Food - Back to basics!

Naseby

leiela wrote: »

This is the website

http://www.northernharvest.co.uk/

the bloke was really nice, i know this company's still taking a cut out of the farmers pockets but i bet it's alot less than the supermarket chains and the veg is certainly fresher and it's abit more convenient for busy people like me who don't have alot of time to run about trying to work out where all the farmers markets etc are.

Thank you so much, Leiela for posting this link. I have been looking for somewhere like this for ages but couldn't find anything. I am a 24/7 carer to my DH and can't get out to farmers markets etc. This sounds ideal for me and it is in my area. You're a star!

leiela

Naseby wrote: »

Thank you so much, Leiela for posting this link. I have been looking for somewhere like this for ages but couldn't find anything. I am a 24/7 carer to my DH and can't get out to farmers markets etc. This sounds ideal for me and it is in my area. You're a star!

they blokes over at northern harvest are lovely, it all comes in stackable blue crates that i throw "as is" into my shed, every few weeks they come with the next delivery and take the old crates away easy peasy, they are all super helpful too they can tell you whats good and whats not so good etc .. they also do "hampers" which have been fab the last few times i got them really good value, though you don't get to pick what go's in it It's all really fresh as long as you keep it cool it lasts weeks.

Just watch out cause half thier stuff comes with free mud !!! :rotfl: my kids where horrifide to see me taking muddy potato's into the kitchen im sure they thought all potato's came washed in plastic bags haha.

beachbuffy

Teknophobia wrote: »

In case anyone else is looking for local produce, you can try these websites. Just enter your postcode and it will bring up local producers/suppliers:

http://www.localfoodshop.co.uk/
http://www.bigbarn.co.uk/

thanks for these links,I have found out there is a local farm shop near me,well quite a walk or bike ride but Im sure it'll be worth it.

I totally agree with you natc
I live in a very small town,well actually its very big but all the shops are in "town" & Im right on the edge...I have a 24 hr asda 7 minutes from my house(yes I timed it) & I get almost everything in there,but I wish I didnt have to.
there are a few other shops in this bit of town but the greengrocers although cheap the stuff is sometimes not all that fresh & the butchers is sooooo over priced.
I suppose this is where not having a car works against me.
instead of going to asda on shop day I'll go to the farm shop first & see what they have.
we do have a fantastic bakery,its so cheap,I can get a sausage roll,jam doughnut & coffee for £1.50(I dont often though)

BB

ALIBOBSY

We are in the process of turning more of the garden over to growing (can see my 4 new lidl fruit trees out the window ), so what with getting all our meat and cheese, milk and eggs (plus any fruit we can't grow) from our local farm shops we should rarely go in the SM's. Will still need to bob into aldi/lidl for flour sugar toilet paper washing powder and beans plus the kids have a thing for morrisons choc spread (and I need my stardrops ) but this will only be to stock up say once a month or even less (may create a bigger store so perhaps even just 6 monthly), but mr T won't see me at all.

ali x

natc

Beachbuffy - theres nowt wrong with treating yourself to a jam doughnut and a coffee out once in a while

Alibobsy - Its fab that you are growing things in your garden, must give great satisfaction and more appreciation for the food you eat, because youve grown it! I have no excuse, we could fit a lil veg patch in back garden, but there is a huge alotment at the bottom of my street too, 30 secs away! My friend and her husband have just got a patch, its a big plot too, and she said it only costs £15 for the year! Thats brill, and her husband is taking kids to dig it over on weekends, its good for them to get stuck in, and gives her peace and quiet for an afternoon! lol. :rotfl:

Hatster

I used to buy our veg in the market, which has wonderful displays of piles of fresh local produce as well as more exotic fruits. Unfortunately, due to back problems I've had to give this up for the time being, as I can't carry it :-(

However, I'm now buying a lot of veg from our local shop, which gets it direct from Covent Garden every morning. (The last stop on the greengrocer's round, apparently, and he takes the opportunity to have a hard-earned cup of tea.)

Before we moved house, we used to buy our meat from the local butcher - the new local butcher is a bit less tempting looking, and (the crucial difference) not next to a library I visit once a week! However, I really enjoyed the previous butcher - some great things at good prices, especially if you phoned in advance and asked for special cuts to be put aside. You do need to check out what cuts are actually cheap, though - they aren't necessarily the ones you'd expect.

Hatster

Forgot to say - for real moneysaving, buy a massive bag of misshaped veg from a farm shop / farmers market. We are still eating the bag of carrots that I bought before Christmas. You need to make sure that you have somewhere to store it correctly, though - our carrots are 'clamped' in layers of newspaper in the shed, which appears to be working.

leiela

Hatster wrote: »

Forgot to say - for real moneysaving, buy a massive bag of misshaped veg from a farm shop / farmers market. We are still eating the bag of carrots that I bought before Christmas. You need to make sure that you have somewhere to store it correctly, though - our carrots are 'clamped' in layers of newspaper in the shed, which appears to be working.

I've got a huge veg delivery arriving on thursday does newspaper in the shed work?? isn't it too damp?? My house is too warm veg doens't last long and my shed is very damp, because the roof is leaky.

If i stored it in stackable crates with newspaper and a big plastic sheet over the top (very loose just to stop it getting rained on) do you think the'd be ok?