Great to see lots of people enjoying the snow but one week was enough for us! We harvested what we could on the Saturday before it snowed, cancelled some of that week’s orders but managed to pack and deliver the veggie boxes and harvest enough for Farmer’s Markets. The beetroot still in the ground was protected from the worst of the cold by a layer of snow, but the leafy greens and sprouts suffered some damage.
We’ve just planted the first of our early new potatoes and have been very busy in the seeding glasshouse. Most of our veggie boxes have had some new season’s rocket already and wild garlic and green garlic will be ready soon.
Compostable bags – after 10 months of using the compostable bags we’re happy to say that they do actually break down in a home compost heap (not a very scientific trial though, and I’m not sure how long they took to turn to compost so if any of you have composted them let me know how you got on please). It’s also good to know that Riverford have just started using the same bags as us after doing lots of research. – here’s their news on them. https://wickedleeks.riverford.co.uk/opinion/news-farm-plastic-packaging/21-tonnes-plastic-saved They are made in Italy though, so we have import and customs admin. and fees to deal with before we place our next order.
Electric van – we’re part way through a free trial of a small electric van through a scheme offered by KCC to encourage Kent businesses to switch to electric. It’s a Nissan eNV200 and only big enough for some of our deliveries and general running around. We’ve been researching e-vans for a few years, and one came on the market very recently that has the space and payload and possibly the range that we need for most of our Kent and London deliveries, but it’s priced at £82,000 so we’ll be waiting for the price to come down a bit!!
Frugal soup – I think it will still be soup weather for a while, so here’s a recipe for a very frugal soup I made a few days ago. Simmer the stems from a cauliflower, the green tops of the leeks with a small potato, and a similar amount of parsnip in approx. 1 litre of vegetable stock. The parsnip was a dried-up piece that had been forgotten in the bottom of the fridge but was fine in soup. Martin likes to leave a good amount of the green tops of the leeks on, I find they need using quickly but they give a great flavour to soup. Blend when cooked, and add salt and pepper if wanted, even the non-parsnip lover liked it!
