Hestia and ....the curse of the veg box

Last week's Veg Box - artistically arranged for your delight

So it came to pass that a business was set up to deliver veg boxes on the island.

It sounded perfect: You pay £7.50 per week and a whole load of lovely ethically grown veggies turn up on your doorstep on a Friday night, delivered by smiling youngsters.  You cook the beautiful veggies.  Everyone gets their five a day.  And we all live happily ever after, right?

Not quite.


When the first box arrived we poured over every item - a huge bunch of aromatic flat leaved parsley, a cucumber, a bag of tiny zingy carrots, a strange white thing, a massive turnip, a cauliflower, some broccoli, a gorgeous speckled lettuce.. My spirit soared - yes! I had made a good decision!!!

OK so, there was a bok choi that was about a foot long with little yellow flowers on it, but hey, it was all quite edible and well, when you are supporting a local enterprise, you've got to be prepared for the odd shot veggie.  Plus there was that little white thing that none of us knew what it was....but it was all good.

But as the weeks progressed and I received yet another MASSIVE turnip in my box AND another cucumber, I could feel my resolve weakening.  The bunches of parsley and coriander lay yellowing in glasses of water.  The cucumber went watery in the bottom of the salad drawer.  My peppers shrivelled like Keith Richards.  My carrots rotted......

It got to the stage, I am ashamed to say, that I was chucking out most of the stuff that was delivered.  I must be fair to the producers - they do, dutifully, send out a recipe sheet with the boxes to help you make use of it all, but I was really struggling to get enthused about it all.  There can be too much of a good thing where turnip is concerned, y'know?

Sonshine is now regarding the veggie box with trepidation.  Believe me, I've come up with some unusual food combinations in my time and he's starting to get antsy about my meals becoming even odder. I'm sure he's having nightmares about what I might do with a Chinese Radish and the three human-head-sized turnips lying at the back door like leftovers from the French Revolution.

Even the hamster is starting to look at me with fear in his eyes.

Along with the appalling waste was the appalling flatulence engendered by the increased consumption of so much veg. I could have tooted the national anthem.

Something had to change!

I turned to that Delphic Oracle beloved of so many household gods and goddesses, the internet, and stumbled upon a great website and blog  that exists specifically for the veg box challenged householder like m'self.

It's stuffed with recipes, information on ingredients, growing guides, lists of what's in season.... and all manner of other useful stuff. I could feel myself turning into Barbara Good just reading through the home page.

I also discovered that it's National Zero Waste Week next week.  If you'd like to find out more about that here's a link to their website

They've got some really unusual and interesting articles that range from 7 Ways to Recycle Your Old Bras to How To Recycle Clothes Hangers !



Now, I need to leave you, dear reader.  I need to find out how to do something edible with a kohlrabi, half a red cabbage, 2.5 cucumbers and yes, you've guessed it, 3 turnips.

Tonight I will be tooting Land of Hope and Glory.