Hello Folks,
It’s been a difficult growing season, with the storms, and the cold, and the hail, and as we enter the hungry gap, we find that there is less and less easily available- at least in the quantities we need for veg boxes. For the next weeks and months, expect a decline in variety in the boxes. Winter’s root veg is beginning to run out, and the crops of spring and summer are still some time away. We will continue to do our very best to keep the boxes as full as possible of tasty, organic, UK veg, but now is also a great time to get pickling, fermenting, and freezing as all the root veg we’ve gotten a little tired of will soon be shortly missed.
I was surprised when I heard that the hungry gap is in late winter to early spring- I would have guessed deadest winter. But in winter, the root veg is still growing and farms’ stores are at their fullest. It isn’t until now that we start to see things run out. If this is your first time hearing of it, I would highly recommend you read this excellent post by Sally, which explains the whys and wherefores of vegetables this time of year.
Like all limitations, it inspires creativity, and I can’t wait to see what you guys cook over the next few months. Now is also a great time to consider trying out a supplementary veg bag, if you haven’t already, as it can be very useful to use the lovely organic produce from Europe to make up for the slightly less inspiring selection in the UK.
Question of the fortnight
This
week we have exciting news of the transformative effects of
completing a survey, from someone who recently answered our questions
about Social Media:
“I
replied to your survey a while back and said I thought social media
could be improved. Since then I’ve noticed your social media become
more engaging and it’s motivated me to return to the shop more. I’ve
realised that your stock has really expanded and it seems to be
cheaper? This is amazing. As a result I’m now mostly shopping at
Locavore”.
If you too would like to go through a life changing experience, there’s still time to give us your views about our social media using this dinky survey (but really, we’ll be closing this one soon). If you have other experiences, feedback, comments, or questions about the work we do which you’d like us to explore through our Impact project, then you can tell us here.
Events
Practical
Hedge Laying for Beginners – Tickets
29th
February, 10am – 5pm
Hedges are a valuable part of our landscape and provide much needed shelter and habitat for wild life. They also function as wind breaks and can offer structure and visual appeal to garden spaces. If this interests you then please join us in Neilston at the Locavore market garden ‘Left Field’ for a day of hedge laying.
Throughout the day we will cover:
• What is hedge laying and why?
• The use of living wind breaks in horticulture operations and gardens
• Hedge laying styles
• Hedge laying tools
• Winter tree / hedge species identification
• Hands on hedge laying – (this will be the majority of the day)
• Dead hedging – techniques and practical.
• A short tour of Left Field and explanation of the farm system we run.
Other elements:
• We’ll include a basic lunch of soup and bread on the day, but please bring hearty extras for yourself or to share.
• We are able to provide some teas and coffees,but please bring flasks as well as it will be cold .
• We will have a fire at the end of the day (weather permitting) to celebrate and warm up before home time.
Tickets start at £25.30- for more info or to buy tickets, click here.
Standard Veg
Box Supper
Club –
Tickets
18th
March,
8 – 10pm
You are invited to join us for the first ever Standard Veg Box supper club. The challenge we give our guest chefs for this event is one that our veg box customers face weekly – to make a delicious meal with the contents of this week’s Standard veg box.
This time the event will be hosted by our very own veg box team: Adam, Sally, Sam and Saoirse will be serving up a two course meal for you using the contents of the veg box. It’s a lovely opportunity to meet them in person, meet other veg box customers, sit and eat together and chat about all things veg box.
You will be able to buy soft drinks in the shop or you can bring your own drink – corkage fee of £1/ person for alcohol. The meal will be vegetarian. A vegan option is available; please let us know by email or when you make the booking if you are vegan or have any other dietary needs.
£11, meal included.
Feeding
Scotland: The Choices We Make –
Tickets
Thursday
19th
March. 7.30-9.30pm
Film Screening and Panel Discussion
For thousands of years, people have been producing food in sustainable ecosystems with no environmental damage. The industrial revolution brought large influxes of people into cities and divorced them from their traditional food ways. The advent of petrochemical industries and industrialized food production led to supply chains that are no longer transparent for the consumer.
Food used to be – for the most part – a relatively simple question of production and consumption. Now our choices seem determined by a complex myriad of factors with an infinite number of consequences and much of it feels out of our control. However, we do have some say as consumers in the choices we make. Do we buy from local shops or go to supermarkets? Do we buy meat and dairy products and if so, how much and from where? Do we buy locally produced food or are we equally responsible to growers in other countries as we are to those in our own? How about the carbon footprint of each product? And are we equally concerned with the environmental and human damage caused by clothes and electronic goods produced by child labour and in sweatshops?
Film Screening
Zev
Robinson – The Scottish Breed – a documentary about quality meat
production
Panelists:
Babs Macgregor – Greencity Wholefoods
Bryce Cunningham – Mossgiel
Denise Walton – Peelham Farm
Zev Robinson – The Art and Politics of Eating
£5- tickets here
Infamous
Gluts – Fermenting and Preserving Class – SOLD OUT (some
sliding scale tickets left)
Monday
30th
March, 7.30 – 9.30pm
with Robin Sherriff
Does your veg box sometimes leave you in a bit of pickle? Interested in expanding your culinary horizon?
