I have another very dull question about organic boxes - Riverford particularly

[hopefully]

I've just been on the riverford organic box site (i'm in West Sussex, so the local one is Riverford Norton, not sure if they're all essentially the same), and it's telling me the contents of the boxes for the week commencing 3rd november. however, the next delivery it's offering and that I would want is the 12th November.

So if I put in an order, does anyone know if I'll get the box contents for the week commencing 3rd November, or next week's box? And if it's next week's box, will I have to wait till next week to see what's in it? How is that useful? I might want to order a different one depending on what's in the box... Unless next week's box will become visible in the next couple of days?

I'm confused!

My delivery is a Wednesday, the contents are listed on the Friday, which is the last day to order.
It's more so you can menu plan than change your order. One of the things about a box scheme is that you don't pick what you get, you just choose the size.

xx

I want to know for menu planning -I'm not desperately concerned about what's in the box, although if it's full of things I hate (celeriac springs to mind - food of the devil) I might not order one at all.

Maybe I'll go wild and actually call and ask...

We have river swale which is part of the same franchise. Our delivery is on Thursday and we have to order by 8pm Tuesday. The new week's box is listed from Friday.

TBH I do swap around boxes after viewing the contents. I might order a medium if it has a lot of stuff we like, or go for a small otherwise. And sometimes I might get a winter box if we have a glut of potatoes and onions.

How about you put in an order and then change it? If it's Riverford they say you can change your order up to 8pm two days before delivery.

oh, sorry, you want to know for menu planning - they put next week's contents up on Friday, so you'll know before the weekend at least.

Thank you very much! Consensus seems to be Friday, which is plenty of time to get my menu planning sorted.

Same as everyone else. Contents posted/emailed on Friday. Cut off to change order 8pm Monday, delivery Wednesday.

I set up a regular order for a small box each week then alter it on Friday according to what is in them. If there is something I don;t like in a box I'll change to another.

I used to use Abel & Cole but I find the quality is much better in Riverford. The veg seems much fresher and lasts much longer.

Make sure your account is set up to receive the update emails from the farm, it'll be with you on Friday morning. If you don't/can't receive it you can always ring the local distributor, ours is always helpful and willingly answers my often awkward queries about the following week's veg! We chop and change our regular box order and sometimes make up our own box from the extras list. There's loads to choose from.

My box is delivered on a Friday too but I used to get confused by the website which always seems to be telling me what is going to be in the week after next's organic boxes rather than the one I'm just about to have delivered. Anyway, in the end I learned how to find the link for Last week's box which then tells me what's coming today. Lovely turnips, brussels and leeks this week, and more raw beetroot - yum!

Did you ever try a box? We live in Chichester, and get a Riverford order every wednesday - it is fantastic. you can change the order upto 8pm on a monday and can always ring for info and advice. we have a standard box and then chop and change each week. the new roots box looks great value but havent tried it yet. we have saved lots of money as there is no pestering in the shops, or impulse buying of "not so" special offers. the fresh produce from riverford is amazing - recommend you give them a go

Out of interest, what do you get in your box, and how much does it cost-roughly?
Does it last a few days?

the box contents are listed under 'this weeks box' from the homepage. We have just started getting the fruit and veg box which is 15 quid, and has 7 types of veg and 3 of fruit. the produce was all very fresh and doesn't go off too quickly. i would definitely recommend them.

Thanks Silver.
Do you find you have to top it up much with other veg shopping?

I have just received this weeks delivery - a medium box - potaotes, carrots, onions, parsnips, red cabbage, swede,broccoli, lettuce, tomatoes and big mushrooms. We also got extras of cauliflower, peppers, butternut squash, 6 litres milk, and a fruit box - apples, oranges, clementines, grapes and bananas. The total is £35.29 - far less than i would end up spending at the supermarket for much fresher produce. there are 4 in our family.

We use the Riverford Norton web site www.riverfordnorton.co.uk to adjust our order based on box contents. we have now got used to how much we get - and it certainly lasts the week. We also top up with extra onions, baking potatoes, bananas etc

i only go to the supermarket every 2 or 3 weeks and rely on riverford for all our fresh produce - we get an occasional meat box from them too. it is expensive but again fantastic - i would rather eat less meat and buy better quality.

i dont know what i would do without our box