Green Futures

Category: Veg Box News

  • Veg Box News 28.10.13

    The British always talk about the weather and looking at the news this week, that has been all the news has seemed to be about! Everywhere it has been about the doom of storms. Thankfully we escaped the worst of it. It was good to see a couple of stories highlighting the good that comes from being outdoors and how much benefit it is for children to be playing in the park being allowed to explore nature. It appears that gardening, whether you are old or young, gives benefits for both physical and mental health. Obviously we know this already and is part of our raison d’etre. Grow food, eat food, stay healthy.

    In this weeks box we have again the delicious Marfona spuds; I’ve tried roasting, boiling, mashing and making hash browns and they have been great for them all, Lincolnshire grown too. Excellent. The unusual item this week is our own home grown Fennel. Its use goes back a long way, I even read that it is one of the nine plants invoked in the pagan Anglo-Saxon Nine Herbs Charm, recorded in the 10th century! (See Wikipedia). It has a range of culinary and medicinal uses and is reportedly good for digestive disorders and the eyes.

    On the land this week we have been busy removing the last of the tomato plants and now have quite a few kilo of green tomatoes left. We will probably be able to give you one last flush of toms before we totally move to the winter veg. We have also harvested our butternut squashes, there is a recipe on our website for squash soup.

    I think we have sold all but one of the pumpkins and we had a winner for the guess the weight of the massive pumpkin competition. We still do have a few plants for sale and Kylie has been busy making up some beautiful house plant baskets. Ask on the van to see them or have a look at our facebook.

    Thanks to those customers that have placed regular orders for eggs. It really helps for our sustainability and again you can be happy that you are supporting not only us, but also a small local farm. You are being the change most people want to see!

    We had our first Christmas enquiry today!… and yes we will be supplying a special Christmas Dinner box….. details to follow Early November.

    PS – WE REUSE PLASTIC PUNNETS PLEASE WASH AND RETURN!

    Don’t forget we sell FREE RANGE Eggs from Chickens NOT fed on GM soya. Most other non organic eggs will be from GM fed chickens.

  • Veg Box News 15.10.13

    A mixed week of weather has seen sporadic work on the landscape. The hectic winds damaged a few items on the landscape; mainly one of the poly tunnels and one of the netted cages. It is amazing the power of the wind even through fine mesh, enough to bend steel bars! The damage is all repairable but it reminds us that Poly 1 will need a new cover in the next couple of years!

     Our stalwart volunteers still showed up and have helped us plant a big load of winter cabbages. The Leeks on the landscape are growing well and we have harvested all our own potatoes. The potatoes this week are Lincolnshire Marfonas; a great all rounder and you will probably find the amounts are over weight as the size of them made it difficult to give you exactly the weight for your box (We err on the side of overweight!)

     Hope you enjoy the unusual squashes; they are a taste of what we have planned for our squash tunnel next year!

     The carrots this week are back to the usual North Somercotes supplier of unwashed carrots. Thanks for bearing with us last week. We have given you flat mushrooms for a change They are great roasted and have put a link to a lovely Jamie Oliver recipe on our facebook page. (Email if you don’t use facebook and I can send you the link!)

     Thanks to the people that took the time to ask their neighbours and friends to try a box from us. You are helping build a community of people interested in good quality veg and that care about our area. We are meeting some lovely new people! Every new customer helps us take steps to sustainability and staying open for the longer term.

     We have ordered a few new items for the Pantry and increased the number of gluten free products. We carry a range of vegetarian and Vegan Products and now have a few essential oils for sale. If there are any products you would like to see us sell then please do let us know.

    We do have a number of ‘close to end date’ items for sale including tubes of organic tomato purée only 90p a tube!) 

  • Veg Box News 09.09.13

    In this weeks veg box we decided to give you Corn on the Cobb again. The season for them is quite short and the last lot we had were absolutely delicious. We hope you don’t mind? English sweetcorn are a lot sweeter than imported because the time from farm to fork is shorter, meaning less of the natural sugar turns to starch. English sweetcorn is not GM, unlike stuff imported from America. Always look where your food comes from. Also in the box are some of our own chillies. They aren’t very hot so hopefully you will like them. Don’t forget remove the seeds if you don’t want them too hot and remember to wash your hands well, after chopping them. They can be used in chillies, stir-fry’s and curries.

     So the unusual looking thing in your box is a Celariac, I like to use it by peeling and mixing with mash potato. It takes a little while less to cook than potatoes so either cut it into larger chunks or chop the potatoes smaller. You can boil it in the same pan. Another way to use it, is to grate it raw for a salad. It makes a great coleslaw. I also include a recipe I found on the Guardian website as in interesting Dairy Free Risotto. I will be making it at the weekend and will let you know how mine went. Incidentally you can buy most of the ingredients from us too! 🙂

     Well the weather had that first bite in the air this week, sat in the office I had to grab an extra layer of clothes. We can see the tomatoes starting to slow down in their ripening. If it is like last year we will have a load of green tomatoes at the end of the season; good for green tomato chutney if anyone is feeling creative.

     We will be running the salad boxes till the end of September, but after this they will have to most likely change as the price of salad stuff will increase due to having to buy in salad from growers with heated greenhouse or imports from abroad. We will let you know nearer the time.

     On the Landscape we have lots of squash ready. In the £10 box this week you will find a patty pan squash (or butternut if we don’t have enough). They keep really well so we will be giving you them in the other size boxes in the next couple of weeks. We also have a limited number of pumpkins growing including 2 absolute monsters, pictures will be appearing on the website and facebook soon! Talking of facebook we are nearly at 1000 likes… if you haven’t already please find us and like our page for a chance to win a free veg box.

