Organic veg boxes

[CherryChoc]

I have searched and there are quite a few threads on this topic but they are all a few years old. Is it because of the credit crunch, are veg boxes really expensive?

I like the idea of getting one because I never know what veg to do with a meal (and therefore what to buy) meaning we barely have any fruit and veg in the house. I will be starting BLW with DS soon and won't have anything to feed him with if I am not careful!

We usually shop online weekly (or less often if I forget) with Tesco and probably spend £50-60 a week on 2 adults, which seems like a lot - we have too much processed food at the moment.

So would like to try one out. If you use one, how much do they charge for a small box for 2-and-a-bit people? (DS will be barely eating anything to begin with I know!) And are they good? Have had a look at websites and I like the look of Abel & Cole because you can say what you like in the boxes.

Hi Cherry, Funnily enough I just opened an Abel and Cole account this morning and placed an order with them. They've got an offer where you get your 4th veg box free so I thought it was worth a try. A year or so ago we used to get a veg bag from Farmaround. The quality was good, and definitely cheaper than organic veg from the supermarket, but my dp doesn't like a number of veg and we weren't able to specify which ones we didn't want (you can with Abel and Cole) so found that we were wasting food. I've opted for a small deluxe organic box for £13.50, but there is a cheaper, more basic one.

When we were getting the veg bag before, I found that it saved on those little supermarket shops where you pop in for some carrots and a pint of milk and come out having spent a tenner.

I also used to find it quite exciting to come home from work and find out what was in the bag this week. But I probably need to get out more...

here

About £8 for a small box. You can swap out anything you don't like.

Used it for about 18 months and we love it.

Heard some stories about Abel and Cole not being great.

try here for schemes local to you vegbox-recipes.co.uk/veg-boxes/find-a-box-scheme.php

This will also help on food miles if you feel that is an issue.
I use a local guy who goes out to the farms and collects stuff and then distributes locally..

A second vote for Riverford from me. Have been a customer for about 2 years. They often do articles about how their boxes compare favourably on price to the supermarkets.

I get a local box. We pay £10 per week (we can cancel some weeks if we don't need it). Most of the stuff is local, all is seasonal. Some things are imported (e.g. bananas) but they come via ship not air.

Last week we got:
3 smallish heads of broccoli.
5 large bananas
3 large eating apples
3 large pears.
5-6 baking size potatoes
2 peppers, one orange, one red.
4-5 carrots
3-4 parsnips

We ask for a little extra of salad type veg and fruit, otherwise we tend to get too much of the really seasonal stuff (recently butternut squash and swede)

We have 2 adults and 2 small ones, one has school meals though.

Showofhands - in which way is Abel and Cole not good? Is it a quality thing or an ethical one?

Riverford looks lovely. They didn't use to delever to us, but i seems they do now. I might try them next.

deliver, even.

Hmm, just getting on the thread...
We had leaflets for abel & cole and Box Fresh this week, and are considering it...

Look at your local ones - Able and Cole use the local suppliers to get fruit and veg so my local was/is supplying the same stuff...

I didn't find Abel and Cole that great although lots of people love them - we just got too many mouldy strawberries and bendy carrots. Switched to Farmaround which I like a lot. We get a big sack of vegetables for about £12, which contains onions, carrots and potatoes every week with a variety of other vegetables. I like it a lot, although as aubergenie said you can't opt out of individual items and I find Jerusalem artichoke or beetroot weeks rather trying.

Another vote for Riverford. Really happy with them in the 3 years we have been using them. You can get a small veg box for £10.85. Prices seem to be comparable to non organic supermarket veg.

I started getting a Riverford veg box recently and it's sooooo tasty. We change our order weekly, sometimes get the £12.95 favourite box, sometimes the cheaper veg box. They post on their site what's in boxes on friday, we menu plan and then get our box and any other extras we want on Thursday morning.
LOVE IT
I've heard Abel and Cole veg doesn't last as long.