They’re determined to eat local at Shayne’s house

One of Camel Community Supported Agriculture’s veg box members is going all out to make local food work.

Shayne House, co-founder of the Tea Appreciation Society, demonstrates in his blogpost Stuff the Supermarkets how to source food locally within north Cornwall without going to a superstore. He says:

Everything in my stuffed marrow recipe excluding the balsamic vinegar was produced in Cornwall. If I ignore the salt, the rest of the food came from within a 15 mile radius of my home. My food miles were drastically reduced thanks to a number of fantastic local producers.

This is Shayne’s list of ingredients sourced locally in order to make stuffed marrow:

1 marrow – Camel Community Supported Agriculture vegetable box scheme, St Kew Highway
1 small onion finely chopped – Camel Community Supported Agriculture veg box 
scheme
500g lean minced beef – Button Meats, Michaelstow
30g fresh white breadcrumbs – Malcolm Barnecutt Bakery
1 tbsp chopped parsley – Camel Community Supported Agriculture veg box scheme
1 tbsp chopped chives - Shayne’s garden
1 tsp balsamic vinegar – fail
sea salt to taste – Cornish Sea Salt Co, Porthkerris
1 egg beaten – Killibury Nursery, Wadebridge
250ml cheese sauce – cheese from Davidstow Creamery; milk from Bradley’s Dairy, Delabole; flour from The Cornish Mill & Bakehouse, St Newlyn East

Green leafy veg ‘may reduce diabetes risk’

The mounds of Swiss chard picked for our veg boxes this week could help prevent us developing type 2 diabetes, according to the British Medical Journal.

Researchers from Leicester University found that one and a half portions of green leafy vegetables every day could result in a significant 14 per cent risk reduction in getting the disease. You can see the BBC report on their findings here.

Green leafy veg include chard, spinach, cabbage, kale and lettuce – and are all found in abundance in Camel Community Supported Agriculture’s weekly veg boxes at different times of the year.

Forget the fuss over the Twix… try raw chocolate pie

We British are far too stuck on our sickly sweet chocolate bars, as the silly row about the new Twix Fino has shown. But how many of you have tried the real food of the gods – Cornish raw chocolate pie?

The raw chocolate revolution started in the US and has gradually spread across the Atlantic. It’s being promoted as a superfood that has serious nutritional properties while at the same time tasting amazing and moreish.  

One of raw chocolate’s practising aficionados is Debby Fowler of Living Food of St Ives in Cornwall, who says:

Our raw chocolate pie is just that: RAW, uncooked and therefore retaining all the nutrients traditionally associated with cacao. It’s dairy free, gluten free, sugar free and therefore guilt free! It is also delicious and suitable for vegetarians, vegans, diabetics and anyone with a wheat or dairy intolerance.

For me it was a case of once tasted, forever smitten. And as the flavour is so intense, a little goes a very, very long way.

Living Food make their raw chocolate pies in Cornwall from uncooked cacao beans mixed with coconut butter, agarve, carob, yacon and lucuma, plus nuts, berries and natural flavourings. But absolutely no vegetable fat, milk or sugar.

The pies come in several different flavours - even chilli. They’re available from Living Food’s own shops in St Ives and Truro as well as via mail order, and from selected local outlets including St Kew Harvest Farm Shop here in north Cornwall.

Tender leek and pancetta risotto

The tender baby leeks in this week’s standard veg boxes deserved special treatment.

What better than a risotto of leeks and pancetta from Nigel Slater’s latest book Tender?

The leeks and the mixed French beans that accompanied them were cultivated by one of Camel CSA’s expert growers, Jeremy Brown of St Kew Harvest.

The search is on for sustainable veg box containers

Ever since we began our weekly veg box scheme at Camel Community Supported Agriculture, we’ve taken a very relaxed attitude to the actual containers.

What we’ve done is to recycle assorted cardboard boxes and plastic crates that come our way - usually from farmers, wholesalers, market gardens, dairies… but often from the backs of shops, pubs and restaurants.

They’re nearly always the wrong size or shape and have a habit of getting squashed, broken or going walkabout. We’re constantly having to scrounge around for more.

So now we’ve decided to do something positive – but it will mean a bit more co-operation from our members.

We’re trialling some CarbonZero biodegradable jute containers from Cornish company GoJute, based at St Austell. We’re particularly interested in their jute hampers, which have bamboo handles.

If they turn out to be suitable for use as sustainable veg boxes the next step will be to work out how to allocate these to members, how to keep track of them, whether to charge a deposit and what to do if we don’t get them back.

We’re aware this approach could be fraught with difficulties. So suggestions welcome!

I should say that this knotty green problem is not unique.

Veg box giant Riverford Organic uses recyclable cardboard boxes which are always going AWOL. Earlier this year it offered a box amnesty to its customers. At the same time it failed to persuade them to overcome their resistance to reusable plastic crates, even though this would have led to a 70% reduction in CO2 emissions.

Dormice threaten to scupper superstore plans

The battle of the supermarkets in the nearby town of Wadebridge, north Cornwall has developed an unexpected twist in the tale.

The possible presence of dormice, a European Protected Species, could put a stop to one of the three proposed out-of-town superstores.

Morrison’s wants to build its supermarket on the site of Wadebridge Town Football Club. It’s offering to provide a replacement ground, practice pitches, changing rooms, floodlights and car park in open countryside at Bodieve.

Sainsbury’s has applied to develop a superstore next to the council offices, while Tesco wants to expand its store on the west side of the town.

Unfortunately for Morrison’s, Cornwall Council planning officer Gavin Smith is recommending that permission for the football club plan be refused.

