October 8, 2009
This week another great selection of fresh seasonal veg in the boxes, including some Tenderstem broccoli. In case you haven’t come across this before, it’s a very tender sort of broccoli with, according to the Tenderstem website, a texture closer to asparagus. Nutritious too – a 100g portion will provide your full daily requirement of vitamin C.
The small boxes will have:
* red onions (Camel CSA)
* parsnips (Camel CSA)
* parsley (Camel CSA)
* carrots (Jeremy Brown)
Maris Peer potatoes (Burlerrow Farm, St Mabyn)
tenderstem broccoli (Rest Harrow Farm, Trebetherick)
leeks (Rest Harrow Farm)
swede (Rest Harrow Farm)
Standard boxes as above plus:
* 140g salad bag (Jane Mellowship)
* runner beans (Mark Norman)
and larger quantities of the basics
Large boxes will be as standard with the addition of:
* crown prince squash (Jane)
* celeriac (Jeremy)
* courgettes (Mark)
* 2 small salad bags (Jane)
2 bags tenderstem broccoli (Rest Harrow Farm)
plus larger quantities of leeks, potatoes, onions and carrots
(* = grown to organic principles)
October 1, 2009
This week we’ll be getting another great selection of fresh seasonal veg in the boxes: –
The small boxes will have:
* onions (Camel CSA)
* beetroot (Camel CSA)
* potatoes (Mark Norman)
* half cucumber (Jeremy Brown)
* carrots (Jeremy)
* small salad bag (Jane Mellowship)
tomatoes (Rest Harrow Farm, Trebetherick)
swede (Rest Harrow Farm, Trebetherick)
curly kale (Rest Harrow Farm, Trebetherick)
Standard boxes as above plus:
* bagged swiss chard (Camel CSA)
* whole cucumber (Jeremy)
* sweet pepper (Jeremy)
* large salad bag (Jane)
Large boxes will be as standard with the addition of:
* brussels sprouts (Jeremy)
* celeriac (Jeremy)
* marrow (Jeremy)
* leeks (Mark)
* 2 small salad bags (Jane)
plus larger quantities of potatoes, onions, tomatoes, carrots and beetroot
(* = grown to organic principles)
September 24, 2009
Camel Community Supported Agriculture members can expect a top quality variety of fresh, seasonal veg in their boxes this week: –
*red onions (Camel CSA)
*curly parsley (Camel CSA)
*beetroot (Camel CSA)
*bunched carrots (Jeremy Brown)
*salad leaves (Jeremy)
*cucumber (Jeremy)
*potatoes – Marfona variety (Mark Norman)
*leeks (Mark)
cabbage – Sweetheart variety (Rest Harrow Farm, Trebetherick)
Standard / large boxes only: –
*turnips (Mark)
Large boxes only: – *courgettes (Camel CSA), *squash (Jeremy), *chocolate cherry tomatoes (Jeremy)
* = grown to organic principles
September 17, 2009
We’ve got more of those delicious parsnips in our share of the vegetables. They were sown and lovingly cultivated by Camel Community Supported Agriculture’s volunteer growing team. Also available from our own plot at St Kew Highway this week are curly parsley, onions, Swiss chard and beetroot.
The small veg boxes contain:
*parsnips (Camel CSA)
*onions (Camel CSA)
*potatoes (Jeremy Brown)
*curly parsley (Camel CSA)
*pumpkin (Mark Norman)
*tomatoes (Jeremy)
swede (Rest Harrow Farm)
kale (Rest Harrow Farm, Trebetherick)
broccoli (St Merryn)
The standard boxes contain all the above, plus:
*Swiss chard (Camel CSA)
*beetroot (Camel CSA)
*courgettes (Mark)
* = grown to organic principles
Uncomplaining
We extend our best wishes to Trish, Camel CSA’s picking and packing supremo, who has recently had an operation. We hope she enjoys a speedy recovery and look forward to working again with her soon.
