as well, as we don't use it up enough - DD prefers vg sticks for her school snack.

They are just about to introduce a £1 delivery charge BTW.

hulababy · 13/09/2006 14:43

I had the stabdard box before. Moved onto the luxury as you get salad items as well as veg.

PeachyClairHasBadHair · 13/09/2006 14:47

The large one doesn't wuite last us a week, with the fruit box on top- have hafd to up my order - greedy gits here

bundle · 13/09/2006 14:49

but why not call it salad/veg or summer box? I don't think of fruit/veg as luxuries...

Original poster
KathyMCMLXXII · 13/09/2006 14:58

It doesn't count as greedy if it's fruit & veg, Peachy

OP posts:
PeachyClairHasBadHair · 13/09/2006 14:59

Oh it does, we ran out i a day

I started a therad here before I orderd, everyone said- oh one lasts us a fortnight!

ooops

Original poster
KathyMCMLXXII · 13/09/2006 15:00

LOL

OP posts:
PrettyCandles · 13/09/2006 19:22

In the winter things that don't get eaten up within the week keep better, so there's no urgency. Plus we ended up trying lots of new veg and enjoying them.

There's no saving, financially, in getting veg boxes, but we wanted to try to reduce food miles and support UK farmers. So the drawback to only having cooler-season boxes is that while in summer most of the box is UK-grown, there are loads of imports in the winter boxes.

Original poster
KathyMCMLXXII · 14/09/2006 09:54

OK, the result of my price comparison, if anyone's interested, is that the contents of Hulababy's £13.60 'luxury veg bag' would cost £16.40 if you were to buy equivalent organic produce from Sainsburys.
So it is a little bit cheaper than supermarket organic, but presumably way more expensive than normal supermarket stuff.

Prettycandles, my reasons are actually quite similar to yours and I'm not buying organic atm anyway so it's not really about saving money: it's about wanting to feel that you're part of the solution, rather than part of the problem, with regard to the damage done to the countryside by supermarket buying policies, and while I feel there's nothing wrong per se with importing food so that we can have fresh tomatoes through the winter etc, it seems silly to do it when there actually are local alternatives available. We plan to make the organic box our main staple but of course top up with the odd imported supermarket aubergine or lettuce out of season.

OP posts:
PrettyCandles · 14/09/2006 13:44

I'm impressed by the price comparison - not what I expected.

I wonder how the 'little' companies will cope with the big supermarkets starting to run their own box schemes soon.

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