Interestingly, the fact that no dormice have been seen on the proposed new football club site is not the issue. Cornwall Wildlife Trust has recorded them nearby and it’s illegal to disturb this shy and delightful animal.

As a BBC blog post on the supermarket issue points out: “Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.”

Significantly, Cornwall Council and the wildlife trust are partners in the Camel Valley Dormouse Project which has been calling for people to become “dormouse detectives” in the Wadebridge area. It’s encouraging local residents to hunt for nibbled hazelnut shells that have tell-tale toothmarks and a neat round hole on one side.

Dormouse picture: courtesy of David Chapman Wildlife Photography

Update: A decision on the planning application has been deferred to await the results of the dormice survey and to investigate “serious” concerns about noise from the football ground.

How to cook the patty pan squash in your veg box

Some of you with veg box shares may be wondering how to prepare patty pan squash, which looks a bit like a UFO or flying saucer. It’s also known as custard or scallop squash. Its texture and taste are similar to a courgette.

Try these recipe suggestions for patty pan squash:
Stuffed patty pan squash
Patty pan squash and red onion salsa
Roasted patty pan squash and herbed chickpeas

Have you a patty pan squash recipe of your own to share with us?

Seasonal Recipe No 55: Chilled beetroot soup

This summer soup recipe from Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall in The Guardian was served by Camel CSA member Anne Sadler at our Big Lunch.

Collective verdict? Delicious, but go easy on the vegetable stock as its taste could overpower the beetroot. Hugh says: “Roasting the beetroot adds a greater depth of flavour. The tartness of the sour cream is great with the sweet, earthy soup.”

Serves 4-6

Preparation / cooking: 45 minutes + 1 hour to roast the beetroot

Ingredients
550g beetroot
4½ tbsp olive oil
2 bay leaves
2 thyme sprigs
4 garlic cloves, 2 unpeeled and bashed, 2 peeled and minced
1 onion, diced
1 small carrot, diced
800ml good vegetable stock
4 tbsp sour cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Fronds of dill, to garnish

Method
Give the beetroot a scrub, but leave the roots and part of the tops attached. Toss in a roasting pan with three tablespoons of olive oil, the bay, thyme sprigs and the bashed, unpeeled garlic, cover tightly with foil and roast at 200C/400F/gas mark 6 for 60-75 minutes, until you can pierce them easily with a knife. Leave to cool slightly, then peel (the skins should just slip off) and chop into 2.5cm cubes.

Warm the remaining oil in a saucepan over a medium-low heat and sauté the onion until soft, for around 15 minutes, add the carrot and sauté for a further five minutes. Add the beetroot and garlic, stir for a minute or two, then add the stock. Simmer for 20 minutes, set aside to cool a little, then purée until very smooth. Thin with a little stock or water if too thick, taste, season, cover and chill for at least four hours or overnight – it’s even better served the day after you’ve made it.

To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and serve with a swirl of sour cream and a sprinkling of dill.

More beetroot soup recipes from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall:
Beetroot soup with feta
Beetroot and cumin soup with spiced yoghurt

Growers and veg box volunteers sprout up in numbers

We’ve had a great response in the last few days from volunteers keen to help out both on our growing team and our picking and packing squad.

Camel CSA’s volunteer growers worked hard today to weed the veg beds, mulch around the celery, celeriac and sweetcorn with green manure and to harvest the garlic.

Many thanks to expert grower Jane Mellowship and her team – Anne, Cath, Charlotte, Danny, Mark, Mike S and Rebecca plus junior members Finn and Keira. 

On Friday the volunteer picking and packing squad harvested quantities of our own Swiss chard, perpetual spinach, salad leaves, lettuces and garlic to match the rest of the veg box contents from expert growers Jane, Mark Norman, and Jeremy Brown of St Kew Harvest.

Thanks also to picking and packing supremo Trish and her squad – Anne, Charlotte, Henrietta, Jenny, Jeremy, Mark N, Penny, Robert and WWOOFer Gillaume, who’s visiting Cornwall from his home in the French Alps.

As Trish said: “It was good fun this morning. What a difference it makes when there’s a fair number of people there to help!”

The garlic’s now strung up inside our packing shed, where it’s drying out.

All the volunteers were rewarded this week with some freshly-picked boysenberries, which are ripening quickly at the perimeter of our plot in this warm, humid weather. 

If you’d like to take part in the growing operation or veg box preparation, just turn up on our site at St Kew Highway on a Friday or Sunday morning at 10am.

Gabe is sharing his food intuition

Camel Community Supported Agriculture member and food expert Gabriel Evans is signing copies of his new book Food Intuition at Relish Food & Drink in Wadebridge between 10am and 1pm this Saturday.

Gabe is a natural food expert, qualified chef, home economist, food coach, health educator and food activist. His book aims to change the way we think and feel about food and health:

Food Intuition reveals the pleasure and wisdom of the way we used to eat for thousands of years and challenges the current message on healthy eating.

It’s packed with all the practical information and strategies you need to make natural food and wholesome eating a workable and enjoyable part of everyday life.

It’ll motivate you to make permanent and manageable changes to your diet and lifestyle that are good for you, your family, your community and the planet.

Buy a copy of Food Intuition for £9.99 at the third official book signing session at Relish on Saturday and you’ll be handed a goodie bags of treats. It’s also available online on Gabe’s website. Five per cent of any profit on book sales will be donated to Compassion in World Farming‘s work to end factory farming.

• Gabe and his wife Silvana are going back to China next week for an extended stay. We look forward to seeing them again on their return to Cornwall. Meanwhile sign up for updates on his Food Intuition blog here.