Robert, who’s responsible for the Friday rota, is standing in for her at the moment. Over the last fortnight he’s been leading a team that’s included Charlotte, Gillian, Henrietta, Marianne, Mike H and Penny.
Mike H and Penny have spent long hours uncomplainingly digging up row after row of potatoes. It was a disappointingly small yield so they’ve had to put a disproportionate amount of effort into this back-breaking task. This area is now being sown with a crop of green manure to boost soil fertility.
If anyone else is willing to volunteer to pick and pack on Friday mornings, please get in touch. We could do with a couple more people on the rota. You won’t be expected to turn up every week.
Oh – and don’t worry, no more potatoes need to be dug until next season!
September 10, 2009
Now we’re entering the season of mellow fruitfulness, we’ve got a beautiful pumpkin in each vegetable box this week. They’re Jack-o’-Lantern variety from Mark Norman, one of Camel Community Supported Agriculture’s expert growers, who runs his own horticultural business on the edge of Bodmin.
Also in the small boxes:
*potatoes (Camel CSA)
*onions (Camel CSA)
*parsnips (Camel CSA)
*curly parsley (Camel CSA)
*100g salad bag (Jane Mellowship)
*pumpkin (Mark Norman)
*1/2 cucumber (Jeremy Brown)
*carrots (Jeremy)
cauliflower (Richard Hore, Rest Harrow Farm, Trebetherick)
tomatoes (Mr & Mrs Sanders, Polmorla Market Gardens)
Standard boxes are the same as above except:
*140g salad bag (Jane)
plus
*whole cucumber (Jeremy)
*runner beans (Jeremy)
* = grown to organic principles
Try Camel CSA’s Recipe No 11 – Squash (or pumpkin) and apple curry
September 3, 2009
Oh wow! There’s not only plenty of basil in this week’s share of the vegetables from Camel Community Supported Agriculture but also some chocolate cherry tomatoes. Each of the standard veg boxes has a large Pink Caspian beef tomato – not Siberian (!) as I suggested earlier – as well.
So, if you haven’t made last week’s Recipe No 9 – Grilled courgette, tomato and bean salad in basil sauce, why not give it a try? Or have a go at making Nigel Slater’s Courgette, tomato and ricotta bake.
The small boxes contain: –
*potatoes (Camel CSA)
*onions (Camel CSA)
broccoli (Celtic Produce, Bodmin)
*celery (Mark Norman)
plums (a gift from Mark’s Dad)
*basil (Jeremy Brown)
*tomatoes (Jeremy)
*small salad bag (Jane Mellowship)
Standard boxes contain all the above, except:-
*large salad bag (Jane)
plus
*beetroot (Camel CSA)
*courgettes (Mark)
* = grown to organic principles
The broccoli (calabrese) comes from the Bodmin wholesaler Celtic Produce and was grown on a farm at St Merryn, near Padstow. It is not organically produced.
August 27, 2009
Camel Community Supported Agriculture’s vegetable boxes contain a fantastic selection this week.
Small boxes have an assortment of:
*potatoes (Camel CSA)
*onions (Camel CSA)
*Swiss chard (Camel CSA)
*courgettes (Mark Norman / Bokelly, St Kew)
*carrots (Jeremy Brown)
*beans (Bokelly, St Kew)
*small salad bag (Jane Mellowship)
& tomatoes (Rest Harrow Farm, Trebetherick)
Standard boxes are filled with the same as above, but not the Swiss chard. They also have:
*large salad bag instead of small (Jane)
plus
*peppers (Jeremy / Jane)
*parsley (Jeremy)
& baby leeks (Rest Harrow Farm, Trebetherick)
AND some plums donated by Mark Norman’s Dad, who lives in Devon!* = grown to organic principles
Once again, the boxes contain freshly-picked vegetables from Camel Community Agriculture’s own plot at St Kew Highway plus high-quality produce from our three expert growers and an outside supplier.
