WANTED:fruit & veg

[Runnerbean08]

Hi all,

I'm new on here, and am hoping to find someone who has an allotment in E14 who would be willing to sell me some of their surplus fruit and veg in small quantities. I've tried organic delivery boxes before, but have found that in order to get a wide range of fruit and veg, you end up having to buy bigger quantities than one person can realistically consume in one week!

Ideally it would be great to find someone grows stuff organically, but if not I'd be happy that I'm buying from a local source, so at least cutting down on air-miles.

Hope someone out there can help!

[Sue]

Runnerbean
Can't help with the surplus veg but have you asked any of the veg box suppliers if you can order individual amounts. Mine is quite happy to do this, I very rarely order a box (or hessian bag as it is now...) partly because of the allotment and partly because I don't want everything in the box or it's too much. So I can order one lettuce, 2 lemons etc. They do a range of stuff, loo rolls, coffee, flour, milk etc so I can always place a decent order.

Is it Abel and Cole in London? seem to remember from their website they did a similar thing.

Good luck with your search
Sue

[mrs potato head]

Have you tried Riverford Organics, the're based in Devon -but avaliable online, they deliver all over country.
they do various sized boxes of veg, fruit and meat (highly reccomend) and are fab.

[sewer rat]

Riverford Organics are certainly based in Devon but operate franchises all over England-shire. I am quite sure if you shop around (look at various sites on the web - try Big Barn) you will find a suitable supplier.
Some schemes will let you personalise you deliveries whilst others won't, and then there are some schemes which are starting to charge an extra fee if you want this service.
I run a small box scheme (currently 51 boxes a week but seems to be increasing at a rate of 2 or 3 boxes a week at the moment ) and I have customers who want me to personalise their boxes. This I do at the moment but already it is a real pain. It takes longer to make up boxes, and then boxes have to be loaded in a particular order into the van.
When a potential new customer enquires about taking a weekly box, they are told that every box will contain potatoes, carrots and onions with the remaining value being made up of seasonal veg (or veg that stores well). They are allowed at that point (and at that point only) to tell me if there is , or are, particular veggies that they do not like. After that, as far as I am concerned, I should be able to make up the boxes as I see fit.

[Runnerbean08]

Thanks all for your replies... Yes, it is Abel and Cole that I've been using, and I haven't been ordering the boxes that they do, but ordering off their 'extras' list. Doing it this way you seem to get very large quantities... last week I had a kilo of apples, a kilo of potatoes, 3 large broccoli heads, a large fennel bulb, 4 kiwis, 500g carrots, and 400g jerusalem artichokes. They also accidentally left me someone else's meat as well as my own (I rang them and they said I could keep it) so I have been inundated with yummy food this week. Think I'm going to try ordering a small mixed box next time round. It sounds like a lot of stuff, but I'm guessing that the quantities must be smaller than what I'm currently getting!

Sue, which company is it where you can order things individually?

Sounds like your business is really taking off, Sewer Rat --- that's a huge week on week increase. How long have you been doing the box scheme for?

[jeannine]

What about calling your council for a list of allotments in your area and visiting them and having a chat with the foreman on each site?

They might be able to introduce you to people who have surplus veg or even someone who is happy to let you share a corner of their plot so you can grow your own.

It's amazing how much you can grow in just one hour a week and it's incredibly satisfying.

[Sue]

Runner Bean
I use Simply Wild which is a local company, I don't know if they go into London, I can find out for you if you want??
I guess if they just did the boxes it would be a real pain but they also do dairy, juices, tinned stuff, household, meat, fish, dry goods etc so they get their monies worth out of me.

I did tell them when I started getting crops from my allotment that the veg boxes would be a problem and they were fine about it.

Unlike Sewer Rat because they're supplying mixed deliveries, on the van some of the stuff is separate anyway, dairy, meat and fish in a chiller, bulk stuff like kitchen rolls and loo paper doesn't fit in the veg bag etc, so they always have to rumage about with you invoice in hand.

best wishes
Sue

[Runnerbean08]

Thanks Sue, I'll google Simply Wild and see if they cover my area... They sounds similar to Abel&Cole, who also do lots of tinned stuff, and pies and biscuits and so on.

I did manage to get in touch with someone who knows about some allotments local to me, but apparently at the moment the owners cannot sell their fruit and veg. They're based at Mudchute Farm on the Isle of Dogs, and the farm is considering the possibility of starting a weekly organic farmers market, presumably with produce from the allotments, which would be great as there's currently nothing similar in that area.

I like the idea of a corner of an allotment too... can imagine a whole one could easily become a jungle but if I only had a few square feet it's a bit more manageable!

[NSB]

Runnerbean how about local farmers markets?