12:32pm Friday 29th August 2008
THERE is nothing as delicious as fresh vegetables, newly dug from the garden.
It's a taste we are rediscovering as vegetable seeds now outsell flower seeds.
Even some of London's royal parks will soon be sprouting cabbages and carrots in the flower beds, in a bid to turn us on to veg.
It makes a change from most of the vegetables in the supermarkets, many of which will have been flown thousands of miles across the globe, then crisscrossed Britain in trucks from port to depot to distribution centre, all the time chilled to keep their good looks.
By the time your green beans get to you, they've probably travelled more in a week than you have in half a lifetime.
No wonder they look tired and frequently taste of not very much.
But if you don't have the time, the talent or the vegetable patch, there is another way of getting proper-tasting vegetables, supporting the local economy and keeping a few fleets of lorries off our crowded roads.
They're delivered to your door too, so its pretty effortless.
Vegetable box schemes keep things fresh, keep things local, keep things seasonal.
It's the way things used to be and a way of eating which more of us are rediscovering.
You can either take pot luck and let the growers select, or you can - within the limits of what's in season and available - choose your own.
Last year, vegetable boxes were worth more than £100m. They are not always the cheapest option and, when times are hard, might seem a luxury buy, until you realise that you actually get a lot more for your money.
"People usually think of what you're not getting when you buy organic veg from a box scheme - no artificial fertilisers, pesticides etc, - but what they don't think about is that you get more for your money; more nutrition, more goodness", said Rob McGregor, of Low Leases Organics near Bedale, recently named as one of the top six box scheme operators in Britain.
Its boxes don't only include fruit and veg, but also meat and milk from Acorn Dairy, which Mr Mc- Gregor said have been shown to have higher natural levels of Omega 3.
Mr McGregor and his wife, Elaine, started Low Leases nine years ago, quitting high-powered jobs for a better life.
They have 20 acres in which they grow vegetables, plus other rented land, so much of what they sell, they actually grow.
Mr McGregor said: "When we started out, there weren't very many such schemes.
"Now, they've become more popular, but many of them rely on other suppliers.
"But we concentrate on the growing as well as the selling, so we know exactly what goes into our boxes".
They also sell their own pork from Saddleback pigs who lead a happy life, and they sell beef, lamb and chickens from their neighbours' farms.
"People are much more interested in the quality of their food now and where it comes from.
"Even when times are getting harder, that's still important".
● Low Leases Farm, Leeming Bar, Bedale, www.theorganicfarm.co.uk. Tel: 01609-748177. Delivery area: from Wakefield up to Newcastle. Regular delivery days. Boxes: from £7 for fruit or veg, £9.50 for salads.
Up to £25 for a massive veg box.
Or select your own. Organic pork box, including joint, chops, sausages, etc, £72 for 8kg.
They also have regular stalls at farmers' markets at Stokesley, Hartlepool, Guisborough, Durham, Richmond, Northallerton, Leyburn, Nature's World, Middlesbrough, and Ripon.
OTHER BOX SCHEMES Bluebell Organics, Forcett, Richmond.
Tel: 01325-718841, www.bluebellorganics.co.uk. Katrina Palmer and Steve Barker grow their own produce and also have a large apple orchard and other fruit trees. Delivery area: from Thirsk to Bishop Auckland and Barnard Castle. Regular days.
Boxes: from £9.50. They also have stalls at farmers' markets in Barnard Castle, Richmond, Stanhope and Northallerton.
The Honest Food Partnership, Meadowfield, Durham. Tel: 01388- 817085, www.thehonestfoodpartnership.
co.uk. They're not producers, but retailers of locally-grown produce, including fruit, vegetables, meat, preserves and skin care. Delivered in classy jute bags. Delivery area: most of County Durham north to Sunderland and Washington. Boxes: veg boxes from £8 to £22.50; fruit from £10. Currently fairly random delivery days. Specific day and time slots available at extra charge.
River Swale Organics, Newby Wiske, Northallerton. Tel: 08453- 671155. Grow much of their own produce, plus from neighbouring farms. Associated with long-established Riverford Organics from Devon. Boxes: from £7.90.
Farmaround, Mercury Road, Richmond.
Tel: 01748-821116, www.farmaroundnorth.co.uk, distributors.
Some produce from North Yorkshire. Boxes: mini fruit bag from £5.50; mini veg bag from £8. Minimum order £11.50 plus £1 delivery charge.
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