Getting a veg box again, Cider and Christmas news... arghh
It's good to be getting a proper veg box again! For the first time in about a year we have added ourselves back to the veg box round and it feels great. The excitement of receiving the box was great to relive! The reason we have done this - is that we'd realised that we were starting to become less adventurous with our food again - eating just left overs from the shop - the stuff that was less saleable, or grabbing things as we needed. Now we are back to using what we've got! We've had a number of people who'd stopped their boxes and have returned and we can see why!
As we edge towards Christmas .... arggh or yippee, depending on your point of view - it is worth reminding you that we do sell a small range of alcoholic drinks - beers and as of last week local Cider - apples grown on the slopes of Moel y Parc. This is a very tasty drop. Marion has penned (typed) some notes for us on their Cae Main Cider Batch No1 These are available both in the shop or for delivery with your veg box. Order from our Vale Grocer online shop.
So, onto Christmas....we thought we should give you a bit of a heads up as to what the plan is, especially as we have lots of new customers:
Veg box deliveries:
We'll be delivering veg boxes as normal the week before Christmas ie week starting Dec 19th
If you are away for Christmas/don't want a box that week please let us know by Friday 16th December
This box will contain the main Christmas veg you'd need for a traditional Christmas dinner - brussels sprouts, parsnips, potatoes, onions, carrots, red / green cabbage. Also clementines or oranges. Regular boxes will get a few other items too. We can give you a final list of what's coming in each box the previous week.
There won't be any veg box deliveries the week after Christmas ie Tues 27th or Wed 28th December
Deliveries will restart on January 10th - again, please let us know by Friday 16th December if you don't want a box this week
The shop:
The shop opening hours will be as follows:
Thurs 22nd December 10-2pm
Fri 23rd December 10-1pm
if we can we'll also open in the late afternoon / early evening of either Wed 21st or Thurs 22nd - tbc nearer the time.
The shop will aim to have all the above in, and more but if you don't get a veg box delivered, you may want to order a one off box for that week to collect from the shop, which you could then top up. Alternatively drop us an email with your orders and we'll do our best preferably by Monday 12th Dec to 'guarantee'* (*as much as we can!!)
We may open the shop on Thurs 29th / Friday 30th Dec but this is dependent on how much veg we have in so we'll confirm nearer the time
The shop will open as normal Thurs 5th and Fri 6th Jan 2023
In the field
Things have defintiely slowed down in the field, so this week was mainly harvesting:
15kg Carrots
19kg Leeks
60 Pak Choi
1 kg Salad
1 kg Tomatoes
In the boxes
Don't forget, if you want to add any pantry extras to your box you can order online via our little shop page here
Small: Most of the boxes this week got celariac with tops - (the tops you can use as you would celery) - Chestnut mushrooms, Cavalo Nero Kale and Pak Choi from Prion an d the apples were Ashmeads Kernal
Regular: The onions this week are the Roscoff variety seriously tasty - (these sell for £7.20/kg in Waitrose and are non -organic) Savoy cabbage, Prion Leeks, Palermo Peppers, beetroot, Sweet potato, Fennel and clementines
In the shop
We've still got lots of squash this week - Uchi Kiri, Hoargarth, White Acorn 'Mashed Potato', Crown Prince, Harlequin, Patty Pan, and Butternut Hunter Squash. Some ideas below from Anna Jones on how to use different types (sometimes hard to know which ones to leave the peel on!)
We also have:
Carra potatoes from Bryn Cocyn Organic Farm (Henllan)
Carrots from Prion
Leeks from Prion
Beetroot - golden and cylindra (red)
Cauliflowers
Broccoli
Savoy Cabbages
Red Cabbages
January King Cabbages
Cavalo Nero Kale - from Prion
Palermo Peppers
Fennel bulbs
Chestnut Mushrooms
Sweet potato
Tomatoes - from Prion
Salad from Prion
Roscoff Onions
Ginger
Turmeric
Garlic
Chillies from Prion
Fruit: bananas
Clementines
Apples - Ashmeads Kernal, Hereford Russet - Bryn Cocyn Organic Farm
Cooking apples - Trwyn Mochyn (pig's snout) from Cae Main
Plus the other organic bits (see our range here), Pentrefelin milk, Nant y Felin sourdough and eggs.
Recipe inspiration
Here are some squash tips from Anna Jones. Also, don't forget you can toast your sqaush seeds- her method is below (in her words):
Place a colander (or strainer) in a bowl filled with water. The seeds float, so this set-up makes separating the seeds from any stubborn pumpkin flesh much easier. Scoop the seeds from your pumpkin and transfer to the colander. Separate the seeds from any pumpkin flesh and pat dry with paper towels or a clean kitchen cloth.
Using the water-method I outline above will do the trick and make cleaning the goop-y fibers off your pumpkin seeds. You'll be able to clean the majority off this way. I've found that vigorously rubbing the seeds dry with a clean towel afterward tends to remove any remaining strands.
I used to heavily season seeds prior to baking, but I find that if you bake with lots of spice coating the seeds, the spices tend to over bake or even burn. I do most or all of my spice additions post-bake now.
If you don't mind stained fingertips, tossing the hot seeds with a dusting of turmeric, minced garlic, and cayenne or black pepper is really great, but you can paly around with seasonings [we've used smoked paprika before - TVG]
Pumpkin seeds are great anytime you are looking to add a bit of crunch to a dish. That said, you can also blend them into dips, smoothies, and sauces. They're incredibly versatile.
have a great week folks