Learn
how to turn your leftover veg into weird and wonderful
preserves!
Fermentation enthusiast and gastronomist Robin
Sherriff opens a whole world of interesting flavours that also helps
you avoid food waste.
This two hour class will give an introduction to the biological processes behind fermentation. In a hands on workshop you will learn the kitchen skills required to preserve and ferment the most infamous glut vegetables of the season and some fancy surprises. Join Robin for a tasting his most interesting experiments and get answers to all your questions on preserving and fermentation.
£24.50 or pay-what-you-want (for those on a low income) – Tickets here
Good Food Fund
In January 2020 our Good Food Fund sent out £1004.41 worth of fresh fruit and veg to our partner organisations who work with people living in food poverty, running foodbanks and community meals. Many of these projects rely on leftovers from supermarkets and have little choice over what they receive. Thanks to your donations we can send fresh fruit and veg out to our partners on a weekly basis. If you would like to add a small donation to your subscription, do just drop us an email.
Monthly Specials
This week, the meat boxes go out, full of organic high-welfare local meat.
The following week, we’ll have our vegan and cheese boxes! These are a great way to stock up on staples and try new exciting products too! Email us if you’d like to sign up- just hit reply.
You can learn more about our monthly special boxes here.
Check out storage guidance here for helpful tips and tricks on how to prolong the life of your fresh produce. If you’re wondering where your veg comes from, have a look at these maps. You can also join your fellow subscribers over in the Facebook group for lots of tips, tricks, and recipe ideas.
To contact us, ring 0141 378 1672 or email us at subscribers@glasgowlocavore.org
In
the veg boxes this week:
Subject to last minute changes
| Small veg box | Farm | Organic Certifier |
| Potatoes (Carolus) | Chapel Farm | Soil Association |
| Onions | Bagthorpe Farm | Soil Association |
| Carrots | Chapel Farm | Soil Association |
| Celeriac | Chapel Farm | Soil Association |
| Beetroot | Chapel Farm | Soil Association |
| Kale | Chapel Farm | Soil Association |
| Standard veg box | Farm | Organic Certifier |
| Potatoes (Carolus) | Chapel Farm | Soil Association |
| Onions | Bagthorpe Farm | Soil Association |
| Carrots | Chapel Farm | Soil Association |
| Cauliflower | Sampsons, Cornwall | Soil Association |
| Leeks | Pollybell Organics | Soil Association |
| Kale | Chapel Farm | Soil Association |
| Large veg box | Farm | Organic Certifier |
| Potatoes (Carolus) | Chapel Farm | Soil Association |
| Onions | Bagthorpe Farm | Soil Association |
| Carrots | Chapel Farm | Soil Association |
| Swede | Chapel Farm | Soil Association |
| Celeriac | Chapel Farm | Soil Association |
| Cauliflower | Sampsons, Cornwall | Soil Association |
| Kale | Chapel Farm | Soil Association |
| Claytonia | Locavore Left Field | Soil Association |
| Extra Large veg box | Farm | Organic Certifier |
| Potatoes (Carolus) | Chapel Farm | Soil Association |
| Onions | Bagthorpe Farm | Soil Association |
| Carrots | Chapel Farm | Soil Association |
| Beetroot | Chapel Farm | Soil Association |
| Swede | Chapel Farm | Soil Association |
| Celeriac | Chapel Farm | Soil Association |
| Leeks | Pollybell Organics | Soil Association |
| Cauliflower | Sampsons, Cornwall | Soil Association |
| Kale | Chapel Farm | Soil Association |
| Small fruit bag | Farm / Origin | Organic Certifier |
| Fiesta Apples | Oakwood, East Sussex | Soil Association |
| Blood oranges | Italy | Demeter |
| Kiwis | Italy | Demeter |
| Medium fruit bag | Farm / Origin | Organic Certifier |
| Fiesta Apples | Oakwood, East Sussex | Soil Association |
| Blood oranges | Italy | Demeter |
| Kiwis | Italy | Demeter |
| Lemons | Spain | Caae |
| Large fruit bag | Farm / Origin | Organic Certifier |
| Fiesta Apples | Oakwood, East Sussex | Soil Association |
| Blood oranges | Italy | Demeter |
| Kiwis | Italy | Demeter |
| Lemons | Spain | Caae |
| Extra large fruit bag | Farm / Origin | Organic Certifier |
| Fiesta Apples | Oakwood, East Sussex | Soil Association |
| Blood oranges | Italy | Demeter |
| Kiwis | Italy | Demeter |
| Lemons | Spain | Caae |
| Small supplementary veg | Origin | Organic Certifier |
| Plum tomatoes | Spain | Caae |
| Salisfi | Netherlands | SKAL |
| Aubergine | Spain | Caae |
| Standard supplementary veg | Origin | Organic Certifier |
| Plum tomatoes | Spain | Caae |
| Salisfi | Netherlands | SKAL |
| Aubergine | Spain | Caae |
| Portobello mushrooms | Orchard Organics, Armagh | Soil Association |
Enjoy!
The Locavore Team