Camel CSA hosts the team from Newquay Orchard

We had a brilliant fact-finding visit from the growing gang at Newquay Orchard, who are setting up a new community supported agriculture scheme. Like all best guests they helped us with the harvesting.

In all the veg boxes:-
*curly kale
*carrots
*onions
*Jerusalem artichokes
*dried cannellini beans (Camel CSA) or dried olive green lentils ((Hodmedod’s)
cauliflower (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)
potatoes ‘Wilja’ (Colwith Farm, Lanlivery)

Standard boxes also have:-
*elephant garlic
*calabrese or daikon or turnips or mixed salad leaves
cauliflower (Restharrow)

New cargo bike for veg box deliveries

Pedalling up those pesky hills in our home town of Wadebridge has suddenly got easier. Bicycle courier Mike Boucher of Wadebridge Coasters Cycling Club is the proud new owner of an electric cargo bike for delivering our veg boxes.

Kalettes for everyone in this week’s veg boxes

Kalettes are a cross between Brussels sprouts and kale with a sweet and nutty flavour. We’ve discovered they’re much easier to grow in Cornwall than Brussels sprouts. Although a little bit fiddly to pick they’ve fast become a favourite in our veg boxes.

Several of our volunteers make traditional chutneys and pickles for us every year from gluts of various fruits and vegetables. First up this autumn are spiced pears and piccalilli.

In all the veg boxes:-
*kalettes
*jar of spiced pears or piccallili
*cavolo nero
*leeks
*beetroot
*squash (Fowey River Veg))
potatoes ‘Wilja’ (Colwith Farm, Lanlivery)

Standard boxes also have:-
*rainbow chard
*tomatoes (last of)
*daikon or turnips or mixed salad leaves

Freshly-harvested parsnips in Camel CSA’s veg boxes

Our growers and volunteers soon got the job done. The new-season parsnips are tender, tasty and easy to get out of the ground.

The mung bean sprouts in this week’s veg boxes are home produced. We’ll be providing other types of sprouted beans and seeds to add variety over the winter months.

In all the veg boxes:-
*parsnips
*carrots
*oni0ns
*sprouted mung beans
*kale – curly or Cottagers
*butternut squash (Mark Norman, Bodmin)
potatoes ‘Wilja’ (Colwith Farm, Lanlivery)

Standard boxes also have:-
*salad leaves (including oriental varieties)
*rainbow chard
*Bramley apples (Mark Norman / Jonathan Collins, Trelights)

Spring greens in Camel CSA’s autumn veg boxes

No, it’s not a joke. Our ‘April’ variety spring greens, both indoors and outside, are maturing now – in October! We blame climate change which is causing increasingly unpredictable and challenging weather conditions for growers across the UK.

During the winter months we periodically put tinned or dried beans and lentils in the veg boxes. We do this because we’re supporting Hodmedod’s, a trend-setting young company that’s encouraging more British farmers to grow pulses and grains and cultivate them in a sustainable manner.

In all the weekly veg boxes:-
*spring greens
*leeks
*carrots
*tomatoes
*pak choi or *radish bunch or *salad leaves (including oriental varieties)
dried olive green lentils (Hodmedod’s)
potatoes ‘Wilja’ (Colwith Farm, Lanlivery)

Standard boxes also have:-
*cucumbers (last of)
*turnips or *daikon (mooli)
*red cabbage (Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick)

Halloween pumpkins in Camel CSA’s veg boxes

It’s half term so there’s plenty of time to carve our #halloween lanterns!

In all the veg boxes:-
*Jack-o’-Lantern pumpkin
*kalettes
*mixed oriental salad leaves
*spring onions
*tomatoes
*cucumbers
*beetroot
potatoes ‘Wilja’ (Colwith Farm, Lanlivery)

Standard boxes also have:-
*pakchoi
*garlic
cauliflower (Trerair Farm, St Eval)

First of the new season leeks in our veg boxes

The leeks this week come from Mark Norman, one of our growing team, who has a one-acre plot on the edge of Bodmin. He grows quite a few varieties of vegetables exclusively for us while following identical agroecological and no-dig principles and practices. We have plenty of our own leeks at Treraven Farm that will go in the veg boxes later.

In all the boxes:-
*radishes
*carrots
*mixed salad leaves
*tomatoes
*cucumbers
*leeks (Mark Norman, Bodmin)
potatoes ‘Wilja’ (Colwith Farm, Lanlivery)

Standard boxes also have:-
*rainbow chard
*onions
*green pepper/*courgette/*aubergine/*runner beans/*French beans combo (last of the summer crops)

It’s autumn at last at Camel CSA

There are big bunches of curly kale and carrots in our veg boxes this week.

In all the boxes:-
*carrots
*runner or French beans
*mixed salad leaves
*tomatoes
*cucumbers
*onions
potatoes ‘Wilja’ (Colwith Farm, Lanlivery)

Standard boxes also have:-
*curly kale
*turnips
*green pepper/courgette/aubergine combo

Last of the runner beans in Camel CSA’s veg boxes

Our youngest volunteer Delfi helped harvest the last of the runner beans this week in a heavy Cornish mizzle. Fortunately the sun came out for bicycle couriers Mike and Damo at veg box delivery time.

In all the boxes:-
*runner beans
*mixed salad leaves
*tomatoes
*cucumbers
*beetroot
*rainbow chard
potatoes (Colwith Farm, Lanlivery)

Standard boxes also have:-
*basil
*French beans
*green pepper / courgettes / aubergines

Plenty of rainbow chard in our weekly veg boxes

We have an abundance of autumn crops to share out in the veg boxes this week.

In all the boxes:-
*rainbow chard
*tomatoes
*cucumbers
*courgettes or Golden Nugget squash
*potatoes ‘Estima’

Small boxes have:-
*calabrese or aubergines