    Thanks for your continued support!

    Ps WE REUSE PLASTIC PUNNETS PLEASE WASH AND RETURN!

    Don’t forget we sell FREE RANGE Eggs from Chickens NOT fed on GM soya. Most other non organic eggs will be from GM fed chickens.

  • Veg box content wk 17.12.12

    Xmas veg boxes

    as a special for Christmas we have 3 sizes of veg box.

    This is what is in them. (weight in kilos)

     

    £5 £8      £10
    content weight weight weight
    potatoes 0.7 1 2
    carrots 0.5 0.5 0.8
    onions 0.5
    mushrooms 0.4 0.4
    broccoli 1 1 1
    cabbage 1 1 1
    leeks 0.5 0.5 0.6
    parsnips 0.5 0.6
    swede 1
    sprout 0.5 1 1

  • veg box content 10.12.12

    THE STANDARD £8 veg box contains approximately:

    1.5 k       Potatoes

    1k            Carrots

    800g       Onions

    500g       Mushrooms

    1              Swede

    1              Garlic

    500g       Beetroot

    1              Cauli

    1              Butternut Squash

     

  • Veg Box News 03.12.12

    Below is a copy of the veg box news we sent out with this weeks box.

    So another month whizzes by and I can now talk about Christmas.  We have our special £25 Christmas boxes on offer.  We will deliver on the 20th and 21st and they are full of all your Christmas dinner essentials as well as a selection of other local produces and artisan foods and gifts.  All for £25 and if you order before the 15th December you get entered into a prize draw!

     

    So the bad weather we have had is now really starting to effect.  This week is the last of the North Somercoates Potatoes. Normally we would have them ‘til the end of Jan but the crop has been so small that we have used them all up!  Don’t worry though we have found another Lincolnshire supplier although the price of them has risen by a few pence per kilo.  We have also found a Lincolnshire Supplier of the Italian Kale Calvero Nero, just treat it like cabbage.  There are some good recipes on the web.

     

    On the landscape we’ve been harvesting the first of the leeks and emptying the poly tunnel ready to replenish the soil.  A group of students from Grimsby Institute have been helping barrow tons of soil about the place, so thanks to them!

     

    I mentioned last week that on the veg box round we are having some admin changes through Dec and in Jan we will start using a new customer database to manage the orders more efficiently.  We are quite excited by this move, but sorry if we miss anyone while we go through the changes.  When we have finished we will be able to offer you an online ordering system which will enable you to add in extra items and customise your box from the comfort of your computer!

    The wholefood sales are starting to pick up now and as we don’t have health food shop in Grimsby anymore we are hoping some other customers will start to take advantage of our service.  Of course you are buying ‘ethically’ as well as healthy. Your money is supporting the work of local community organisation and workers coops so no cats get fat from your hard earned cash!

     

    Thanks again for your continued support of the project.  We strive very hard to bring you quality local vegetables, reducing food miles and supporting local growers.

    Sean and Kylie

  • Veg box content wkbg 03.12.12

    THE STANDARD £8 veg box contains approximately:

    1.5 k     Potatoes (From Nth Somercotes)

    850g     Carrots

    500g     Onions

    800g     Parnips

    1 head  Calvero Nero

    1          Pepper

    400g     Mushroom

    600g     Turnip

     

    Alternatives;   celeriac, parsnips, cucumber, garlic, Swede

    Smaller and individual boxes may vary due to your likes dislikes and availability.

    ALSO FREE RANGE LINCOLNSHIRE EGGS  ONLY £1.50 for 6

  • Christmas Special Veg Box

    It’s usually mad enough running round getting last minute gifts and those ‘essentials’, let Green Futures remove one of you Christmas worries and we can deliver you a fresh Christmas dinner veg box!

    Containing all the traditional fayre the box will contain approximately*;

    potatoes 2kilo
    carrots 800g
    onions 500g
    parsnips 600g
    sprouts 1 stick
    cabbage 1 head
    broccoli 1 head
    mushrooms 400g
    leeks 600g

    Plus you get 4 other options

    Either

    The Decoration Box which is all the veg above plus a £10 Christmas wreath and £5 Christmas table decoration.

    The All Food Pack which is all the veg plus £15 worth of seasonal and locally sourced food including pickles, preserves and hand made chocolates.

    The Wreath Pack which is all the veg plus a Christmas Wreath and £5 worth of seasonal and locally sourced food including pickles, preserves and hand made chocolates.

    The Table Pack which is all the veg plus a Christmas table decoration and £10 worth of seasonal and locally sourced food including pickles, preserves and hand made chocolates.

    All the Packs are £25, come with a smile and anyone who orders one before the 15th of December will be entered into a random draw to win another £5 worth of goodies!

    You of course will be able to customise the order.

    The Boxes will all be delivered on the 20th and 21st of Dec.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    *subject to veg price and availability at time of preparation

     

     

  • Veg Box Content Wk 19.11.12

    In this weeks £8 box you will find

    1.5 kg potatoes

    500g mixed onions red/white

    500g Carrots

    350g mushrooms

    Tomatoes

    Parsnips

    Pepper

    Cauli (purple or white)

    Red Cabbage

    The £5 box has no tomatoes or parsnips and less of everything else.

     

  • Veg Box content Week of 12.11.12

    In this weeks £8 box you will find.

    1.25 kilo potatoes

    500g Carrots

    500g mixed onions

    400g mushrooms

    A swede

    500g parsnips

    400g Turnips

    450g Beetroot

    350g tomatoes

    Red pepper

    and finally either a cabbage, cauli or broccoli (we only had a few of each)