A couple of months ago whilst wandering along Broadmead on a blustery Saturday afternoon I was approached by two very friendly chaps from Riverford Organic Farmers who wanted to speak to me about their local veg teams and award-winning organic delivery company. Enticed by a free, delicious looking, rosy red apple I listened to what they had to say about the service they offered and was immediately interested…now, almost ten deliveries in I am so chuffed that I signed up!
All produce from Riverford is 100% organic. They offer a whole array of veg boxes ranging from small (1-2 people) to bumper size (5+ people) and you can add fruit, meat and dairy to any of your orders too if you like. As everything is fresh from the farm, contents are seasonal and change every week – you receive an email every Friday to let you know what the box contents will be for the week to come and then have until Sunday at midnight to change your order if you wish to.
What I love about Riverford is the flexibility. There is no fixed sign up term, no restrictions on what you can order, no additional fees if you need to cancel a delivery…simply NO FUSS (and of course some of the freshest, tastiest veg we have ever had!) Deliveries can be set up weekly, fortnightly or as and when you fancy. Each area that they cover (and yes, Bristol is on the list as they are based in Buckfastleigh in Devon) has an allocated delivery day on which your box will arrive between 6am and 8am. What if you’re at work when they arrive? No problem at all – let them know where the box can be left safely and it will be. If it arrives when it’s raining they will cover it in a recyclable waterproof bag too so that your order does not get damaged. Delivery is free of charge (they ask just for a minimum spend of £15) and they’ll even deliver to your work address if you prefer.
So far we’ve had staples such as leeks, onions, carrots, chestnut mushrooms, tomatoes and potatoes and then some lovely other items such as cime di rapa (I had to look up what this was when I saw it in our box contents but am now a huge fan), spring greens, true spinach, Calabrese broccoli, Romano peppers…and so many more! I order a fruit bag each week too which is just as good (their blood oranges and mangoes were delicious).
I have well and truly been converted to the world of organic veg since my stroll around town a couple of months back. The variety of the orders means that we are cooking lots of different things at home and each box comes with recipe cards for some of their contents too (my favourite so far was a coconut red lentil dish which can be found online here and tonight we shall be trying out their wild garlic and hazelnut pesto).
Want to learn more? Check out Riverford’s website today people and live life on the veg!