If in doubt, add cheese
We're rattling through January at breakneck speed! Lots going on and a few changes in the pipeline but know we always talk about things way too early (still haven't got the card machine working at the shop!) so won't share too much at this point, but we'll keep you posted.
We were really excited to have someone come in this week to give us some advice on how to pack / operate the boxes a bit more efficiently - he happens to live locally but for some years was in charge of Operations at one of the (now very large) meal box schemes when they first started out so it was super helpful and he gave us lots of ideas. Although as always, working with organic veg throws up its own challenges as nothing is uniform or consistent! ;) If you saw Chris on Monday afternoon he was doing lots of thinking!
Not a lot happening in the field yet, other than harvesting salad - which looks and tastes amazing. We're taking advantage of the quieter times in the field to work on some of the other parts of the business.
Eat Your Greens veg boxes:
Snow pea punnets in the regular boxes this week - if you are new and / or can't remember what to do with these have a read of this.
Kale in the small boxes, Riverford always a good start if you're not sure how to cook something - here's some info on kale.
Let us know if you want any Seville oranges added to your box in the next few weeks- the season is normally fairly short so now's the time to make your marmalade :)
The Vale Grocer shop:
Quite well stocked tomorrow so come and help us get through it all. If you can't get to the shop but want some veg, let me know and we might be able to work something out.
Plenty of: Potatoes, brown/red/Roscoff onions, orange/purple carrots, leeks, parsnips, palermo peppers, golden/chioggia beetroot, kale, sprout tops, Savoy cabbage, red cabbage, fresh ginger / turmeric
Limited: Swede, squash, chestnut mushrooms, cauliflower, Prion sprouts & salad, garlic
Fruit: Navelina oranges, tango clementines (tiny but tasty), Russet apples (a few), Cox Royale apples, bananas, lemons.
We also have some Seville oranges in (if you've already ordered then I will put them aside for you) - we'll keep stocking these for a few weeks.
+ local free-range eggs (avian flu restrictions means the hens aren't free range at the moment but are in normal times)
+ local Cae Main & Bryn Cochyn apple juice
+ local sourdough bread from Nant y Felin restaurant
Recipe inspiration:
We were lucky enough to be cooked for by friends (you know who you are and thank you again!) the other day and they gave us parsnip and apple soup which was amazing - don't think it was this recipe but you can't go wrong with a National Trust soup can you?!
And if you have sweet potatoes in your box, cooking them up with beans is a super simple and tasty meal - try this Jamie Oliver recipe. From experience the spices are really important.Finally, if in doubt add cheese has stood us in good stead many times...Love this list of '100 ways to slightly improve your life without really trying' (some great ones here, we definitely agree with 12, 35 and 91, and I'm going to give 21 a go, as well as some of the others!)
have a lovely week
#enjoy that tasty veg