abel and cole -any good?

[swifterella]

have been umming and aaahing about getting a veg box. what do you lot think about abel and cole??

Having had a veg box for a few months now I have come to the conclusion that using unfamiliar veg is very simple: if it's a root veg you boil, mash and add a knob of butter. If it's green and leafy you saute it with a bit of garlic and maybe some chilli.
No need for complicated things like trying to work out what it is.

But I don't want to buy fruit and veg that has been shipped half way round the world and picked unripe....(no decent local green grocer...)

thing is i dont have alot of money and think 13 quid a week for organic veg is cheap. also i work so days off without having to go to blardy sainsburys would be quite nice

We pay £6.50 for our basic box and it's quality

ok £7.50 they just put their prices up

do you have to supplement it? cos there is a basic one on river nene and that is 7.50?

it's your staples usually potatoes, onions, carrots, plus 3 others each week, which vary.

tend to get salady things on top

think river nene is affiliated to riverford.

Does anyone know how the box schemes compare price wise to buying organic veg from the demon supermarkets / or general green grocer's , does it work out more expensive generally? I have been trying to persuade ny DH to try the box schemes for a few years but cost is always the issue. I picked up Sainsbury's organic veg box last week but there were no quantities to compare with organic produce on the shelf so I couldn't work it out, (plus I feel that buying the box off the shelf totally defeats the idea of local grown veg delivery.)

I did a price comparison which compared Farmaround North standard veg box (courtesy of Hulababy telling me how much of each veg she had) with Sainsbury's organic or premium produce.
The result was that the box scheme came out about 10% cheaper.
Since then I've moved to a local scheme (Organic Pantry, based in Tadcaster) which I think will come out more expensive, though.

Also I think if you got a basics/economy box instead of a more varied one it would be even cheaper.

Thanks for that kathy, I really must bite the bullet and give a box scheme a try,my other problem with them is that we have four lo's and I really don't know what size box to order( although I seem to remember one website guiding you on that i think? Just don't want to spend money on veg that I'll spend time preparing and then throw in the bin because they won't eat it, but then I guess that's par for the course with my fussy lot!

but if you go to the supermarket anyway, doesn't that mean that there's another lorry driving around delivering veg to your house, as well as taking things to supermarkets, and you go to the supermarket to buy other things?

btw not being critical just for the sake of it, but genuinely not convinced that they are better for 'food miles'.

I know exactly what you mean, I have had the same reservations about the food miles, I try and use our local farm shops where possible. I presume that the food box schemes are all UK grown though so even if they deliver around the country presumably they are still better than the internationally grown produce?

They're actually not all UK-grown - they will include some European produce to give the variety that most people want (eg tomatoes right through the winter).

tis true.

Likewise with fruit. We want fruit still even though it's February. It can only be grown abroad.

Duh... that was really stupid of me ( I think I have numbed my brain having discovered MN this week!) Thinking about it, it would seem that the extra food miles detract from the environmental advantages of using the veg box schemes, it really does seem as hough ust usng the local green grocers is the best way, if you can't GYO! Sorry for being so dim!

Depends what your local greengrocer sells, though - there is no guarantee they are sourcing anything locally.
Even so-called farmshops often carry only a small proportion of homegrown stuff.
I don't think you can take anything for granted - you just have to look at the details in every case.

I like Abel & Cole a lot. We get a box of fruit every week, plus a few extra veggies (we also grow our own), plus milk every week and meat/pulses or whatever as and when I need it.

They are very efficient, internet ordering is great, and I even got a free cloth bag for Christmas!

What I like about them is that they don't air freight anything, unlike much of the organic stuff in supermarkets.

That is good to know.

I get a large veg box for £13 from Riverford. I then order a kilo of apples and a kilo of bananas, plus milk from their dairy.
You get huge amounts of veg, and only in the winter months do you occasionlly get one item that is non uk, they show which ones are, so you can check.
Now I know the bananas are not uk, but the apples are when in season. We are in South Wales, and they are based in Dorset, so some miles there.
They truck it to local supplier who then covers one area.

I have had veg from both Abel & Cole and Riverford in the past, and I thought Abel & Cole was better. Now I get my veg box from an organic farm 4 miles away, most of it grown on the farm and nothing air-freighted, quality is great, it's very fresh and no qualms about food miles. The more local the better imho.

One of the things I like about Riverford, is a lot of the veg is grown on their farm, rather than being bought in from other farms, so less miles, and more direct route to the customer.
I've had a look at both sights, and you get more in a riverford box, 2 more types of veg. The veg is less exotic, but more seasonal at Riverford, I think

Can someone tell me what quantities you get in the smaller veggie boxes for Riverford/Nene. How many potatoes are we looking at and why do they not say so on the website?

lazyline, i don't know, bumping for you, can tell you about large box but that would be no help i know