dancing cloud Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Does anyone use River Nene organic vege box scheme (based in Peterborough) and would you recommend it? There are no good farm shops locally and this seems to be the only scheme that delivers to my area. I do grow my own summer veg, but go a bit short in winter and I'm sure there'll be plenty of willing beaks to help me eat it all Anyone even heard of it? Many thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbaraJ Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Yes i have used it though i'm not at the moment. you can't choose what goes in the box but you can change different sizes each week to avoid certain things. sometimes there are weeks with things in it we would never eat like beetroot, kohl rabbi(sp?) and the aniseed one and we have given up for a while until the spring when our more popular veg comes back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronze Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 yes I use them my local franchisees are lovely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willow Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 I used them for a bit (Riverford me me locally) but gave up. You have to be organised and plan meals around what is in the boxes and we just seemed to get through some stuff really quickly whereas other veg sat around cos I didn't get around to planning what to do with it. Quality wise they were much better than Able and Cole and a local scheme that I also tried. But veg box just doesn't work for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seagazer Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 I've been using the Riverford (same company) box scheme for a year or so now and love it. Yes you do get things you probably wouldn't have ordered but it does make you think outside of the box (no pun intended ) In fact thats how I end up with lovely butternut squash soup as we didn't like it roasted and I love it in soup. Plus if there is something you don't like I'm sure there are some little darlings in the garden that probably would. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reikiranf Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 I agree with you Seagazer, we've been using Riverford for a few years now and I'm sure that we eat a better diet than we did before as I used to go to the supermarket and buy the same veg every week With a box scheme you get what's in season and we've now eat veg that I'd never have considered buying. I love squash soup too and put a bit of curry powder in mine If you get something you don't like they have lots of ways of hiding it in tasty recipes on their website. Amanda Ps. I also find that the veg is much fresher than the stuff you buy in the supermarket, the only downside for me is washing alll the mud off it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Licken Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 I have a fruit and veg box from river nene - once a fortnight. It is reliable and they are very helpful. I do consider it to be a bit of a luxury but the same stuff would cost more in the supermarket. I try to use everything and have got much better at 'soup'!!!! You can always give it a try and see how you get on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancing cloud Posted January 13, 2009 Author Share Posted January 13, 2009 Many thanks to you all I've placed a one-off order of veg so I can see how it goes and what I think. I do see it as a luxury and a treat for me, but I expect there'll be something for the little cheeky-beaks as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbaraJ Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 oh i sound really fussy but i'm not i love butternut squash its the strong tasting ones that i find hard to hide! i'm trying able and cole this week as they had 25% off , i had them years ago when kids were small and you can choose not to have certain things which suits me better as otherwise things tend to sit in the fridge especially when we were getting week after week of beetroot with river nene which noone likes here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jomaxsmith Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 I've used River Nene in the past and found we were forced to be more creative and eat better rather than waste the food. I stopped for two reasons, the first was that the distributor changed and the new one was hopeless and kept getting my order wrong and the second was that I found a lot of the produce didn't stay fresh for very long. It was lovely and crisp and tasty but only for a day or two which wasn't ideal! I'm lucky that where I live there are plenty of farm shops where I can buy from the gate - I'm now more inclined to buy local rather than organic, Jo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbaraJ Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 Shame that farm shops not an option here, not locally enough for me anyway. just lots of supermarkets. we have hardly if any greengrocers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willow Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 One advantage of the boxes is definitely the range of veg. I looked all over for jerusalem artichokes at the w/e as I have a wonderful soup recipe using them that even the kids like and I couldn't find any even in our local farm shop I'd had some to plant last year but I didn't get them planted up properly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jomaxsmith Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 I looked all over for jerusalem artichokes at the w/e as I have a wonderful soup recipe using them that even the kids like and I couldn't find any even in our local farm shop That's another reason I gave up River Nene - Jerusalem Artichokes; they were in the box every time for most of last winter. We didn't like them, and I ran out of people I could give them to! Jo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbaraJ Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 I looked all over for jerusalem artichokes at the w/e as I have a wonderful soup recipe using them that even the kids like and I couldn't find any even in our local farm shop That's another reason I gave up River Nene - Jerusalem Artichokes; they were in the box every time for most of last winter. We didn't like them, and I ran out of people I could give them to! Jo yep thats another one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willow Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 I'm going to type up my carrot and Jerusalem artichoke soup and post into all things nice as it is worth trying is you have JA's and nothing you want to do with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seagazer Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 I looked all over for jerusalem artichokes at the w/e as I have a wonderful soup recipe using them that even the kids like and I couldn't find any even in our local farm shop That's another reason I gave up River Nene - Jerusalem Artichokes; they were in the box every time for most of last winter. We didn't like them, and I ran out of people I could give them to! Jo yep thats another one! That is the downside actually thinking about it. I can't stand beetroot and I kept giving mine to my mum and MIL. I think I had to compost the last couple of bunches as "Ooops, word censored!"ody wanted them. As part of the credit crunch I have stopped mine now but will start up again when finances are more settled. OH gets fed up when the kids don't eat the fruit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancing cloud Posted January 14, 2009 Author Share Posted January 14, 2009 Thank you so much for all your recommendations - I knew I could rely on you! Yes please to the carrot and jerusalem artichoke soup recipe The delivery is due on Friday and the box I've chosen has no JA's in it, but I'm sure there'll be some around in future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