As the label of our mixed salad bag explains:
This mixed salad has been picked this morning from Carruan Farm’s veg plot managed and grown chemically free by Gav and Jane Mellowship…
… This bag represents a main ethos of community supported agriculture. It is supporting an existing agricultural business in the local community by creating a new market and securing it. We’re sharing the risks and benefits in a close working relationship.
See Recipe No 9 – Grilled courgette, tomato and bean salad with basil sauce
August 21, 2009
We can expect to find some tomatoes and a cauliflower among the contents of this week’s veg boxes.
These vegetables come from Richard Hore, our new supplier at Rest Harrow, Trebetherick (between Daymer Bay and Rock). They’re not grown to organic principles, but are freshly picked and have clocked up few food miles – barely five in fact.
The potatoes and onions are our own contribution to the harvest. They’ve been grown by our volunteers on Camel Community Supported Agriculture’s two-acre plot at St Kew Highway.
Our expert growers are providing the rest of the box contents. Salad bags – Jane Mellowship, cucumber and curly parsley – Jeremy Brown, celery – Mark Norman.
See this week’s Recipe No 8 – Braised celery
August 14, 2009
We are enjoying some more of our recently-harvested onions in Camel Community Supported Agriculture’s veg boxes this week.
The Swiss chard, beetroot and potatoes also come from our own plot at St Kew Highway.
Our expert growers have provided most of the rest of the vegetables. Jeremy Brown cultivated some of the cucumbers and the flat-leaved parsley. Jane Mellowship supplied the salad packs. Mark Norman grew the courgettes and the remaining cucumbers, which feature in our Recipe No 7 – Cucumber raita.
We have a new local supplier – Polmorla Market Garden, Wadebridge – which provided the freshly-picked runner beans. Unlike the rest of the box contents, these are not grown organically.
Oops!
The boxes also contain bunches of celeriac leaves, picked in ignorance as they were mistaken for mature flat-leaved parsley.
These could be used as a garnish on salads or soup. However they are rather coarse and have a distinctive, strong flavour.
It emerges that I may have caused irrevocable damage to our celeriac crop as a result of this inadvertent act of horticultural vandalism. This is one of the downsides of relying on enthusiastic amateurs like me.
S-o-o-o embarrassing!
August 7, 2009
You’ve guessed it! We can expect more chard in the boxes this week plus a selection from potatoes, onions, spinach, white cabbage, courgettes, cucumber, salad leaves, parsley and spring onions.
The late start to Camel Community Supported Agriculture’s first planting season, the challenging growing conditions and the rising total of veg boxes are all taking their toll on the crops cultivated by our volunteers. We are gradually buying in more vegetables from our own expert growing team.
Mark Norman, one of our expert growers, reflects the observations of his vegetable growing colleagues:
“All vegetable growers have experienced three bad years in a row. The weather has been atrocious across Britain. All over the country, growers are complaining. For instance, the beans are not pollinating properly. The supermarkets are coping as they are importing from abroad.”
In spite of this, Camel CSA’s volunteers continue to turn out in all weathers. Thanks to last week’s picking team of Cath, Charlotte, Fiona, Mike H and Robert. Trish did the maths and masterminded the packing of the vegetable boxes.
The growing team took advantage of a dry morning on Sunday to plant out the remaining 10 rows of brassicas and cover them with fleece. We put in more than 750 plants, including Savoy cabbage (Vertus variety), cauliflower (Thalassa), Brussels sprouts (Igor and Darkmar) and red cabbage (Red Rum).
Thank you to expert growers Jane and Jeremy and to Carolyn, Cath, Charlotte, Danny, Kayleigh, Kitty, Mike H, Mike S. and six-year-old Haydn.
Now the planting’s over, it’s time to start lifting and storing our bumper crop of onions. And we need to make a concerted attack on the even larger crop of annual and perennial weeds…
