Vegboxes?

Kellylea

Hello

I'm currently reading confessions of an ecoshopper by Kate Lock and have been looking into local organic vegboxes. How many of you have tried these succesfully or not and do you think its worth the extra bit of money.

I love the idea of fresh local fruit and veggies to my door but at the same time I need to remind myself that I am trying to save money and pay back credit cards.

I can't wait till I can one day grow my own but at the moment I live in a flat

I'd also like to add that for anyone trying to ditch their supermarket habbit this book helps! I was previously spending 40 pound every time i set foot in them but now am doing everything possible to avoid these economy crushing envirmomentally damaging places!! Well off to the butchers and green grocers for me I look forward to your replies when I get home.

x x x

Garetha

No personal experience - but friends and family who use Riverford like the produce quality.
BUT all of them seem to build up a backlog of unused items.

[Deleted User]

I used to grow my own, then I had veg boxes and have had them for over 10 years. I started with riverford and then went onto a more local company. I stopped using them 6 months ago, the reason being that I was starting to get sub standard items like potatoes and in too great an amount for me. This was happening week after week and I was getting stored root veg like squash, when I really didn`t want them in spring.

IMO the standard and amount in riverford plummetted as riverford got bigger as a company and the cost went up. I never had a problem using up all the veg, making soups and juicing right to the end but these days I do prefer to buy what I choose and it is still mainly organic

OP try it for a few weeks and see

Little_Vics

Abel & Cole had a trail deal recently - friends used it and then cancelled when the deal ran out. I think they're worth it, but as long as you're prepared for veg you don't want/like and can make something with them.

paulwf

A tip for you if you do go for a veg box is to get a large one every 2 weeks rather than a small one every week. That way you get a wider selection and enough of each type of veg to be able to make a proper meal out of it.

I tried Abel & Cole and found the quality poor and prices high, I remember reading an interview once where they came across as being very smug about being able to charge what they like because veg boxes are trendy.

I found Riverford much better but that was about 3 years ago. There was still problems with quality control though...the thing is I either expect top quality or I'm more than happy to accept some produce is mishapen and past its best but the price has to reflect that. Getting a rotten mango in their "hand selected" box then being charged nearly £2 for it isn't on.

It is nice getting some weird and wonderful veg and experimenting. The problem is it is so hard to meal plan, and although you can ask certain items to be excluded you will always end up with a backlog of a certain item you don't like much, I ended up with 3 weeks worth of cabbages!

Veg boxes are a really good idea but after trying 3 suppliers over the years and having different living arrangements I still can't get on with them...and I'm vegan so use quite a bit of veg! As I said above as they are choosing both what to send and the quality and freshness (and cutting out the retailer) this should give them a price advantage, but I have generally found prices to be high.

Olliebeak

I got one from a local company once - bit difficult for me as they really wanted to be paid by Credit/Debit Card and I didn't have one at the time. They reluctantly agreed to a cash payment from me.

I found the quality very good but my broccoli went yellow and I was left with a cauliflower and sprouts that I didn't use up. I have to add, that it was BEFORE I realised that I should have frozen what I couldn't use immediately :doh: - how embarassing.

My other problem was that I only got around 3lbs of potatoes but LOTS of other veggies .

Mrs_Thrify

I tried Able and Cole for 2 weeks. A small amount of dirty/muddy herbs,fruit and veg arived mid week. You end up staying in and waiting for it or risk it being pinched from the door step as I live on a main road.
To begin you fill out a questionare of likes and dislikes and when the box arives you have to meal plan around what came in the box.
It was not for me and I returned to supermarket shopping for larger quantity and convenience.

[Deleted User]

Probably a good idea if you are short on time and have a family but not a lot of good for me as I live alone.I also have a really nice greengrocer locally who I use to buy myveg.I sometimes get the Aldi offers as today I have a history class this afternoon in Gillingham and my college isn't far from the shop so I will kill two birds with one stone and pop in there before I go to class and top up with whatever their offers are for the weekend.

mummysaver

I had a veg box for years and loved it, then the quantity started to fall, increased again slightly when they put the price up a bit - would prefer to pay a bit more for a full box, as if I have to shop for extras then I might as well buy the whole lot myself! So eventually I cancelled my order.

Anyway, so long as you are happy to eat almost any veg and keep an eye on the quality and quantity I'd say give it a go. You can always try it for a couple of weeks and then cancel or suspend future orders (well you can with riverford anyway!)

cooking-mama

I used to get an organic "vegebag",initialy it was £13 a week and full to overflowing with potatoes/onions/carrots(these were staples every week)then variety such as turnip,cabbage,kale,artichokes,fennel,chard,sprouts,purple sprouting broccoli,khol rabi,leeks.I used to get quite excited about what i would find in my bag each week,and it helped get my daughters interested in healthy veg,but after weeks n weeks of chard, celery, and fennel(which i repeatedly told them i didnt like)i decided our guinea pig was getting more from the bag than us..also the price went up,but the contents went down, so it became a very expensive novelty..i would love to go back to my weekly delivery,but unless they have increased the quantity then its not cost effective for me.
PS,what i will say is that it was excellant quality,very fresh,potatoes n carrots etc still covered in muck last longer,and it was novel to get carrots still with tops and brussels sprouts still on stalks etc

tryingtoruletheworld

I have a local veg box, and they also deliver a huge selection of organic groceries if you order them! I get loads of fruit and veg for £10-15 per week and all generally great quality. I have had abel and cole and riverford, and they delivered less than half the amount of food I get in my local box for the same price.

It would be worth looking for a local one first, maybe try your local farmers market, ask around or check the soil association website?