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.

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.

This recipe is from Sybil Kapoor’s Simply British. “Surprisingly good,” she says, “and should be served with cold meat and jacket potatoes.” It’s a variation on one that appeared in the classic Food in England by Dorothy Hartley, and known as Yorkshire ploughboy.

Serves 4

Preparation: 10 minutes + 10 minutes resting time

Ingredients
½ large red cabbage, finely sliced
1 red onion, halved and finely sliced
3 tbsp dried sour cherries or cranberries
2 tbsp black treacle
4 tbsp white wine vinegar
salt and black pepper
pinch of cayenne pepper

Method
Place the cabbage, onion and dried fruit in a mixing bolw. Measure the treacle and vinegar into a small mixing bowl and stir until the treacle has dissolved. Pour over the salad, mix thoroughly and season to taste. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Note: This can also be made into a warm red cabbage salad by lightly frying the cabbage with finely sliced spring onions, a little garlic and the dried fruit before tipping in the dressing.

Most of this week’s veg box contents come from Jeremy Brown at St Kew Harvest.

Small boxes will have:
potatoes –  Estima (Benbole Farm)
* carrots (Camel CSA)
* salad bag (Jeremy)
* french beans (Jeremy)
* red cabbage (Jeremy)
* parsley (Jeremy)

Standard boxes will have extra potatoes as well as:
* mixed summer squash (Jeremy)
* leeks (Jeremy)
* marrow (Jeremy)

And next week we can look forward to sweetcorn and the first of the cauliflowers.

* = grown to organic principles

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.

A different way with runner beans from Sarah Raven’s Garden Cookbook. She calls it ‘a delicious soft, creamy dish that is good with roast chicken. It also makes a tasty quick pasta sauce.’ If you don’t have savory, you can use thyme instead.

Serves 4

Preparation/cooking: 20 minutes

Ingredients
450g runner beans
salt and black pepper
150ml double cream
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 tbsp chopped summer savory or thyme, plus more to serve
grated parmesan cheese, to serve

Method
String and slice the beans and cook them uncovered in rapidly boiling salted water for 3 minutes until they are just tender. Plunge into cold water and drain.

Put the cream, garlic clove and savory or thyme in a saucepan. Add salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave for 10 minutes for the flavours to merge. Take out the garlic.

Add the beans, put back on the heat and stir to heat them through. Scatter more savory or thyme and plenty of parmesan over the top.

The contents of our Cornish vegetable boxes this week are provided by Mark Norman, Jeremy Brown of St Kew Harvest and Camel CSA’s own plot, all of it grown to organic principles.

Small boxes will have:
potatoes – Estima (Mark)
courgettes (Mark)
runner beans (Mark)
carrots (Camel CSA)
salad bag (Jeremy)
savoy cabbage (Jeremy)

Standard boxes will have all the above plus extra potatoes and:
garlic (CSA)
chard (CSA)
beetroot (Jeremy)
swede (Jeremy)

Large boxes will have double the amount in the standard box plus red cabbage (Jeremy) instead of two savoys.

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?

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

Contents of our Cornish vegetable boxes this week are provided by Mark Norman, Jane Mellowship, Jeremy Brown of St Kew Harvest and Camel CSA’s own plot, all of it grown to organic principles.

Update: Potato quantities were increased. We all had a patty pan squash and a small bunch of parsley as extras.

Small boxes have:
600g potatoes ‘Estima’ (Jeremy)
primo cabbage (Jeremy)
mixed courgettes (Jeremy)
onions (Mark)
beetroot (Mark)
salad (Camel CSA)
swiss chard/perpetual spinach (Camel CSA)

Standard boxes have the above with extra potatoes (800g) plus:
turnips (Mark)
cucumber (Jeremy)
french beans (Jane/Jeremy)

Large boxes have the same contents as a standard but twice as much, although rather than two cabbages there’ll be one cabbage and a bag of tenderstem.

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