Oddbox

[PatsyMFagan Profile]

I have just subscribed to this company ... They deliver boxes of misshapen veg and/or fruit on a weekly basis (or 2 weekly) from about £10 for a small veg box.

I suspect most of you have heard of them, but if you want to find out more, or want to subscribe, then send me a pm with your email address and I can send you a link which will give us both £10 discount on your first order. Also a search will tell you if they deliver in your area .

[scullion Profile]

our son used to use them, while he was in london and was quite happy with them for a while - until someone in one of the flats below his started nicking his box before he got home. they didn't/wouldn't deliver out of work hours.
if the scheme was down here, not just the london area, i would have subscribed.

[jeral Profile]

I'd have thought £10 would buy a trailer load of wonky veg, especially now our UK seasonal cheaper/bulky winter veg items are arriving. Or half a trailer load allowing £5 for delivery. Can you describe a typical box please if you're not keen to post the website name?

[PatsyMFagan Profile]

They say they (only) deliver between 7 pm and 7 am to reduce carbon emissions ....

[PatsyMFagan Profile]

I'd have thought £10 would buy a trailer load of wonky veg, especially now our UK seasonal cheaper/bulky winter veg items are arriving. Or half a trailer load allowing £5 for delivery. Can you describe a typical box please if you're not keen to post the website name?

Until I get my first box, I won't know what it contains .. I have opted for fruit AND veg. The aim is to reduce wastage as well as getting my veg delivered from an ethical source.

Oddbox.co.uk is their website

[scullion Profile]

they must have changed that then.
i don't see how that would reduce emissions - it just spreads it over a longer time. i think a more likely reason is because there's less traffic then and they can get round quicker. (maybe it's reduced by not sitting in queues).

[herbidacious Profile]

Will be interested to see how it goes. I've not done a veg box scheme for a long time. When we did, we found ourselves accumulating an awful lot of root veg, which, apart from onions, I don't usually eat much of.

[jeral Profile]

Until I get my first box, I won't know what it contains .. I have opted for fruit AND veg. The aim is to reduce wastage as well as getting my veg delivered from an ethical source.

Oddbox.co.uk is their website

Thanks, must keep up at the back. You'll have to let us know and how well the box is waterproofed if presumably overnight delivery means leaving them outside.

scullion, if you saw the queueing traffic in this part of the country... assuming they even bother to deliver here. Some veg box companies do although people reckon they are brilliant at first then are filled up with "glut" veg rather than a carefully selected variety.

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

Nope, they don't deliver to me.
I used Riverford for a while, but always got loads of squashes. I had them coming out of my ears, not wanting to make squash meals all the time, it's not the most versatile produce.

I quite liked getting dirty veg again though.

[Earthmaiden Profile]

They don't deliver here either, perhaps they've just started in London and maybe other cities. Good that they've found an outlet for wonky veg and I'm sure most people appreciate the delivery. I too have suffered before from boxes of veg of a kind I didn't much want that much that week and would be wary of doing it again.

[PatsyMFagan Profile]

I received an email yesterday letting me know what is going to be in my box that will be delivered overnight on Sunday:

Potatoes
Mushrooms
Avocados
Celeriac
Peppers
Spinach
Broccoli
Apples
Oranges
Melon

[Stokey Sue Profile]

My Facebook feed is peppered with Oddbox ads, and has been for a while, not sure how long

Just had a look, I can get a delivery here, but I’ve never fancied a box delivery of random items, and at the moment I’m not eating citrus, melons or cucumbers

[PatsyMFagan Profile]

It remains to be seen how long I keep the delivery going ... even just through this current period of lockdown will mean I only get 2 boxes. Of course I hope that I don't get too much root veg, but it might encourage me to use stuff that I wouldn't usually buy.

[KeenCook2 Profile]

Thanks for posting what you're getting, that's really interesting Pat. My FB feed is also littered with their ads, like yours, Sue, and I've often wondered what actually turns up. One of my friends gets the Morrisons' wonky avocados - she gave me a bag once and they were very good, once they'd ripened, which doesn't always happen with the ripen at home avos!
Touch wood I've been getting the ripen at home avos in my deliveries from Asda, and they've been pretty reliable so far ... better than the Tesco or Sainsbugs ones we've tried in the past.

But I think we're probably too fussy to be happy with a random selection, even though it might encourage us to be a bit more ambitious!

[karadekoolaid Profile]

It is, of course, absolutely absurd that "wonky" fruit and veg are not sold in supermarkets. Such dreadful waste! Still, that´s another theme.
We don´t get veggie boxes, but in the area where I live, we organised deliveries by local farmers, so we get "Combos". For $10 you get about 28 kgs of fresh fruit & veg!!The only thing is, of course, that you don´t get to choose, and while I will eat absolutely any fruit or veg, I have to put on my thinking cap to see what the heck to do with 3 kgs of Cassava root and a whole kilo of celery.

[KeenCook2 Profile]

We don´t get veggie boxes, but in the area where I live, we organised deliveries by local farmers, so we get "Combos". For $10 you get about 28 kgs of fresh fruit & veg!!The only thing is, of course, that you don´t get to choose, and while I will eat absolutely any fruit or veg, I have to put on my thinking cap to see what the heck to do with 3 kgs of Cassava root and a whole kilo of celery.

Ha, yes indeed, KK! 3kgs of cassava root and a kilo of celery would defeat many!!

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Morrison’s supermarket sell Wonky veg, and I often buy them

Someone already mentioned the wonky avocados, often the only thing wrong with them is that they don’t meet some arbitrary minimum size

I used a stick of celery this morning, a kg might defeat me

[jeral Profile]

The box contents look pretty good to me. Fingers crossed it stays good.

karadekoolaid, I used cassava root as a staple fairly often when I was making g-f only food. Either roasted or chips, as chunks in curry, or with garlic, onion etc like a hash with spinach and egg. Also mashed with cheese/herb and deep fried as balls. (I had help with chopping it up as it's a tough ol' bird.) I always boiled it for ages first and chucked the water away to be on the safe side.

[karadekoolaid Profile]

I don´t object to cassava root, jeral - a bit bland, maybe, but like you said, you can boil it, fry it, chip it, or slather it in a chimichurri sauce. the only thing is - would you want to eat it every day for a week? And that´s my point with the veggie boxes /combos.
NOTE: throwing away the water.. I imagine that´s because you´ve heard that it can be poisonous.
There are TWO types of cassava here. One is a brilliant white colour, and the other is slightly pinkish. The first is perfectly fine. In fact, the Veg sellers will usually cut one open for you so that you can see.
The second is poisonous. It´s called "Bitter Yuca" here, and I believe it is full of cyanide!! We´ve had a few cases of severe food poisoning, and even deaths, over here in the past few years because the poor population in the countryside don´t know the difference. You´re not going to get "bitter Yuca" in the UK!

[jeral Profile]

karadekoolaid, I think the cassava roots I had were from Africa (could be wrong), but yes, if they were dangerous there'd be hell to pay if they were in our shops. That said, most recipes include boiling at some stage so not a big deal really. I did see a recipe for raw cassava rosti but daren't try it - maybe I should, or a latke version.

My problem wouldn't be repetitiousness, it'd be trying to prep and freeze a whole load while still fresh, knowing that a voluminous amount would sit languishing in the fridge until I got round to it, too late probably.